I meant to pop this up after I left, but was so busy posting the regular diary entries I forgot. Myanmar’s a tricky country to decide whether to visit mainly due to the way it’s run. The dictatorial government are sat at the top of the pile because they’re rich and to get richer. The [...]

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Fair bit of travelling since the last post, but I’ll try to breeze through it all. My flight from Yangon to Bangkok was on time, but I had some “fun” at the departure tax kiosk trying to convince them to accept a torn $5 bill and a $1 with the tiniest little rip in it. [...]

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I didn’t get the chance to edit this before I uploaded the main post for the visit to the Pagoda. Again, if you go direct to the video’s page on YouTube, there’s a hi-def version available.

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After a better trip than the northbound one (comfier seats, more legroom, quieter telly and milder aircon) the bus arrived into Yangon at a little before 7am. I rebuffed all offers of a taxi and walked out of the bus station. This isn’t as easy as it sounds as the “station” is more like a [...]

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I’d intended to wake really early and see the Buddha being washed at the Mahamuni Paya, but despite an early night I just wasn’t up to a 3am rise. Instead, I got up at 7, had breakfast and took a trip up to Mandalay Hill. There are covered steps leading all the way up to [...]

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I had a nice lie in this morning till after 8am (wow!), devoured breakfast and walked around the corner to the cinema. I’d noticed last night that the sign for Transporter 3 had been taken down, but it seems they always change the films on a Friday and always have an English one on as [...]

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I’m currently in a cybercafe in Mandalay, Myanmar. Internet access is slow and painful so this is just a quickie to let you all know I’ll be back online properly around Thursday next week once I get to KL. The gangsta rap on the stereo’s just been replaces by Black Lace‘s Agadoo so I’m most [...]

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I was up for the now-standard Mayanmar guest house breakfast just after 7:00 and was joined by my Slovenian friends (Anya and her boyfriend, who’s name I forget and for which I apologise profusely as ever). We jumped into the blue taxi they’d pre-arranged with our first stop being the Mahamuni Paya. This is the [...]

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Well, I just had to give this item that title, didn’t I? I was up at the crack of dawn again to get an early breakfast and gather the last of my things. As I waited for the bus, I played badminton with the young daughter of the guest house owner before she was rushed [...]

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My alarm went off at 05:15 and I got dressed in the pleasant coolness of early morning. The staff weren’t up yet, and I crept out for the short walk to the Shwezigon Paya. Locals claim this is the model for the larger Shwedagon in Yangon which I intend to visit on Sunday. It was [...]

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