Onion Street Market

Onion Street Market

A good traveller has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. Lao Tzu  When I’m on my travels, and reach a destination, in this case Mandalay, I like to wander so I set out with no real itinerary.  I usually have a street map (of sorts) and a hint of a...
The Road to Mandalay

The Road to Mandalay

On the road to Mandalay, where the flyin’ fishes play. Rudyard Kipling ,  Mandalay is one of those exotic locations that inhabit the imagination.  In my case, I might even claim that the word itself was enough to inspire vivid daydreams of the far-flung corners of...
Inle Lake Part 2

Inle Lake Part 2

Sometimes you will never know the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory. Unknown The village of In Sein is at the head of a long canal and on either side you get your first close up view of the the floating gardens.  The floating gardens on Inle Lake cover...
Inle Lake Part 1

Inle Lake Part 1

Time spent wasted at the lake is time well spent. Unkown There are many boats that leave the jetty in Nyaungshwe early in the morning and phut phut down the long canal that leads to the lake.  The morning mist envelopes each one and they are soon lost to sight.  Tall...
North to Inle Lake

North to Inle Lake

The past beats inside me like a second heart. John Banville, The Sea My goal on this trip to Myanmar was to visit the ancient kingdom of Mrauk U.  I was well and truly satisfied with everything I had seen and was now free to continue my trip down memory lane.  I took...
Schooling in the Chin villages

Schooling in the Chin villages

The mind once enlightened cannot again become dark. Thomas Paine I’ve visited quite a few schools in Asia and they consistently take my breath away. I am always astounded at conditions in rural Asia and that anyone learns to read and write at all. But they do....