Myanmar
Mandalay by the Ayerarwady river
Mandalay is a flat city. During the day it is hot as a frying pan. Vertical-horizontal arrangement of the city’s streets makes it easy to find your way, so it is quite unlikely to get lost here. This morning I’m meeting Vera. A few days ago we agreed that our roads would join here. As…
Read MoreMorning train to Hsipaw
I have accidentally arrived to Mandalay at 3 am. What can you do at this hour? Probably just try to get away. I grab my backpack and hop on a motorcycle taxi. We rush through the big city’s darkness towards railway station. To my surprise, even at this early hour there is a lot of…
Read MoreWhere the garlic grows (Kalaw to Inle Lake)
We are going to take a double-decker pickup towards Kalaw. In fact, it is an ordinary pickup, with the difference being that people sit on a roof. Interestingly, local women are not allowed to sit on vehicle’s roof, because it is “not appropriate”. The car keeps overheating, but the situation is under control as long…
Read MoreLimestone caves around Hpa-an (Myanmar)
It’s another extremely hot morning. You are sweating terribly just from the process of eating breakfast at 7.30. We plan to spend the day on exploring the area around Hpa-an using wrecked but still running relatively strong scooters. These are remote areas characterized by limestone mountains and caves. It’s easy to get lost in the…
Read MoreMawlamyine and the Ogre Island
We arrive to Mawlamyine at six in the morning and to our surprise it is not too early for a very early check-in. Courtesy of Breeze Guest House. Without wasting time, we set off on scooters to explore the area around. The everyday life of the town’s inhabitants concentrates around the market, bustling with retailers…
Read MoreLand crossing into Myanmar
The overland travel to Myanmar, former Burma, had crossed my mind long time ago when visited Southeast Asia for the first time. Even though some of the Burmese land borders began to open already few years ago, the south of the country remained largely isolated from the world until August 2013. Today one can “easily”…
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