EdVallance's Guestbook

Great blog! I had the same thoughts when I was in Kyrgyzstan, about how beautiful the environment was, even though I could not quite figure out what was so beautiful. It was quite sparse, like the way you described Mongolia. I suppose what made me marvel at it was that it was just so pristine. But Malaria in Mongolia would suck! I can't imagine there being well equipped medical facilities there.

nice story ...
good to see a new blog from you.

Hi Edward! Thanks for your comment on my latest blog and glad you enjoyed so much this part of Yunnan too! Great pictures of minorities you got there! Photographer paradise indeed...Cheers

amazing
Great story, I hope one day I can do something similar. I may be moving to Port Vila soon.

Oleg Sakharov?
Are you the same Oleg Sakharov that was chief of the Bellinghausen base in Antarctica? - if so, Na sdarovia!!! from the kiwi girl... would love to hear from you.

Excellent Post On Travel
Thanks for shairing!! http://www.limousineorlando.com/

Colors
those bright colored clothes :) P1010790 -> are those actually hair for sale?! wow ...

no english please
i can understand how frustrating it can be ... i guess i really need to do my mandarin lessons ^^ more luck to you!

Burma/Myanmar
You're quite right that many Burmese people refer to their country as Burma (when speaking English) or Bama (in the Burmese language), and your critic above is not correct in insisting on the name 'Myanmar'. Myanma (with no –r) is the country's official name in the Burmese language, but Bama is the colloquial name widely used in conversation. Burma and Myanmar (with an –r) are both English names for the country. Burma was universally used until 1989, when Burma's military junta decreed that the English name should be 'Myanmar'. This military junta suppresses almost all dissent and wields absolute power in the face of international condemnation and sanctions. Therefore, Burmese people who are pro-democracy do not recognise its right to change the name, so they still use the old name, Burma, when speaking English. The Muslims you spoke to would use this name too because of the junta's persecution of ethnic and religious minorities. Also many governments, including the UK, the US, Canada and Australia, do not recognise the name 'Myanmar', according to Wikipedia. I believe the BBC continues to use 'Burma' as well.

where is the communism?
ok , here is your story in short....u took the flight to SH and then walked around the city and then took a train to KM....and you are telling ppl China is a combination of Communism and efficiency??? I mean , come on, get real. I didn't see anything communism from your superficial observations. The only 'Communism' is from your mind and mouth. You have this biased point of view of China being a state of communism, which is just simply wrong. In the global recession, China is probably the best capitalist in the world.