I got really lucky on my way back from Yangon. You see, a taxi from Nyaungshwe to Heho airport costs 8,500 kyats, which I think is simply too much. So I asked every tourist on the road whether they'd like to share a taxi the day after and eventually got a free ride. Back in Yangon I met the monk again whom I had promised to come to his english class. More »
After two days of trekking we arrived in Nyaungshwe, the closest town to Inle Lake. I haven't seen as many tourists since Bagan. But it's got a nice feel to it. We checked into the "Remeber Inn" where we found some really nice bungalow-type rooms with warm water and a fan for five USD. You don't need Aircon since it's pretty chilly at nights, though not as cold as Kalaw. More »
The morning after we had arrived in Kalaw we found ourselves a trekking guide. We settled on Mr. Aung whose "company" is called "Honeymoon" of all things. Asked how he came up with that name he simply said: "It's important that it's easy to remember!". Well, he has a point there. The trek itself was really good and had a few revelations in store - both culinary and culturally. More »
From Mandalay we went to Kalaw by night bus. Night busses are really popular in this country. Why, I don't know. But somehow the Burmese seem to prefer to leave someplace at 19.00 to arrive somewhere at, say 03.00, to doing the same in the afternoon. More »
On our last day in Mandalay Peter and me were good tourists. We hired a small, blue mini-cab for the day (6,000 kyat) and looked at the sights around Mandalay: Sagain, Inwa (say: Awa) and Amanapura. Peter had already been to Minguin and I didn't want to see it that badly, so we skipped it. More »
On my third day in Mandaly we went to Pyin Oo Lwin, a former hill station nearby. It's is one of the places where the British set up base because they found it unbearably warm in the lowlands. And while this is something that I can sympathize with, I find it hard to believe that they found the way up to Pyin Oo Lwin better then staying in Mandalay. More »
My second day in Mandaly was pretty much a working day. I spent 5,5 hours in an internet cafe to upload and label all the pictures from Bagan and Ngwe Saung. So please, take a look at them. That was a hell of a lot of work. The internet cafe itself is actually quite a sight. More »
After having spent four nights in Bagan, Mandalay seemed very crowded and hectic. All of a sudden there were tons of cars, motorbikes and trishaw-drivers instead of the odd horsecart, pickup or bike. On the way to Mandalay I met a 30 year old Canadian, Peter, who has far more experience travellling SE-Asia and the middle east. Actually he has just come down from the Himalayas where he went trecking. And he is far better at bargaining then I am, so I definitely can learn a thing or two from him. More »
Arrived in Bagan from Magwe today. Me, the two Germans and the two Dutch who had vome to Magwe from Paya the day before somehow had assumed that we would be going by bus. and accordingly paid what seemed to be a somwhat fair bus-fare. But boy, were we wrong: Instead we went on the back of a pickup-truck. At least it wasn't boring... More »
Spent a night in Paya (pronounced: Pee). Nothing much to say. Nice pagoda, great scenery slightly yucky guesthouse. Not much more to say. I'll upload some pics of the Pagoda when and the view when I get around to it. There was one remarkable thing though: A young monk I met in Yangon. This guy was extraordinarily friendly, helpful and obviously very happy to practice his English. More »
I've finally managed to get online again. Actually there are quite a lot of internet-cafes here but most of them have very strange opening hours and you cannot access web-based email-systems. But that is not soooo important. I'm very well, for most of the time I can't remember what day it is - who cares ? - and I continue to explore Myanmar intrepidly.... More »
Since it took me two days to make the trip from Yangon to Ngwe Saung I was very happy when the General Manager of the beach ressort next door offered to take me back to Yangon. I met him two days ago since he is a friend of Michael and Eon Young, my parents friends who live in Yangon. At the end of the trip he even offered me a job in his hotel. But one thing after the other. More »
After having spent a night in Pathein I made my way to the Ngwe Saung, a small village that is said to have one of the most beautiful beaches in all of Myanmar. That's easy to believe since it certainly is the most beautiful beach I've ever seen. Unfortunately getting there wasn't all that easy. More »
It appears like everything is negotiable here. Even the bus-fares: I just paid 6.000 kyat (880 kyat = 1 USD) for a ticket to Pathein. They started with 8.000 and eventually agreed to sell the ticket for 6.000 plus a pack of cigarettes. To me this felt quite o.k. But boy - did they fuck me over! Later I met tourists who paid 3.000 kyat and even later I found out that Europeans who live here pay 1.500 - and that is still not what the locals pay. Ah well. That’s life. After having paid this outrageous price I went on a train trip around the city. But getting onto that train was far from easy. More »
As I mentioned earlier, Yangon is far more chaotic then Bangkok. Maybe more "Asian". I don't know. Cars are roaring past me, people are clinging to the outside of busses, there are strange smells everywhere and street-vendors are noisily praising their fruits and other wares. If there is one sound wthough, which I will forever associated with Myanmar that it's the gurgling sound of collecting mucus and spit at the back of your throat and spitting it out. rrrrrrRRRRR-Tscht. More »
Safely arrived in Myanmar (Burma) today. As expected I cannot access my email-account. The government here is blocking access to almost all web-based email-systems. I suppose they don't want people to be able to communicate anonymously. I think I know how I could overcome the filter-software, but can't be botherered right now. Would take too much time. More »
After being mainly overwhelmed by Bangkok yesterday I started being a good tourist today. I'm also pleasently surprised that I don't suffer from jet lag at all! It seems like the combination of taking Melatonin and drinking a lot of water really helps the body to adjust. More »
I just realized that on the very first day of my trip I already crossed a quarter of the globe. Normally I don't get a kick out of looking at the flight path on the monitors, but this time it was different. More »
Happy New Year to everyone! I had a wonderful New Years Eve together with Ruth but took it easy. So no hangover for me today. More »