On my last afternoon in Bagan, I went in search of a meal that would serve as both lunch and dinner, before boarding my flight to Yangon. I settled on a Lonely Planet-recommended restaurant called Myitzima.
The LP author researching Bagan certainly earned his fee the day ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
A Keyhole into Burma
A Keyhole into Burma - Robbie Williams owes me
On my last afternoon in Bagan, I went in search of a meal that would serve as both lunch and dinner, before boarding my flight to Yangon. I settled on a Lonely Planet-recommended restaurant called Myitzima.
The LP author researching Bagan certainly earned his fee the day ...A Keyhole into Burma - What is McDonald's?
"Please, may I ask you a question?" Kusala preceded every question with this solicitation of permission, like he hadn't already been putting me through the question-answer ringer for 15 minutes.
"Yes Kusala. And you don't have to ask me if you can ask me a question every ...A Keyhole into Burma - Goldfinger
The majority of Burma's impossibly thin tabs of gold leaf - a fixture at all pagodas (temples) - is produced out of several shops in a neighborhood just outside central Mandalay. The tabs are sold in packets of 10, 50 or 100, with each tab being about one square inch, which ...A Keyhole into Burma - A boy and his bike
Cycling around Mandalay provided the most intense adrenaline rush I'd had since I jumped out of a plane in New Zealand, screaming like a little girl all the way down.
The traffic is particularly lawless in a country where most driving conventions are improvised. Certain ...A Keyhole into Burma - When the tourist becomes the sight
Take Venice, rebuild it in wood and bamboo, remove most of the dry footpaths and the double-wide butted tourists, then add waist-deep wet farms and that's Inle Lake's 17 water villages. The waterway "streets" were lined with surprisingly large, two and three story, ...A Keyhole into Burma - The ass-poundingest transport on Earth
I'm not gonna lie to you. Getting around in Burma is quite literally a pain in the ass. What with my trip involving so many long haul voyages in so little time, I was verily spanked into submission by a variety of seats, chairs, benches, and stools, reducing me to standing ...A Keyhole into Burma - "Buy the ticket, take the ride"
The local buses in Yangon have to be personally experienced to truly be appreciated. This singular ordeal is a grand departure from the otherwise laidback way the Burmese conduct themselves.
Bus drivers careen around town with one foot on the gas and the other foot, ...A Keyhole into Burma - "I am Burmese!"
My guide in Yangon insisted on giving me a lengthy Burmese most-often-used phrases lesson at dinner one night. This turned out to be pure gold for me during the remainder of my stay.
I wrote down and later memorized such phrases as "thank you," "delicious!" "it is very hot!" ...A Keyhole into Burma - Shwedagon Paya, the mother of all payas
While in Burma I would eventually see more payas (temples) in 10 days than most people see in two lifetimes, including most Burmese, but none of them could hold a candle to the monstrous Shwedagon Paya in Yangon.
Aside from the towering main stupa (A.K.A. "pagoda" – a ...A Keyhole into Burma - You've got something on your face
There's just so much to process for a new arrival in Burma that often anything short of basic survival (money, food, clean water) has to take a backseat until reasonable acclimation has been satisfied. I reached this stage after several coffees on day two.
Once I'd solved ...A Keyhole into Burma - Betel nut chewing, it's as gross as it looks
Initially, I was convinced that there was a nationwide dental crisis in Burma. People everywhere, men and women, had deeply stained reddish-brown teeth with gums so ostensibly diseased that even the lips and chin suffered discoloration. Unable to ignore this any longer, I ...A Keyhole into Burma - This ain't Kansas
My first day in Yangon was draining. Interminable walking in dusty 102 degree heat and humoring enthusiastic English speakers every few minutes can sap the most tolerant of Beckham look-a-likes. By nightfall, I longed for my guesthouse bed and sweet, sweet air-con.
As I made ...A Keyhole into Burma - Instant celebrity
"Hello Beckham!!!"
I smiled and waved. I was a star. Really, the only thing you need to do to be the most popular guy in any Burmese city is to simply be from somewhere else. I had the added advantage of having a passing resemblance to David Beckham, in that we are both ...A Keyhole into Burma - Burmese currency (I don't give a FEC)
After weeks of sweating the complexities of money in Burma, it turned out to be pretty straightforward. Formerly, travelers had to juggle three currencies to get by.
To start, one needed kyat (pronounced 'chat'), Burma's everyday currency, to buy food, pay for some, but not ...A Keyhole into Burma - The current regime sucks, obviously, but that's beside the point
Bringing up travel in Burma (Myanmar) in certain social circles has ruined many perfectly good cocktail parties. I'm talking raised voices, spilled drinks, mangled Twister mats, and even fisticuffs with multiple players. (At what stage can you call it a 'melee'? Cuz I live ...
