Mar 31, 2018 - Inle to Yangon

A more relaxed day today. Late breakfast before taking the boat back to Nyaung Shwe. Even had time for Vicki to get her nails done, before we visited a local winery. Yes a winery in Myanmar, the vines had been imported from Spin and France and they produce a variety of wines including Shiraz, Syrah and Cabinet Sauvigon. The local climate gives the wines their own distinct flavour, but were actually quite good. It was not picking season, so we just had a quick look through the facilities, as well as doing the tasting of course. Then back to...

Mar 30, 2018 - Inle Lake

A later start today before heading to the western side of the lake. To reach our destination we take the long boat up a small river. Because this is the dry season the locals make small dams out of bamboo to retain the water, leaving an opening just wide enough for the boat to fit through. This creates small drops of around 300 to 400 mm which the boats negotiate easily. Our destination is the well hidden Inn Thein pagoda. This is an amazing site and we wander off the track to discover hundreds of small ruins and hidden stupas covered in...

Mar 29, 2018 - Bagan to Inle Lake

This morning we went to Nyaung Oo airport for our 40 minute flight to Heho in Southern Shan airport. Strangely on our arrival there was an immigration check of passports, although this is a domestic airport. It was then about an hour drive to Nyaug Shwe which is at the north of lake Inle. Then about 45 minute long boat ride to our hotel whicn is located on tbe lake with no road access. Then it was out for lunch, followed by a visit to Nan Pan village where they hand make Burmese cigars or cheroots. Also visited a place a where they were...

Mar 26, 2018 - Slow boat to Bagan

A day on a boat today as we travel to Bagan. Departed around 6.15am and arrived around 4pm, Boat had capacity of about 70 but there were only 15 travelling today, one of the advantages of not travelling peak season. Breakfast and lunch provided on the boat. We had one stop at a village about half way. They were making clay pots, using the local river clay.

Mar 24, 2018 - Road to Mandalay

Drive to Mandalay today, a distance of about 200km and takes about 5 hours. There are some climbs and descents over the mountains on very windy roads. This includes lots of hairpin turns. There are lots of trucks and they require the entire width of the road to negotiate the turns. This means traffic goes in one direction for a while and then the reverse. Arrive in Mandalay in the early afternoon and go for a walk and find some lunch. Holy day here so a lot of shops closed at the local shopping centre. Mandalay has a population of about1.2...

Mar 22, 2018 - Pyin Oo Lwin to Hsipaw

Off to the train station in the morning to catch the train to Naung Pain. Local train travel is always interesting with plenty of vendors walking through the carriages selling snacks, noodles, and drinks. They all seemed to think I was a likely person to buy beer. Passing scenery was also interesting, but the main reason for travelling on this section of rail was so we could cross the Goteik viaduct, the second highest railway bridge in the world (highest when it was built in 1900). The train crept across the bridge, and we could see armed...

Mar 21, 2018 - Yangon to Pyin Oo Lwin

Early flight to Mandalay this morning so up at 5.00am. Flight slightly delayed. 90 min flight and they served us some sandwiches (filling unknown) and cream cake for breakfast. Fortunately there was also tea and coffe to wash it down. Picked up from the airport in a toyota "people mover" for what is quaintly described as a scenic overland drive. Interestingly most cars here are Japenese imports with the steering wheel on the right hand side, but they also drive on the right hand side which makes overtaking quite interesting especially...

Mar 20, 2018 - Back to Rangoon (Yangon)

Our Road Scholar trip is just about over, and later this afternoon we will be flying north to Chiang Mai in Thailand. From that point on, the 3 of us will be utilizing Indochina Odyssey Tours to facilitate our journey. The RS trip was fabulous, and our last formal activity was a walk in downtown Yangon with our guide Chaw and a female college student named Pumpo. She came along with us to answer our questions from a young person's point of view, and also to practice her own English. It was crowded and hot in town, but interesting...

Mar 19, 2018 - Colombo to Yangon

1.30 am flight this morning. Needed to be at airport 3 hours early (so they said) plus 45 minute drive to airport so don't expect much sleep today. Our first flight to Bangkok was late taking off but we caught up most of the time in flight. 90 minute stop in Bangkok and then connected to Yangon. A little slow through immigration, but the evisa I got on line worked well and our luggage came through ok. By this time it was around 9am local time and although the airport is not that far from town, it took us about an hour to get to our hotel...

Mar 19, 2018 - From the river to Inle Lake

I am catching up on writing for this blog, so I will summarize. If we have time later in the week we can elaborate on some of this. Lois writing: Thursday evening 3/15 We were treated to a wonderful dance performance by students from the Mandalay University of Culture. Five performers, each dance was a complete skit, and the costumes and talent were fabulous! Also, we forgot to mention that on Sunday evening, we had a puppet show, with some elaborate marionettes. It was okay, but didn't keep our attention for an hour. Friday 3/16 John...

Mar 15, 2018 - Cruising north - part 4

(John Writing) Today we pulled up to the bank in Ava, a small town just south of Mandalay. We boarded horse carts and visited a large teak monastery that is kept open just for tourists. Some of the poles supporting the roof are teak logs 90 feet long. From there we rode to a large old temple and walked around the outside. Then it was back to the ship for a large three course lunch, and at 2:30 we left to board a bus to drive up a large hill where we visited a large temple overlooking the Irrawaddy River. Of course there are huge statues of...

Mar 14, 2018 - Continuing upstream - part 3

Lois writing Our last entry finished with our activity for Tuesday morning. After our lunch and "rest hour", the activity director for the ship had several other crew members demonstrate some things that are indicative of the Burmese culture. First the head chef showed how to make ginger salad, and there was a handout with the recipe. Then another guy showed about 8 different ways to wear a longji, including as a vest with a hood, a backpack or an elephant trunk for playtime. Finally someone explained how to make and apply ThaNaKha, the...