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Fish for a Crowd
Save Our River, Save Our Dolphins, Save Our Nature
A Burmese Adventure
Homeward Bound
Two Backpackers in Burma
Encounters on a Walk
Traveling in Burma
“Holiday” in Burma
Redefining sustainable eating in Southeast Asia After 20 years promoting organic food and sustainable agriculture, I found myself becoming increasingly cynical about the broader impacts of the food-reform movement. So I closed down my business, sold off my belongings, put on my backpack, and headed to Asia, where I hoped...
Every tourist visiting our country, Burma (Myanmar), will have at least had the experience of admiring our majestic river, the Irrawaddy (Ayeyarwaddy). The major tourist attractions like the ancient city of Bagan and the 2nd largest town of the country, Mandalay, and Mingun, which houses the third largest bell in...
After a few nights of farewell parties in Taiwan, me and Lya set out on Sunday to the Taoyuan airport to catch a flight to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia where we arranged our visa to Burma, officially called Myanmar. We had heard some rumors, later proven to be true, that...
Fourteen people sat in the room, each from a different background, but each with the same goal — to go back to Burma. I sat silently, too nervous to break the icy silence in the room, which smelled dreadful from body sweat, mold and cigarette smoke. The floor was dusty,...
When we left for Burma, our friends were shaking their heads uncomprehendingly, our parents were angry, and we had been "officially" labeled "insane". I couldn’t imagine what it would be like in a country where a military junta (now a “government”) was in charge. We were afraid the locals would not be willing to talk to us out of fear that it would cause them problems. In the beginning, they seemed not only very reserved, but sometimes hostile. No warm smiles from ear to ear of the kind we had experienced the year before in Vietnam.
After having managed to convince my hosts that I would surely survive some time alone in town, and that it was not a pretense of politeness when I said that I really do enjoy walking, I eventually went for a walk in Rangoon. This is a worthwhile experience. On most...
Countries governed by military dictatorships are not generally renowned as prime holiday destinations, and Burma is no exception. Unless you’re on a pre-organized package tour, there is nothing easy or relaxing about traveling through Burma. Take, for example, one of the most basic transactions necessary on arrival in a new...
For most people, running down the street while avoiding marching troops, clouds of tear gas, and randomly fired bursts of machine guns would hardly qualify as a vacation. While it wasn’t relaxing, my trip to Burma turned out to be a fascinating look at a society where the tension between...