Myanmar
Not your cup of tea? Try again: On the wonders of Burmese tea shops
Every country we’ve traveled to has given us various versions of snack time. There was the merienda in Buenos Aires, beer on the beach in Hawaii and condensed milk coffees in Vietnam. In Myanmar, afternoon tea (either green or milky Indian style) or coffee is a staple of Burmese culture. It’s there that you’ll see … Continue reading
Why tourism in Myanmar is going downhill: A short rant
Today marks our one-year travelversary! Yay! I’ll save heavy reflection for a month’s time when our RTW trip comes to an end, but I did want to bring up a topic that I’ve been forced to think about given the number of different countries and cultures we’ve encountered in this year: good tourism vs. bad … Continue reading
One week in Bagan — Part II: “Ancient” temples
Temples, temples, temples. If you don’t like ‘em, you probably shouldn’t go to Bagan. We thought we were done with our temple sightseeing duties, having toured the beautiful wats in Laos and Thailand and the payas in other parts of Myanmar, but since temples are the thing there and we did have a whole week, … Continue reading
One week in Bagan — Part I: WiFi, restaurants and a recipe!
Ah, Bagan. Our home for a week of temple exploration, bicycle riding, Western food dining and the Internet. Like I mentioned in the last post, we were starting to burn out, so we decided to skip the other small city we had in mind (Pyay) and settle into Bagan for the last segment of our … Continue reading
Breakfast buffets and mental health days in Taungoo
Despite our glowing experience volunteering, after five days in the dungeon (my name for our room in our Mawlamyine guesthouse), we needed some respite. We also needed somewhere to clear our heads because at that point in our RTW trip, we hit the wall. We were tired and about ready to go home. It may … Continue reading
A Hindu and a Muslim make a Buddhist pilgrimage to the Golden Rock
From Yangon, we jetted to the village of Kinpun, which serves as the base for a major Buddhist pilgrimage site known as the Golden Rock. The Rock sits atop Mt. Kyaiktio and legend has it that the rock maintains its precarious slanted position thanks to a Buddha hair in the stupa. We spent one day … Continue reading
