Blogs from Burma, Asia - page 13

Off to Inle Lake today with T2. 1 1/2hr drive through beautiful lush country side, cows, bullocks, horse and carts, people tilling fields with a bullock and stick as Mick put it. 13500 Kyat per foreigner to get into Inle Valley through Rice paddies, which grow in summer and breed ducks for their eggs in winter. Arrived at the Emperial Inle Hotel, very nice and traditional walking distance from the river where most transport occurs. Picked up 1/2 hr later and left by boat on the Lake for the Inle Heritage Restaurant, T2 took us to the east of Inle Lake and tomorrow we are going west, Huge lake surrounded by mountains just incredible scenery. Lunch at Inle Heritage just magnificent and all proceeds go back to the community. Lotus stem 4000 for a scarf, the ... read more

Jo John picked us up at the Hotel at 9am and we set off for the day sightseeing beautiful Yangon. Swedadagon Pagoda - Truly amazing and one of the wonders of Myanmar culture. We then had a coconut water and the inside of the coconut very nice on a hot day. Reclining Buddha in downtown Yangon 65 meters long and 16 meters high, housed in a big shed North of Kandawgyi Lake completed renovation in 1907 by the Buddhists and foreign tourist donations. National Museum located in Dagon of Burmese art, history and culture in Myanmar. Founded in 1952, the five-story museum has an extensive collection of ancient artifacts, ornaments, works of art inscriptions and historic memorabilia related to the history, culture and civilization of Burmese people. Kandawgyi Lake one of two major lakes in Yangon. ... read more

I trekked in rebel territory. But, before we go there, I shall regale you with a woeful tale of my planning fail. The Planning Fail As you may recall from my last entry, I flew south from Mandalay to Heho, my jumping off point for Inle Lake. I had initially intended to go to Kalaw from Heho Airport to do a three day trek from there to Inle Lake, but I changed my mind because it rained most of my last full day in Mandalay and I realized I did not want to deal with rain and mud for three days. As it turned out, it did rain a fair bit during the three days I was at Inle Lake. But, this decision left some slack in my schedule. While I was at Ostello Bello in ... read more

On The Road Boat To Mandalay To get to Mandalay, I took a boat up the Ayeyarwady River on a ten hour trip north departing Bagan at stupid o'clock. At 4am, I stumbled out of bed, showered, packed, and met my pre-booked driver who took me to the pier at Nyaung U in time for my 5am check in at the boat. The boat departed at 5.20am with just seven passengers. This is one upside of traveling during the low/wet season - empty hotels and tourist transport. The top deck of the boat was comfortably laid out with rattan deck chairs. We each had lots of space to ourselves. After setting off from Bagan, I watched the sunrise over the Ayeyarwady, then I settled in for the long ride, observing the riverside communities and other boats ... read more

When I left off on my last entry, I was feeling fatigued and unsure if I could sustain this travel. After Australia, I went to Singapore for four days. Family, friends, and food helped lift my spirits. A painful but much needed massage helped relax my weary muscles and joints. And, I had an unexpected boost to my post-travel job prospects. With all this happening, I got my spring back and I felt ready to tackle Myanmar! First Impressions of Yangon I landed in Yangon mid-afternoon on Monday September 4th. After stepping into an airport taxi, I realized something didn't feel right. It took me about ten minutes before I figured out what was wrong: almost all the steering wheels I saw were on the right... and the cars drive on the right. I asked the ... read more