Blogs from Burma, Asia - page 8

Burma, or Myanmar, surprises in many ways. It was the 3rd and final new destination this year and it's refreshing to visit a country that's opening up rapidly to tourism. The infrastructure (roads, buildings) far 'exceeding' what we have expected. Most locals are able to understand and speak good English, and they are 99% friendly towards foreigners, unlike certain overly-visited places in the region. We even met some Burmese who worked in Singapore previously and enthusiastically shared their experiences with us. Though a short 5 days trip with Steph and friends, it was a good break from the monotony of city life, relaxing in a vastly different environment. Listing down some of the interesting observations to remember: - Ladies apply Thanaka on the faces, giving an instant recognisable look that they are natives - Men wear ... read more

Southern Myanmar is a long tail of land that, for more than 1,200 km, abuts Thailand, the Tenasserim Hills and their subranges forming the border. Time was now against me, which meant I couldn’t fly to Myeik, the most southerly airport open for tourists, because of the painfully long time it would take me to wend my way north again by bus (there are no flights between airports in the south; everything goes through Yangon). Instead, I opted to fly to Dawei, about halfway down (as it were), and head out to Maungmagan on the coast, and make my way back overland from there. Once released by the airport – although it was a domestic flight, passport and visa checks were carried out, as they have been almost every time I’ve crossed a state border here ... read more

We wake to the sound of rain. Pouring rain. This is not good when we are due to set off on our second boat trip at 8.00am. But postponing to the afternoon is not an option, so we don the tasteful pink ground length rain ponchos helpfully provided by the boatman, hold tight to our umbrellas and set off for a 45 minute ride across the lake to a town hosting market day. David is elected by Sara and the guide to ride in front, so the two of them cower behind him as he takes the full brunt of the driving rain, his umbrella held rigidly out front. Arriving at the market, we decide it’s best to wear our walking boots rather than our flipflops to walk around in, and this proves a sound choice, ... read more

Looking back on my eight days wandering around Myanmar’s two most famous archaeological sites, I realise that so much of what I would say about one is by reference to or in contrast with the other, I thought I’d write about them together. (My apologies: this will mean even more photographs than usual.) Bagan tends to be regarded as THE must-visit site in Myanmar. Even Yangon’s Shwedagon Pagoda and Inle Lake, with its leg-rowing fishermen, take a back seat to this extraordinary 40 square mile area and its two/three/four/ten thousand temples, pagodas and monasteries (no-one comes up with a consistent number either of those constructed or of what remains) from the eleventh to thirteenth centuries when Bagan (Pagan) was the capital of the Pagan Empire, the first kingdom to unify regions that would later constitute modern-day ... read more

Win Bo and our driver collect us at the civilised time of 745am for the 20 minute drive to Nyaung U airport for our flight to Heho (pronounced “Hur-ho”) which is the nearest airport to Inle Lake. The airport exterior is designed to look like a temple. Inside everyone mills around the “all flights check in” desk. A man cursorily weighs our bags and then sticks two tags on them before wandering off with them. We are given a red sticker to put on our shirts to show where we are going, and then herded into the departure area with all the other passengers. The X-ray machine picks up three of the four bottles of water in Sara's carry on. “You leave on table please not allowed”. Sara: “OK” and unloads three of the four bottles ... read more