KL’s international airport is big. Walking from the gate to immigration takes something like 15 minutes. In the arrival hall, Christmas tunes are playing. F*** me sideways, isn’t this supposed to be a Muslim country?
Need for Speed Mandalay Edition
I forgot my passport, that’s a first. I realise it when staff at the bus company ask for it. I run outside but the driver who brought me from the guesthouse has already left. It’s 8:25, it’s a 25 minute ride to the guesthouse and the bus leaves at 9:00. The guesthouse doesn’t have a […]
Hsipaw One Day Hike
Just as I had done in Luang Prabang a few years ago, I wanted to go for a two-day/one-night hike in the Hsipaw area. Sadly there weren’t any tours going and I didn’t feel like paying for a guide just for myself. So instead I went for the available option, which was a one-day trek […]
Burmese Days
For about a month now, an ebook reader has replaced the 3-4 books I was carrying around in my backpack in earlier times. It weighs hardly anything, doesn’t need an external light source for reading and can store more books than I can name. One of these books that recently found its way onto the […]
Road to Hsipaw
Aaaaaaai really don’t like bus rides. Especially not the painfully slow ones. After leaving Mandalay yesterday afternoon around 2pm, the (reasonably decent) bus crouched up the narrow and winding road towards the Shan Hills. Traffic is heavy and many times the bus has to stop to let another heavy vehicle pass a narrow turn. Two […]
Getting around Myanmar
Travelling around in Myanmar takes a lot of time. Except for the Yangon-Mandalay highway, all roads are in atrocious condition and hamper travel speed immensely. I’m on my way to Hsipaw and the 300km journey will take two days. That’s only partially because of the roads but also because Hsipaw-bound transport leaves Mandalay before the […]