Mann Myanmar Inn Mandalay

... the high court, Mahabandola Garden. In the afternoon, visit to Bogyoke (Scott) market where a lot of food, clothing, handicrafts, and gems stores are located. Visit to the hand made glass blowing factory and explore the natural warehouse. Enjoy the sunset to Shwedagon Pagoda, one of the world's most spectacular monuments. Overnight in Yangon. Day 2: Yangon - Bagan (by flight) In the morning, fly to Bagan to discover the richest archeological site ...

... botanical family were laid out and 369 tree species including 199 indigenous and 170 exotic species and 173 orchid species of 44 genera were planted in the garden. In 1928, around ten years after establishment, it was recorded that 1,357 trees of 372 species and 43 families had been planted. By 2006, the total number of trees planted in the botanical garden was 12 127 of 482 indigenous species, 3,577 of 67 exotic species, together with 75 bamboo of ...

The car came to an abrupt stop. "Get out," the driver said. My friend and partner in journalism Tim Patterson and I stumbled in the moonless night through an uneven, bulldozed field toward the sound of a river. When we reached the river, we crossed a creaky bamboo footbridge and scrambled up a loose-dirt hill to an older SUV with its lights off. "Welcome to Free Kachin," our contact said, smiling broadly. It had been a ...

... So we stayed at the Pacific Hotel, which a really ****** Chinese owned business hotel across the street from the train station, but it definitely had the basic necessities: a/c and hot water. That was the best we had slept since arriving in Myanmar. It was 25 USD for the night, free buffet breakfast, and they let us keep our bags there during the ...

... a demonstration.

Gold leaf is a very labour intensive process. First a hand machine is used to make strips of gold leaf. Then men use sledge hammers and deer skin to pound the gold leaf into thinner pieces. It goes through this process three times, the first time is 1 hour and in total the process is 6 1/2 hours for a piece that is 3x3. After that, ladies place the pieces in squares between rice paper.

Gold leaf can be taken with medicine, put on your face ...

... one day be a city and that was fulfiled in 1857 by King Mindon Min. We tried to give some kids dollar store bubbles, but they did not work very well. The glow sticks were pretty good though The very top has a great panoramic view of the city. Sadly it has clouded over and our view is limited. We were given a trishaw ride to ...

... for the privilege. Inkohsamui.com do a good 42hr trip from Koh Samui pier to the consulate in Malaysia, which I initially wanted to do but the trip was booked out the dates I needed it. This will get you the 2 month visitor's visa with the option of paying an additional B1900 (payable at Samui or Bangkok embassies) for an extra 30 days on top of the 60 alrealy granted.

... sailors in charge. You either stand up with the locals or sit on the floor. Standing was a lot more fun. In Ava picked up a horse and cart both of which had seen better days. However, they were nothing compared to the roads. Imagine sitting in an airport luggage trolley going over cobbles for 2 hours and you get the idea. I know some people pay good money for buttock reduction but I felt I had dislodged a kidney. Ava ...

... left with pre-booked flights from Mandalay to Inle Lake, Inle Lake to Ngapoli Beach, and Ngapoli Beach to Yangon with hotels arranged for four nights at a beach resort and one night at an upscale hotel in Yangon. He threw in an early morning shuttle to Mandalay airport, and we got a very good exchange rate for local currency. Somehow I felt we were wimping out - this seemed too easy. The big plus was certainty, on two fronts. We had ...

So we decided on seeing Burma over Xmas 2006 for something a bit different. Much is spoken of Burma in whether to go/not to go, how to spend money responsibly and so on. We decided on pro's and con's and thought we could visit and spend responsibly. And that we did. The vast majority of our money went into private pockets and companies without the junta benefiting from us. Sadly some things are unavoidable, such as ...