Geo: -37.8143, 144.963Melbourne is a vibrant busy city , which appears to be full of 20 to 40 year olds. It has a rapidly expanding population so the suburbs are growing. However there are still plenty of green spaces to walk through. We stayed at the Clarion Gateway Apartments in a 2 bedroomed/bathroom apartment with lounge and kitchenette and friendly helpful staff at reception. It overlooked the river but also the railway line so had some noise from that. Our main reason to come to Melbourne was to reconnect with Stefan's first cousin Barb and husband Jim, so we arranged to meet in Young and Jacksons opposite Flinders St station. A drink there was followed by a walk through the city to find a restaurant. Everywhere was packed and very noisy but at the Garden State ... read more

Geo: 16.7837, 96.1568Rangoon is a sprawling city of 6 million inhabitants and is the largest city in Burma. It used to be the capital until an astrologer told the military generals that they needed to move to a new place. Very convenient for them, they had new roads and houses built for themselves in the middle of nowhere so that they never need see any demonstrations or unrest. Rangoon is not a pretty city with a mixture of the usual wooden shacks next door to modern buildings. The jetty to which we were moored is a rickety wooden bridge with gaps in the floor boards. However the best thing to see is the Shwe Dagon pagoda. This huge gilded edifice is set in a large complex of beautiful smaller pagodas with Buddha images galore. We walked ... read more

Geo: 21.3667, 95.4667It was still pitch dark at 5pm when our group was collected from the boat and taken to the take-off area for hot air balloons. By 6am it was light and they started filling the enormous balloons with air. As soon as our balloon was full of air but still there to the ground we cambered in. This was the most difficult bit of the whole process as the sides of the oblong basket are quite high. We were shown the landing position and then we were off and able to stand up and watch the ground receding below. Milton, our pilot, guided the balloon over the temple area and pointed things out. It was a terrific experience. So peaceful one minute then suddenly hot and noisy when the flaming gas was turned on ... read more

Geo: 24.4731, 95.5207Early in the morning we were taken up Sagaing Hill from which there are lovely views of the Burmese countryside. There is also the Kaungmudaw Pagoda which has lots of paintings of the story of the Buddha and lovely floor tiles, which are much nicer to walk on without shoes than the paths or wooden floor boards. Knees and shoulders have to be covered too. The general region is called Innwa which used to be the ancient capital from the 14th to the 19th century. On the way back we visited the Bagaya Monastery which is no longer in use but is a beautiful building. The streets were crowded with people as the Full Moon celebrations were still going on. Driving along the road was slow due to a huge parade, noisy and colourful. ... read more

Geo: 13.7308, 100.521Probably the 6th time we have stayed at the Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok. I love being festooned with jasmine and orchids when you arrive, the smiling helpful staff and the feeling that you have stepped back into the time of Hemingway. The rooms are very comfortable with everything you could need and a butler, who comes in every time you leave the room and tidies up,cleans shoes, hangs up clothes and leaves fresh fruit and little fruit drinks. We arrived in the mid afternoon so plenty of time to settle in and pop down to the terrace overlooking the river and have a drink. It is the end of the monsoon season so it is a bit cloudy and very hot but did not rain. We couldn't stay for long as the Manager's cocktail ... read more