A Day on a Lake – Part One

Inle Lake, Myanmar, is one of the country’s busiest tourist spots. People can take a room on or around the lake at several hundred dollars a night, but the backpackers and tourists with more limited funds will head for Nyaungshwe and get a room there. There’s a river that connects Inle Lake to Nyaungshwe and …

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Trip of a Lifetime – The Czech Republic & Norway

Crikey, it’s been MONTHS since I posted on the story of my first ever solo backpacker adventure. Readers may (or may not) recall that I had almost got to the end of my time in Europe, which had seen me through Germany, Italy, France, the UK, Sweden, Denmark yada yada yada. When last I left …

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Accommodation Review – May Kha Lar Guesthouse, Nyaung U, Myanmar (Bagan)

The next accommodation review is in, and it doesn’t quite match up to the first two places I stayed in Myanmar, but to be honest, they were pretty special. I had also pre-booked the May Khar Lar Guesthouse on Asiarooms.com I think, but I kinda knew I was in for a drop in quality. I …

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Sunday Spotlight – Mandalay

Yes, Sunday Spotlight is back this time with a city from my most recently visited country, Myanmar. Mandalay, made famous to the west by Rudyard Kipling and a poem he once wrote, possibly sounds a little romantic. For example: Come you back to Mandalay, Where the old Flotilla lay: Can't you 'ear their paddles chunkin' …

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Foto Friday – On the train in Myanmar

This lady was not supposed to be in 'upper class', but when the ticket inspectors came along she yelled and shouted and made so much fuss they let her stay. Carriage wasn't even half full anyway. She had a dozen bags. I took several of these shots, all blurry, yet for some reason I really …

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The Shwedagon Pagoda

At the heart of Yangon, bustling ex-capitol of Myanmar, lies the Shwedagon Pagoda, the most significant temple in the city and the city’s biggest tourist attraction by far. When I was travelling in Myanmar I heard a variety of opinions about Yangon, and most weren’t so positive. People were choosing to skip Yangon all together …

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Time and Khao San Rd

For those unfamiliar with Bangkok and the tourist Mecca that is Khao San Road, the original backpackers’ district of pretty much the world has been luring backpackers in left right and centre for decades. I first went there in 1999, staying in two places, one actually ON Khao San Rd itself (no, I did not …

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