Exploring the world and stuff
The name ‘Mandalay’ tends to invoke something of a romantic nostalgia, as if there is some kind of magic to the city. This must come from its colonial days and of course the poem ‘Mandalay’ by Rudyard Kipling. I stayed at Dreamland Guesthouse whilst in Mandalay. It’s a nice hostel, and also an art studio so the walls are covered in artwork! It also acts as a music studio and… Read moreMandalay – Myanmar 2016
The train ride from Hsipaw to Pyin Oo Lwin is fame for its scenic beauty and it’s one that i’d heard many backpacker talk about and recommend to me. I’m happy to say it lived up to its expectations, the scenery was great and it was nice seeing people going about their lives farming and so forth, as well as the interesting characters both who caught the train and who… Read morePyin Oo Lwin – Train ride and beautiful gardens – Myanmar 2016
Hsipaw is in Shan state. When people talk about Myanmar sometimes they forget that it is a collection of states and that it is not correct to label them all under a Burmese banner. It’s hard to make any actuate comparisons, but maybe a way to put it in Western terms is that Shan state is to Myanmar such as Scotland is to the United Kingdom or Bavaria is to… Read moreHsipaw – The Town and a Trek – Myanmar 2016
The trip to Loika was an odd one. We were transported by boat down through Inle lake all the way to through to what I think was Pekon, i’m not completely sure but essentially after going through Inle we then went through very narrow river to reach another lake and then crossed that. It was quite surreal at times passing through fields on both sides as the water was very… Read moreAround Loika – Visiting tribes and mixed feelings – Myanmar April 2016
Inle Lake is famous for the local life on the lake, there are many people who live on the lakeside and some actually on the lake itself. For me this is the reason to visit, it’s not natural beauty that is the highlight here but people. I was still with 6 of those who I had done the trek here from Kalaw with and we arranged with the boat driver… Read moreInle Lake – Myanmar 2016
The main reason for travellers to visit Kalaw is to do the trek from there to Inle lake. After arriving in Kalaw, 10 of us who had hired the bus to bring us here elected to trek together. 7 of us had already made plans for this in Bagan, and we were joined by 3 Austrians. The other 6 were 2 Norwegians (1 mum, 1 daughter), then all travelling separately… Read moreTrek from Kalaw to Inle Lake – Myanmar 2016
Arriving in Bagan I rendezvoused with friends i’d made in Yangons bus station who were staying at the same hostel as me and we headed there. It was called Ostello Bello and it’s a really cool place, a good base for meeting other travellers and exploring Bagan. Expensive but recommended. It’s in New Bagan, the other 2 ‘hubs’ are Old Bagan and Nyaung U. Bagan is a place of thousands… Read moreBagan and Thingyan (water festival) – Myanmar 2016
I flew into Yangon to begin my Myanmar exploration, and it was a good place to start! The first night i’d arrived fairly late, so the next day I decided to pack a lot in. After managing to buy a bus ticket to move on (more on that at the end of this post) I headed to the Downtown area. My first port of call was the Sule Paya pagoda,… Read moreYangon – Myanmar 2016