Yangon was my first stop in Myanmar but it obviously wasn't the first place I really wanted to be. That place was Bagan, about 400km north of Yangon. Bagan is famous for it's many ancient temples and pagodas, slightly similar to Cambodia's Angkor Wat and I really wanted to see it. I spent a week exploring Angkor Wat and really enjoyed it even though I'm not much of a history buff. There were basically 3 ways to get to Bagan
1. Fly. It took me 4 flights to get to Myanmar, I was done with flying for a while.
2. Bus to Mandalay and then another bus to Bagan.This was the most popular option most people went with but since I was going to Mandalay later, I wanted to avoid backtracking to it.
3. Bus to Bagan, the 'back' way through Pyay and Magwe and this is the route I went with. I would have to overnight in Pyay and Magwe but that's Ok, I wanted to break up the bus journey anyway.
I took a taxi from Golden Smiles to the bus station, near the airport. Buses to Pyay went every hour. I got on the 11am bus that left exactly at 11. It was a nicer bus, no A/C but that's Ok. Comfy seats and a pouch on the back of the seat in front of me and a coat hanger and 2 plastic bags provided. This was a great idea and something I'd never seen before. They were useful for garbage or spitting your red slimy saliva from betel nut chewing which was alive and well here. Betel nut is a stimulant which reduces appetite and provides energy. It was really popular is Northeast India and globs of red stain the pavement everywhere like they did in India.
The scenery on the way was nothing much. Very dry and flat golden brown rice paddies. We reached Pyay at 5.30 and I went to the Myat Lodging House. The owners were super friendly and my room was very nice. Carpet, fridge, TV (no English channels though) desk and many other little nice features. Though it didn't have a private bath and was kind of expensive at $12, but for one night it would do just fine. The communal bath was very nice and clean. I ate at a local restaurant and drank a Tiger beer while watching Resident Evil on TV.
The next morning, the owners of Myat took me on a motorbike to a larger hotel that they also owned for the the complimentary breakfast. I wore a skullcap helmet with a brand new Nazi swastika sticker on it! I don't think they even know what it means. The bus left on time at 8.30 and I arrived in Magwe at 4.30. The scenery was much of the same from the day before.
There were only 2 listed hotels in Magwe and one was out of town. Hotels have to be licensed by the government to rent rooms to foreigners and not many hotels have done this outside of touristy areas. The place was a dive and overpriced. I didn't like it all but it would only be for 12 hours as my bus left for Bagan at 6am the next day. I went to eat at Monarlizar 2, the happening place in town. Behind the place was an impressive and newly built 2km bridge over the Ayeyarwaddy river. The food was fine and the staff was very attentive and professional. Entertainment was provided by some young and beautiful Burmese women dancing in harmony. After that there were some individual women singing karaoke style.
My bus left at 6am promptly. The sun wasn't up yet but it was just getting bright at that time. This bus, as yesterdays, was getting lower in quality that the first day. The road was the same and it disintegrated into a potholed one lane road. Thankfully there wasn't much traffic because we had to slow down for oncoming traffic and we both squeezed over a little onto the shoulder to pass. The scenery was more hilly and treed and more interesting. I was dead tired from getting up at 5am and by 10, couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. I rested my head in the bus and was awoken by a tiny Burmese women. I had arrived in Bagan and was to pay my one time $10 admission fee. This was great news to be woken up for. I took a bicycle rickshaw to the New Heaven guesthouse. This was a great place. My $6 room had a private (and working) hot shower, towel, toilet paper, porch, reading lights(also working) and was very neat and clean. I liked it a lot was glad to be here finally. I would easily stay 4 or 5 days exploring the temples and surrounding area.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Myanmar!
First day in Yangon
The hour long flight to Yangon, capitol of Myanmar, was smooth and easy. Going through customs and immigration wasn't as strict as I thought it would be. It was just like anywhere else. Since Thailand just another longer stopover on my trip,I consider my trip to have begun officially now that I'm in Myanmar (pronounced me-an-mar). I shared a taxi with a German for the 18km ride into the center of town. I went to the Golden Smiles Inn. I took a simple room with shared bath for $5. I was starving and stopped to eat at a busy street food place just outside the hotel. I had rice, potatoes and prawns and a Star( Myanmar's cheap version of Coke) cola for 900 kyat. $1US/Can will get about 1000 kyat (pronounced chat). It was a really funny scene that I wasn't used to be seems to be the norm all over Myanmar, the tables and chairs are all like for little kids. The seat of the chair was only up to my shin!
Second day
I got up at 8am and had breakfast on the balcony. The Golden Smiles Inn is located on the second floor of some huge building. The cool and fairly unique thing about Myanmar hotels is that they often include breakfast in the price of the room. Sometimes, it's basic but can be substantial. Golden Smiles included bananas, toast, omelette and coffee. My first order of business was to check the cinemas to see what was playing. Unfortunately at the one 'Hollywoodish' place, they were showing Michael Jackson's movie, no thanks. As I stood out front of the cinema a Burmese man approached me and we started talking. His name was Willam Tate, 53, and an English teacher. He didn't want any money, he just wanted to talk with me and hear my accent and pronunciation. That was fine with me and he would direct me anywhere I needed to go. I needed to change $, so we went and did that at a reputable place. Banks are a waste of time here. There are no ATM's and practically no place changes Traveller's cheques, so cash is king in Myanmar. I changed $100 and got a huge stack of bills. Myanmar's largest bill is 1000kyat, so I got a stack of 97,000 kyats! I told William I collect $ and the money changer gave me a few old bills of small donominations in really good shape for free. We continued my quest for collectable $ and went to a gold shop owned by one of his students'parents. They gave me a few more bills.
I had read in the guidebook to check out Sakura tower. A twenty floor building in the center of town with good views of the city. On the top floor is a posh restaurant, the Sky Bistro. It was empty then and they let me in to take some aerial photos.
We then went to check the rest of the cinema's in town and at the last one, an American movie 'Sudden Impact' was playing. I've never heard of it but decided to come back and watch it at the last showing, 4.30pm. Next was to get cleaned up and get my yearly haircut. We went to a small place down a side street with a bunch of young girls there. One of them cut my hair and did a good job, for $1. I parted ways with William next but we agreed to meet the following day. He wanted me to talk to his class. I thought this would be fun.
After that I went for lunch and then to relax in my room until it was time to leave for the movie. The cinema was Ok, the sound was good but the picture was only showing on half the size of the screen. Turns out the movie ending up being 'The Long Kiss Goodnight' with Samuel L. Jackson from the 1990's, which I had already seen! No big deal though, I stayed to watch it anyway. Hell, I already paid my 60 cents to watch it!
I went for some Ok Indian fast food after that I went back to the Sky Bistro for some beer and night photos of the city. For the month of November there was a promo on Tiger beer, one glass for 1000kyat. I sat down for a few beers and pulled out my tripod for some long exposure shots of the traffic below. It was a very nice place but not very busy. A meal there cost 6000kyat. After a few beers and lots of photos, I walked back to Golden Smiles.
Day Three
After breakfast I walked 45 minutes to Shwedagon Paya, a huge and famous Buddhist pagoda in Myanmar. Yangon is not like Thailand at all. It's much more rundown with street markets selling everything, everywhere. Traffic was only busy in some places and for a capital city, I didn't hate it. They sold lighters the size of an ice cream bar! The city is fairly crime free, as is the whole country. If a local steals from a foreigner, they can get 5 years hard labour in prison. The military government, run by a few greedy generals, have 'spies' all over and someone would never get away with trying to sell something stolen from a foreigner. The sidewalk, like many roads, is a crumbling mess that requires constant attention or else fall in the sewer below. The Pagoda is one huge pagoda surrounded by many more smaller pagodas. The main stupa (spire) is covered in gold and the top plated with diamonds, rubies and sappires. It is a very important place for Burmese people. After hanging out there for a few hours and getting my picture taken with some monks (at their request), I walked back into the center of town. I ate lunch and then went to the cinema at 4 to meet William, who was already there. We walked to his class, about 10 minutes away and up 3 floors in an old building. Not all his students were there, but there was about 15 of them, roughly divided equally between male and female and between the ages of 17 and 25. The Burmese people are extremely hospitable and before I did anything, they brought me some mohinga, a fish/noodle soup and a coffee. The soup wasn't bad at all. William said all Burmese people like it. The coffee was 3 in 1, that's coffee mix, sugar and creamer all together. It's a rich and sweet blend that I quite like. I've bought these before at an Asian store back home and they are perfect for camping. There are huge billboards advertising them all over the country. At local restaurants, it's normal for a pot of weak Chinese tea to go complimentary with your meal.
After my meal and meeting a few students, I went to the head of the class. I wrote my name and where I was from on the chalkboard. I was the first foreigner that they've had in the class. I told them a bit about where I was from and then it was more like a question and answer period. I helped them pronounce a few words that were written on the chalkboard too. They asked me questions in English about my hobbies, favourite place in Myanmar, what I though of the Burmese people, etc. It was a lot of fun and very low key.
When that was over, William and his teaching partner, Jeffrey wanted to take me out for dinner but first I needed to shower. I had been out walking around all day since 9am and it was now 6.30pm. The weather here is almost perfect. It's the 'winter' season and a bit cooler. Days were sunny and about 30C with only %50 humidity, which made it not as hot. Nights dipped to a comfortable 25C. I showered at Golden Smile and then met William and Jeffrey. We took a taxi into the suburbs to go to a really local place. They bought me dinner and a few beers and wanted nothing from me. They were both very friendly and genuine and invited me back anytime I wanted. It was probably the most time I've spent with locals in a long time that weren't a girlfriend or a guide.
The hour long flight to Yangon, capitol of Myanmar, was smooth and easy. Going through customs and immigration wasn't as strict as I thought it would be. It was just like anywhere else. Since Thailand just another longer stopover on my trip,I consider my trip to have begun officially now that I'm in Myanmar (pronounced me-an-mar). I shared a taxi with a German for the 18km ride into the center of town. I went to the Golden Smiles Inn. I took a simple room with shared bath for $5. I was starving and stopped to eat at a busy street food place just outside the hotel. I had rice, potatoes and prawns and a Star( Myanmar's cheap version of Coke) cola for 900 kyat. $1US/Can will get about 1000 kyat (pronounced chat). It was a really funny scene that I wasn't used to be seems to be the norm all over Myanmar, the tables and chairs are all like for little kids. The seat of the chair was only up to my shin!
Second day
I got up at 8am and had breakfast on the balcony. The Golden Smiles Inn is located on the second floor of some huge building. The cool and fairly unique thing about Myanmar hotels is that they often include breakfast in the price of the room. Sometimes, it's basic but can be substantial. Golden Smiles included bananas, toast, omelette and coffee. My first order of business was to check the cinemas to see what was playing. Unfortunately at the one 'Hollywoodish' place, they were showing Michael Jackson's movie, no thanks. As I stood out front of the cinema a Burmese man approached me and we started talking. His name was Willam Tate, 53, and an English teacher. He didn't want any money, he just wanted to talk with me and hear my accent and pronunciation. That was fine with me and he would direct me anywhere I needed to go. I needed to change $, so we went and did that at a reputable place. Banks are a waste of time here. There are no ATM's and practically no place changes Traveller's cheques, so cash is king in Myanmar. I changed $100 and got a huge stack of bills. Myanmar's largest bill is 1000kyat, so I got a stack of 97,000 kyats! I told William I collect $ and the money changer gave me a few old bills of small donominations in really good shape for free. We continued my quest for collectable $ and went to a gold shop owned by one of his students'parents. They gave me a few more bills.
I had read in the guidebook to check out Sakura tower. A twenty floor building in the center of town with good views of the city. On the top floor is a posh restaurant, the Sky Bistro. It was empty then and they let me in to take some aerial photos.
We then went to check the rest of the cinema's in town and at the last one, an American movie 'Sudden Impact' was playing. I've never heard of it but decided to come back and watch it at the last showing, 4.30pm. Next was to get cleaned up and get my yearly haircut. We went to a small place down a side street with a bunch of young girls there. One of them cut my hair and did a good job, for $1. I parted ways with William next but we agreed to meet the following day. He wanted me to talk to his class. I thought this would be fun.
After that I went for lunch and then to relax in my room until it was time to leave for the movie. The cinema was Ok, the sound was good but the picture was only showing on half the size of the screen. Turns out the movie ending up being 'The Long Kiss Goodnight' with Samuel L. Jackson from the 1990's, which I had already seen! No big deal though, I stayed to watch it anyway. Hell, I already paid my 60 cents to watch it!
I went for some Ok Indian fast food after that I went back to the Sky Bistro for some beer and night photos of the city. For the month of November there was a promo on Tiger beer, one glass for 1000kyat. I sat down for a few beers and pulled out my tripod for some long exposure shots of the traffic below. It was a very nice place but not very busy. A meal there cost 6000kyat. After a few beers and lots of photos, I walked back to Golden Smiles.
Day Three
After breakfast I walked 45 minutes to Shwedagon Paya, a huge and famous Buddhist pagoda in Myanmar. Yangon is not like Thailand at all. It's much more rundown with street markets selling everything, everywhere. Traffic was only busy in some places and for a capital city, I didn't hate it. They sold lighters the size of an ice cream bar! The city is fairly crime free, as is the whole country. If a local steals from a foreigner, they can get 5 years hard labour in prison. The military government, run by a few greedy generals, have 'spies' all over and someone would never get away with trying to sell something stolen from a foreigner. The sidewalk, like many roads, is a crumbling mess that requires constant attention or else fall in the sewer below. The Pagoda is one huge pagoda surrounded by many more smaller pagodas. The main stupa (spire) is covered in gold and the top plated with diamonds, rubies and sappires. It is a very important place for Burmese people. After hanging out there for a few hours and getting my picture taken with some monks (at their request), I walked back into the center of town. I ate lunch and then went to the cinema at 4 to meet William, who was already there. We walked to his class, about 10 minutes away and up 3 floors in an old building. Not all his students were there, but there was about 15 of them, roughly divided equally between male and female and between the ages of 17 and 25. The Burmese people are extremely hospitable and before I did anything, they brought me some mohinga, a fish/noodle soup and a coffee. The soup wasn't bad at all. William said all Burmese people like it. The coffee was 3 in 1, that's coffee mix, sugar and creamer all together. It's a rich and sweet blend that I quite like. I've bought these before at an Asian store back home and they are perfect for camping. There are huge billboards advertising them all over the country. At local restaurants, it's normal for a pot of weak Chinese tea to go complimentary with your meal.
After my meal and meeting a few students, I went to the head of the class. I wrote my name and where I was from on the chalkboard. I was the first foreigner that they've had in the class. I told them a bit about where I was from and then it was more like a question and answer period. I helped them pronounce a few words that were written on the chalkboard too. They asked me questions in English about my hobbies, favourite place in Myanmar, what I though of the Burmese people, etc. It was a lot of fun and very low key.
When that was over, William and his teaching partner, Jeffrey wanted to take me out for dinner but first I needed to shower. I had been out walking around all day since 9am and it was now 6.30pm. The weather here is almost perfect. It's the 'winter' season and a bit cooler. Days were sunny and about 30C with only %50 humidity, which made it not as hot. Nights dipped to a comfortable 25C. I showered at Golden Smile and then met William and Jeffrey. We took a taxi into the suburbs to go to a really local place. They bought me dinner and a few beers and wanted nothing from me. They were both very friendly and genuine and invited me back anytime I wanted. It was probably the most time I've spent with locals in a long time that weren't a girlfriend or a guide.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Bangkok
Nov. 18
I arrived in Bangkok at midnight. I had 3 flights from Toronto to Chicago to Tokyo to Bangkok. I must say all 3 were very smooth with minimal turbulence. I got to my hotel, New Siam II at 1am. My room was very nice with attatched bath, TV and even a safe and strangely enough a scale too. I watched a bit of TV before crashing. It had been about 45 hours (including time change of 12 hours) since I left Niagara Falls.
Nov. 19.
My only task today was to secure a visa for Myanmar. I kept waking up and telling myself the next time I get up, I will eat and get a visa. Well, this didn't happen till almost 1pm. I asked around at a few travel agents and it seems things have changed. Instead of the travel agents getting the visa for you, I would have to go to the Myanmar embassy and apply in person. A travel also told me that the embassy closed at 1pm so I was out of luck for today. I ate a delicious breakfast of yogurt, muesli and fruit for $2. There is only a 9% difference in currency between Canadian and American right now so any prices I mention will be in Canadian. The exchange rate is $1 Can = 30 Thai baht. With nothing else to do today I went back to my room to watch TV and sleep more. I went out for a very tasty evening meal of spicy green curry vegetables and rice. Behind my hotel is a pedestrian street full of restaurants, guesthouses, vendors and more. It is similar to the backpacker ghetto of Khao San Rd. about a 10 minute walk away. There are tons of foreigners here. I have easily seen more foreigners here than I did on my whole last trip to East Africa and that's no exaggeration. I stayed up late watching movies. I'm still very jet lagged.
Nov. 20.
I was up at 7.30 today and watched a bit of TV before eating a tasty breakfast in the hotel restaurant. My goal today was to get a visa for Myanmar. To get to the embassy I first had to get to the pier, which was a 5 minute walk away. The traffic can be hectic in Bangkok and for where I had to get to, taking a public boat was the best option. The ticket was 50 cents and I rode to boat to Central pier which took about half an hour. The boat was very efficient at docking and dropping off/picking up passengers in minutes. From the central pier I took a mototaxi to the embassy. It was a bit unnerving on the moto as the driver weaved through Bangkok's traffic. Surprisingly though, they gave me a helmet to wear. At the embassy I filled out the detailed forms for a tourist visa. They wanted to know everything, eye color, hair color, complexion,my father's full name, hotel I'll be staying in, why I wanted to go there and my last 3 jobs! I also had to paste in 2 passport photos which I had brought with me from home. They told me to come back to collect my visa on tuesday and this was friday! I did not want to wait that long in Bangkok or travel anywhere in the meantime so I asked about an express visa. They told me if I paid $15 more I could have the visa today, so I went with that option, considering it would cost me a lot more to hang around for another 4 days.
Visa application done, I went back to my hotel to rest and eat lunch. I got back to the embassy right at 3pm when they told me to come back to collect my visa. The place was jam packed! Thankfully they opened up another queue for visa express applicants. I only waited 10 minutes in this line before getting my visa. Now I had to get a flight to Myanmar as there are no overland options into the country. I went to the travel agency at my hotel and they told me that all flights into Myanmar were booked until monday! This was terrible news so I went to another agency to confirm it and they told me the same thing. So I went back to my hotel agency to buy a ticket for monday. As they searched, a seat became available for tomorrow, saturday. This was the news I wanted and I promptly paid for my ticket.
Myanmar was turning out to be more popular than I had thought. The travel agent told me that the high season is beginning now and that anytime last month I could have gotten a seat anyday for a flight. I relaxed in my room and then went out to eat dinner. Back in my room I had planned on watching a movie but 20 minutes in I began to fall asleep. It was only 8.30, but I decided not to fight it and crashed.
Nov. 21
I was up at 7.30 and watched a movie before eating breakfast. My flight is at 6pm and checkout time is 11am. I didn't want to hang out in cafes for 5 hours till I had to leave for the airport so I paid for half a day in my room. My next post will be from Myanmar.
I arrived in Bangkok at midnight. I had 3 flights from Toronto to Chicago to Tokyo to Bangkok. I must say all 3 were very smooth with minimal turbulence. I got to my hotel, New Siam II at 1am. My room was very nice with attatched bath, TV and even a safe and strangely enough a scale too. I watched a bit of TV before crashing. It had been about 45 hours (including time change of 12 hours) since I left Niagara Falls.
Nov. 19.
My only task today was to secure a visa for Myanmar. I kept waking up and telling myself the next time I get up, I will eat and get a visa. Well, this didn't happen till almost 1pm. I asked around at a few travel agents and it seems things have changed. Instead of the travel agents getting the visa for you, I would have to go to the Myanmar embassy and apply in person. A travel also told me that the embassy closed at 1pm so I was out of luck for today. I ate a delicious breakfast of yogurt, muesli and fruit for $2. There is only a 9% difference in currency between Canadian and American right now so any prices I mention will be in Canadian. The exchange rate is $1 Can = 30 Thai baht. With nothing else to do today I went back to my room to watch TV and sleep more. I went out for a very tasty evening meal of spicy green curry vegetables and rice. Behind my hotel is a pedestrian street full of restaurants, guesthouses, vendors and more. It is similar to the backpacker ghetto of Khao San Rd. about a 10 minute walk away. There are tons of foreigners here. I have easily seen more foreigners here than I did on my whole last trip to East Africa and that's no exaggeration. I stayed up late watching movies. I'm still very jet lagged.
Nov. 20.
I was up at 7.30 today and watched a bit of TV before eating a tasty breakfast in the hotel restaurant. My goal today was to get a visa for Myanmar. To get to the embassy I first had to get to the pier, which was a 5 minute walk away. The traffic can be hectic in Bangkok and for where I had to get to, taking a public boat was the best option. The ticket was 50 cents and I rode to boat to Central pier which took about half an hour. The boat was very efficient at docking and dropping off/picking up passengers in minutes. From the central pier I took a mototaxi to the embassy. It was a bit unnerving on the moto as the driver weaved through Bangkok's traffic. Surprisingly though, they gave me a helmet to wear. At the embassy I filled out the detailed forms for a tourist visa. They wanted to know everything, eye color, hair color, complexion,my father's full name, hotel I'll be staying in, why I wanted to go there and my last 3 jobs! I also had to paste in 2 passport photos which I had brought with me from home. They told me to come back to collect my visa on tuesday and this was friday! I did not want to wait that long in Bangkok or travel anywhere in the meantime so I asked about an express visa. They told me if I paid $15 more I could have the visa today, so I went with that option, considering it would cost me a lot more to hang around for another 4 days.
Visa application done, I went back to my hotel to rest and eat lunch. I got back to the embassy right at 3pm when they told me to come back to collect my visa. The place was jam packed! Thankfully they opened up another queue for visa express applicants. I only waited 10 minutes in this line before getting my visa. Now I had to get a flight to Myanmar as there are no overland options into the country. I went to the travel agency at my hotel and they told me that all flights into Myanmar were booked until monday! This was terrible news so I went to another agency to confirm it and they told me the same thing. So I went back to my hotel agency to buy a ticket for monday. As they searched, a seat became available for tomorrow, saturday. This was the news I wanted and I promptly paid for my ticket.
Myanmar was turning out to be more popular than I had thought. The travel agent told me that the high season is beginning now and that anytime last month I could have gotten a seat anyday for a flight. I relaxed in my room and then went out to eat dinner. Back in my room I had planned on watching a movie but 20 minutes in I began to fall asleep. It was only 8.30, but I decided not to fight it and crashed.
Nov. 21
I was up at 7.30 and watched a movie before eating breakfast. My flight is at 6pm and checkout time is 11am. I didn't want to hang out in cafes for 5 hours till I had to leave for the airport so I paid for half a day in my room. My next post will be from Myanmar.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Southeast Asia 2009/10
Hi everybody. Welcome back to my blog. It's been almost 8 months since my last post but that's going to change soon.
On Nov. 17, I begin another 4 month adventure. This trip marks 12 years of seasonal travel for me since 1998. This year I am exploring SE Asia for the fourth time. I will be visiting Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam but I begin my trip in Bangkok. I'm only staying a few days there to get a visa and a flight to Myanmar. Flying into Myanmar is much more expensive than flying into Bangkok. After about 3 or 4 weeks in Myanmar, I will be dividing my last 3 months between Laos and Vietnam. I have been to Thailand and Cambodia before but this year's countries are all new to me. I really like this part of the world. The people, food, weather and economical prices make this a great region to travel in. Although it doesn't have the big game parks like Africa, I'm still looking forward to spending a lot of time in national parks. Finding wildlife here in the rainforest will be much more challenging but I'm up for it. Besides the national parks, I will be visiting ancient temples like Bagan in Myanmar ( a smaller, version of Ankgor Wat in Cambodia), trekking, caving and maybe a few beaches. I also look forward to exploring the tunnels of Vietnam. This region (though maybe not Myanmar) is firmly on the backpacking circuit but I will be doing my best to get off the beaten track and into remote areas.
On Nov. 17, I begin another 4 month adventure. This trip marks 12 years of seasonal travel for me since 1998. This year I am exploring SE Asia for the fourth time. I will be visiting Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam but I begin my trip in Bangkok. I'm only staying a few days there to get a visa and a flight to Myanmar. Flying into Myanmar is much more expensive than flying into Bangkok. After about 3 or 4 weeks in Myanmar, I will be dividing my last 3 months between Laos and Vietnam. I have been to Thailand and Cambodia before but this year's countries are all new to me. I really like this part of the world. The people, food, weather and economical prices make this a great region to travel in. Although it doesn't have the big game parks like Africa, I'm still looking forward to spending a lot of time in national parks. Finding wildlife here in the rainforest will be much more challenging but I'm up for it. Besides the national parks, I will be visiting ancient temples like Bagan in Myanmar ( a smaller, version of Ankgor Wat in Cambodia), trekking, caving and maybe a few beaches. I also look forward to exploring the tunnels of Vietnam. This region (though maybe not Myanmar) is firmly on the backpacking circuit but I will be doing my best to get off the beaten track and into remote areas.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
