PART VI: LIMESTONE CAVES AND THE FAST BOAT TO HPA-AN We are up early. After packing and enjoying a final breakfast from the Breeze’ veranda, we are picked up at 7:30 am and tuk-tuked to the ferry dock across town. I am a bit sorry to leave lovely mellow Mawlawyine but it is time […]
PART V: GO SOUTH YOUNG MAN! with apologies to Horace Greeley Leaving the tourist trail– Mawlamyine Bound– Dateline: 1/23/13–Yangon, Myanmar I have been in Yangon three days now. It seems longer mainly because I have mostly run out of things to do. It is taking me all this time to get my bearings in Myanmar […]
PART IV: The 158-year-old Jewish Synagogue Burma was once the home to a vibrant community of Jews numbering over 2,500 at its peak prior to WWII. I had heard about this synagogue for some time and had wanted to visit. One afternoon while looking at a map I was surprised to find that it […]
PART III: Yangon Circle Train I stayed in Rangoon (for some reason I just like the sound of the old name) longer than expected. Motherland 2 could only offer me a room for one night; they were booked up. This turned out to be good thing as I really did not care for the […]
Part II: Introduction and First Impressions The opinions expressed here are wholly my own. I just completed 28 days in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, which is the longest visa that any foreigner can normally get. For purposes of this series I will use both names interchangeably. Visiting Burma is in many ways like stepping back […]
Shwedagon Paya, sometimes referred to in English as the Golden Pagoda, is the most sacred Buddhist pagoda for the Burmese with relics of the past four Buddhas enshrined within. Buddhists from all of Myanmar, and for that matter the world, make pilgramage there. The central pagoda, at 99 meters (325 feet) dominates the skyline of Yangon (formerly Rangoon), in […]
Announcing New Travel Plans Hello dear friends and readers and welcome back! First of all, thanks you for sticking with me during my writing hiatus in California. When I returned from five months in New Zealand, Bali and Fiji, I thought I would be here for a couple of months and then resume my traveling. […]
In search of the rare Yellow-Eyed Penguin …continued After coffee and a few moments to appreciate my deserted beachside camp spot, Jucy and I hit the road. It wasn’t too long before we got to our first stop, the rugged Waipapa Point. Waipapa Point From a small parking lot, it is a 10 […]
After three days of sailing and tramping the temperate rain forest of stunningly gorgeous and physically isolated Doubtful Sound, it was time to move on. I found my trusty Jucy Condo where I had parked it three days before and away we went. There are at least three roads crossing the southern part of New […]
A Photo Essay While staying in Dunedin with the Cooke family, we went to a weekend farmers’ market outside the Dunedin Railway Station. In between selecting the best squashes and parsnips to take home, I had a chance to admire this exceptional building. Vowing to return, I made good a couple weeks later while passing […]