Blogs from Yangon Region, Burma, Asia - page 26

The most perfect guesthouse service in the world and no banks to change money; Yangon, Myanmar (10.-12.9.08)

Asia » Burma » Yangon Region » Yangon October 8th 2008

We arrived in Yangon by an early morning flight with Air Asia. The landscape looked beautiful after the rainy season with many green rice fields and a lot of water in between. I had been in Myanmar 6 years ago and liked a lot the special atmosphere in this country due to the political, but also geographical isolation. Friends that traveled here recently warned me of the changed mood after the September events and the growing frustration of the people. A second reason to come was a meeting with the Vice-Chairman of the Myanmar Tourism Promotion Board. My caver friend Michael had made a first contact at the International Tourist Fair in Berlin (ITB) and I was now in Rangoon to discuss a caving expedition next January. I was excited to meet some medium-high level people ... read more

Yangon Different Perspectives Newsletter July 23, 2008

Asia » Burma » Yangon Region » Yangon July 23rd 2008

Aung San Suu Kyi

rossi92353

Thursday July 24, 2008 May Fair Inn Room 108 Yangon, Myanmar We landed in Yangon about 12pm. I trucked around the streets a bit before catching a cheap taxi into town and my destination The White Hotel. Arriving, I quickly noticed a smelly reception area and dirty beyond my my comfort level. Although I was to stay in a less than clean hotel in Bangkok in a few days. I turned around and left the White Hotel and sat down on the steps outside to flip through my guide book. Lonely Planet is a great guidebook but I have more than once been mislead to hotels that were not real nice. The White Hotel was at the top of their list of good moderately priced guest houses. I decided to check out a few other guest ... read more

New United States Embassy, YANGON, MYANMAR

The Golden Land, or "Seeing is Believing"

Asia » Burma » Yangon Region » Yangon July 9th 2008

Captain Jack

alibaba034

Good day chaps, how is everything, is life treating you good ? We just returned from our trip to Myanmar, are u interested in our little adventures and great impressions ? If yes, stop working for a minute (do NOT shut down the computer now, that definitely won't do) and listen carefully please ... Reckon you're aware of the general situation in this country, last but not least because of the recent bad news. We weren't quite certain if we should visit or not due to several reasons. Most of the tourists do not show up due to the cyclone and its consequences and the awkward political situation which is actually a big motivator for boykotting this country in many manners (sanctions, tourisms etc.). Well, the latter was even our stimulator to go and take a ... read more

Myanmar (Burma)

Asia » Burma » Yangon Region » Yangon March 26th 2008

Reclining Buddha

Kevin and Susan

Most people around the world have seen the pictures and read about the situation in Burma. Last September in the midst of a peaceful protest by Burmese monks, there was a extreme response by the military government and the protest marches were harshly brought to an end. Since then many of the monasteries have been closed and severe restrictions have been placed on the monks. The main reason for the protests was that the regime raised the price of fuel by 500% over night. Myanmar, as it is called by the ruling junta, is one of the poorest countries in the world. This increase in fuel prices has devastated the local population. Since mostly only the military have private cars, everyone else is dependent on buses and trains for transit. Many bus companies couldn’t afford to ... read more

Yangon

Asia » Burma » Yangon Region » Yangon January 20th 2008

Sunset

zephyrbc

On arrival back in Yangon, we grabbed a taxi back to Motherland Inn. Allegedly, the price of a taxi ride had doubled from 5000K in only one and a half weeks...but amazingly dropped back down in the time it took us to walk the 10 meters from inside the airport car park to the street. Scott jokingly suggested we go to Tokyo Fried Chicken for lunch - the Burmese equivalent of KFC - so we did. It made KFC look quite gourmet. At least their burger patties are the colour of chicken and their coleslaw doesn't look like vanilla ice cream...hmm. After lunch we headed to Scott (Bogyoke Aung San) Market which is a massive indoor market mainly targeted to locals, but with the obligatory souvenirs and tourists t-shirts. There is also quite a large jewellery ... read more

Myanmar

Asia » Burma » Yangon Region » Yangon September 26th 2007

Buda

Guus

Na Ko Tao, Ko Panghan en Khao San road werd het tijd voor wat echt die-hard back-packen; Myanmar. Voor diegene die de laatste tijd niet het nieuws gevolgd hebben, dit is het land dat vroeger Birma (burma) heette. 2 September was het tijd om Koen op het vliegtuig richting nederland te zetten (Duitsers schijnen nogal gevoelig te zijn voor turbulentie ;)) en zelf naar Yangon te vliegen. Toch een beetje zenuwachtig/nieuwsgierig, aangezien ik voor het eerst alleen op vakantie ging en niet helemaal zeker wist wat ik van Myanmar moest verwachten. Op Yangon International Airport aangekomen kreeg ik een kleine cultuur schok; Thailand lijkt wel science fiction in vergelijking met Myanmar. Bijna alle mannen lopen in een Longi of Sarong (een soort jurk), kauwen Beetlenuts (kevernoten ?) die in bladeren zijn gewikkeld en spugen vervolgens overal ... read more

Perdidos en Birmania (Rangun y Bago)

Asia » Burma » Yangon Region » Bago September 14th 2007

Shwedagon Pagoda

PYL

www.diariodeunviaje.com (todo en nuestra pagina web) BANGKOK (12-13/9) A las 5 de la mañana nos despertamos y fuimos a facturar al mostrador de Airasia donde para nuestra sorpresa nos dicen que necesitamos el visado de Myanmar antes de volar o corremos el riesgo de ser deportados al llegar al pais (nosotros creimos que podriamos tramitarlo a la llegada). Asi que tuvimos que quedarnos otro dia en Bangkok para tramitar el visado en la embajada de Myanmar. En Airasia se portaron muy bien porque no perdimos el dinero del vuelo (5.018 baths), nos lo dejaron en una linea de credito para poder usarlo en otro vuelo. Nos fuimos a la embajada en el suttle bus gratuito hasta la estacion de autobuses y alli coges el 552 o alguna minivan(35 baths) que te dejan en la parada del ... read more

Reflejo de Shwedangon Pagoda en las aguas del Lago Kandawgyi

Todos estos billetes equivalen a 80 euros

Wyjazd do Kalaw

Asia » Burma » Yangon Region » Yangon September 2nd 2007

buczma

Obudzilismy sie zmarznieci na kosc. Klimatyzacja w pokoju spisala sie znakomicie. Gdy juz pozbieralismy sie jako tako do kupy, poszlismy zalatwic bilet na autobus do Kelaw. Niestety na miejscu okazalo sie , ze wszystkie miejsca sa juz wyprzedane i jedyna opcja bylo zakupienie biletu do miejscowosci polozonej 3 godziny od miejsca docelowego. Zrobilismy zakupy na droge i zladowalismy sie w taksowke, ktora zawiozla nas na dworzec. Dziwne to miasto Yangun - dworzec znajduje sie daleko na jego obrzezach. Przejechanie 27 km zajelo nam ponad godzine. Sam dworzec jest olbrzymi i panuje na nim nieopisany chaos, nie ma zadnych oznaczen ( przynajmniej po angielsku ), brak peronow. Autobusy roznych firm odjezdzaja z przypadkowych miejsc.Niezwykle pomocny okazal sie byc nasz taksowkaz. Gdy potwierdzilismy rezerwacje biletu okazalo sie ze wybarny przez nas autobus w ogole nie przejezdza przez zaplanow ... read more

Yangon

Asia » Burma » Yangon Region » Yangon September 1st 2007

Yangon

buczma

Ech niektorzy teg dnia wracaja z wakacji do szkoly, ale nie my. My ladujemy w Yangunie. Dookola szaro buro i ponuro. Leje deszcz. Taksiarze przekszykuja sie jeden przez drugiego. Po niesprzespanej nocy nie jestem w dobrym humorze. Udalo sie wytargowac 4 dolce za dowoz do centrum . Krajobraz miasta przypomina Indie. Szare obdrapane budynki. Dziury w chodnikach. Zameldowalimy sie sie w Mahabandoola Guest House w samym sercu miata, zaraz kolo Sule Paya Pagoda.Wymienilismy dolce po czarnorynkowym kursie 1200 za 1 $.Wyszlsmy cos przekasic. Zamowilimy narowdowy specjal - zupe rybna zwana Mohinga . Niezbyt ciekawe doznanie smakowe, pewnie ze wzgledu na miejsce w ktorym jedlismy. Mam nadzieje ze sie nie rozchorujemy. Po drodze zakupilismy parasolke. W hotelu natknelismy sie przypadkiem na Polaka - Kuba. Umowilismy sie z nim na pogaduche wieczorem. Wiekszosc dnia przedrzemalismy. Wieczorem Wybral... read more

Protests in Burma

Asia » Burma » Yangon Region » Yangon August 25th 2007

Jaime K

As an update on Burma, I have been following with interest the recent protests taking place in the capital this week. It's interesting because this stuff almost NEVER happens there (protests that is). I think it's probably a good thing I'm not in yangon anymore! it's strange though, when they talk about the man who got arrested for protesting outside the US embassy, to think that I walked by it just a couple weeks ago! Below is a reuter's article if anyone is interested on the situation there. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar junta squashes more protests in Yangon YANGON, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Supporters of Myanmar's military rulers broke up a small protest in Yangon on Thursday as the arrest of 13 prominent dissidents did little to quash public anger at soaring fuel prices and falling living standards. ... read more