Author archive
25 January 2013
After two weeks in Myanmar, here are some of my thoughts: Likes The weather in winter is perfect in the shade and in the highlands. Watching day turn into night at Shwedagon Pagoda Small rural towns and cycling through the countryside. Cruising Inle Lake. Dislikes It isn’t a value destination. Accommodation is expensive. Eating is […]
24 January 2013
I had to wake early for the 0900 flight to Yangon as the airport is over in Heho, some 50 minutes away. The ride was very picturesque with Intha fishermen working in the mist. Then there were lots of monks collecting their alms; with not just their begging bowl … this time they a bamboo […]
23 January 2013
I had enquired several times about excursions to Inle Lake and the standard itinerary was about USD 17. What they don’t tell you is that the price is for the whole boat, which seat five. When divided by five, it becomes a really cheap daytrip. Finally, something cheap in Myanmar … because there is a […]
22 January 2013
I had a leisurely day (or half-day) on the bike today. I read about the hot spring about 40 minutes away by bike. It seemed like a good way to while the day away. The road there was a mix of sealed and unsealed. I had a nicer bike than the one in Bagan and […]
21 January 2013
Above: Sightseeing boats on the river at Nyaung Shwe. I woke at 0530. As I left the hotel the monks were on their rounds collecting their food. The ride to Bagan Airport took about 15 minutes and the place was very quiet when I first arrived. It didn’t take long before busloads of older western […]
20 January 2013
I set the alarm for 0500. It was an unusually warm morning; even in the lowlands including Yangon, it is normally quite cool. Despite that, it wasn’t warm enough to cycle in just a thin T-shirt. I felt apprehensive wearing my black raincoat cycling on the poorly-lit road from Nyaung U to get to Shwe […]
19 January 2013
Seven of us had agreed to go to Mt Popa today. We had organised a small pickup truck to take us there and back at about USD1 more than the public transport rate of USD7 per head (see, I told you Myanmar wasn’t cheap … that’s a lot of money for a 1h + 1h […]
18 January 2013
I had an amazing night sleep in the cold enclosed rooftop dorm until the prayers kicked in around 0600. I had been warned about lots of chanting from 0400 but it either didn’t happen or I had slept through it. After a simple but big breakfast, I rented a bicycle for less than USD2 for […]
17 January 2013
With a 0700 departure on the ferry, I got the hotel to order me a taxi for 0615. It turned up slightly late and there was a mild panic. To make matters worse, he took me to another deserted jetty which is used on some days of the week. Fortunately we made it to the […]
16 January 2013
Working half days I woke at 0700 after 11 hours sleep, to make up for the previous night’s interrupted sleep … when my body woke me up for the AirAsia sale which I had forgotten about. Also, sleep without pseudoephedrine is so much better! As Myanmar’s sights are largely temples and stupas, I had found […]