Flight 9: Yangon to Bangkok was a bit rough. We were slightly delayed as the plane was late arriving, then they got us all on, we were just waiting for cargo to be loaded and said sorry because they have been on the ground for 25 minutes they have to complete some immigration thing. All up we were about an hour late and then took off and went straight into a monsoon storm. It was dark but from the lights on the wings we could see the rain pounding the plane. We shook, rolled and dropped consoling ourselves by the fact that we are flying AIr Asia and they must be used to this weather. It was fine once we were through it but it's not an experience we're keen to repeat and we were happy ... read more

We could have left Kalaw on an 8:30pm bus which with a 10-12 hour journey time would have us arriving at a more reasonable time but we had chosen the 5:30pm bus for a couple of reasons: it gave us enough daylight to get down the bulk of the mountian road and with the constant wet weather we figured that would be safer travelling in daylight, and secondly we like to see the scenery, doing endless bends in the dark is boring and we have done it many times in South America. It was a good call. There was just us and the locals (we figured most tourists must be on the 8:30pm bus) we got to watch a rather nice sunset, enjoy some stunning scenery and get a glimpse of people's lives on the mountains. ... read more

It's a long bus trip from Bagan to Inle Lake - 10 hours although we had a good run and got in 30 minutes early. The bus left at 6:30am and was to pick us up from outside the hotel. We thought this was a benefit of being on the route to the small bus station until we were the first to be picked up and we spent the next 1 and 1/2 hrs driving through Nyaung U, Old Bagan and New Bagan stopping at hotels collecting the rest of the passengers. Randomly the bus said Airport Limousine on the side, a remnant of a former life? Bagan is on the plains and Inle Lake in the mountains so it was definately a journey of 2 halves with the lunch stop almost smack bang in the ... read more

The hotel were kind enough to let us refresh by using the staff shower for which we were very grateful as sitting on a night bus covered in a thin film of traffic scum and when you have been sticky and sweaty all day would not have been nice so us or the other passengers We headed to the bus ticket office at 6:30pm to await out transfer. We were politely ushered to sit on two small plastic chairs close to the building with others milling about on the chairs placed on the tarmac carpark. There was a medium sized red and white bus parked up which we assumed we were catching. So when the driver jumped on and the locals promptly followed (as they are always keen to get going) we jumped up and grabbed ... read more

Burma is a bit different. It is known by 2 names, Burma and Myanmar. Currently its land borders are closed so you have to fly in. It has 2 international airports but international flights only actually fly to/from Yangon (better known by its former name, Rangoon). Visas have to be gained in advance but recently they have trialled an e-visa and the desk for e-visas was open where we landed. They use 2 currencies the US$ and the Kyat (the local currency). And they drive on the right with right hand drive vehicles. Flying into Yangon and getting visas in advance was not a problem, right hand drive vehicles on the right hand side of the road (usually) makes crossing roads more interesting. Money matters are more challenging. using 2 currencies makes keeping to a budget ... read more