I did Bagan alone as my fellow travellers were either too tired to look at another temple (had my sympathy) or decided to travel in the searing sun along the shadeless ass-shatteringly bumpy roads by bicycle (had my pity) rather than join me in my horse and buggy. It would take several thousand words to describe Bagan (in fact, some French scholar wrote a seven volume description of the place) so I'll post several thousand words worth of pictures. I started the day at 6am for a leisurely breakfast and have a bit of a read about Bagan. It seems that the city was built over a period of 230 years from AD1057 until Kublai Khan dropped in for dinner. Even so, much of the city must have been used after that because many of the ... read more

Anisakan Falls I met up with Magdalena, my German friend, and Inbar, a one-armed Israeli Major, one morning and we decided to go an see a waterfall. A two hour taxi ride and 40 minute walk down a bloody steep track got us hot and sweaty, but the waterfall was magnificent. Mag and Inbar got out pretty quickly, but I was determined to cool down enough for the long walk back up the steep track. On the way down to the waterfall we made friends with a drink seller, or more accurately, a drink seller attached herself to us like a limpet. We each bought a drink off her at the waterfall to get rid of her, which is of course like giving a cat milk to leave your back door. Her small cooler, which contained ... read more

Ridiculous Mandalay and the Mustache Brothers Mandalay is Baman for “bloody hot place without air-conditioning”. It’s worth noting that nearly all guesthouses have air-conditioners (“as advertised”) but don’t use them because the power is out. Unlike Yangon where the power is reasonably predictable, the power in Mandalay may be off for a couple of days, then on for an hour, then off again. I got a surprise one night when I walked into my room and the aircon was working. “What’s the story?” “A government official is in town tonight.” The senior government officials must think they are pretty popular as everyone in town wants them to stay as long as possible. I asked Lu Zaw about it. Apparently, government officials make money by buying gasoline at official prices and selling it for twice the price ... read more

Arriving in the plane the city looked more like suburban Adelaide than a bustling city of five million, with a few street lamps and huge dark patches with no lights. Later I was to read the sign in my hotel that stated that power was often cut between 6am and 2pm, or from 6pm to 2am, or other hours. The International airport here made the ones in Vientaine and Kathmandu look ultra-modern. It is easily the crappiest airport I've ever seen. The first thing that hit me was that the cars are driving on the wrong side of the road. Sensible modern countries (such Australia, UK etc) drive on the left, while developing countries (USA, Canada, Bangladesh) have the steering wheel on the left and drive on the wrong side of the road. Burma, being pretty ... read more

I dropped into Bangkok for Sonkran, which is a nationwide waterfight and, incidentally, Thai New Year and a religious holiday. The sprinkling of water over one's head and wet clay on the cheeks started as a Buddhist blessing hundreds or thousands of years ago and has degenerated into a massive waterfight involving high tech super soakers, fire hydrants, water tankers, tonnes of plaster, and millions of litres of ice cold water. It must have been pretty boring before water pistols and supersoakers were invented. To prevent accidents (you would be crazy to be on a bike going past hordes armed with drums of water and high pressure hoses) the throwing of water is officially banned in Bangkok after 6pm. Thanks in part to this, the festival death toll dropped to about 500 this year. However, being ... read more