Bagan, Myanmar

It's all about stuppas:

Thousands of them









and Buddhas of course







And some goats.

Amazing and exhausting and well worth visiting.

Myanmar, Inle Lake

Feeling a bit out templed after the visits to Yangon and Bagan we spent a day just lazing on the deck of our hotel room and taking advantage of the spa treatments and books before taking in the attractions that Inle has to offer. In truth some of the nicest things are sitting quietly and listening to the silence or glow worm spotting but they don't make good pictures so here are some other attractions.

The deck where the lazing took place
.

The pace of life is slow and hanging about seems to be a bit of a local passtime, not that I'm complaining.





Of course floating and rowing is a big part of life too.







The biggest draw is the Leaping Cat Monastery where, it is alleged, lots of cats leap through hoops. Maybe they do in the high season but we saw one half hearted leap.



Sleeping Cat Monastery seems a more appropriate name





However, it's a beautiful building and the views from the walkways are lovely



And if you really need your cat fix you can visit a stilted cat centre where they are reintroducing the Burmese cat. They're friendly and will happily climb on you and purr like small outboard motors. Meals and coffees are served here too.



If cats aren't your thing what about a pig?



Pigs - usually found around the edges of markets for a purpose unknown and unexplored. I particularly liked the ubiquitous Myanmar Shopping Bag.



and the dragonflies



and the buildings



and the twilights



Safe to say, I liked it all, if you haven't had enough of other people's holiday snaps feel free to click on through to flickr where there are more, oh so many more.

Myanmar, Pyin Oo Lwin

Pwin Oo Lwin, previously known as Maymyo, was the British Hill Station during their occupation of the country. It now houses a lot of government organisations and military training centres on the approach roads including the enigmatic Internet City("nothing happens there" said the guide and I can't find anything about it on the internet but it's big and it's there). However the provincial city itself is pretty unchanged and the air is fresh and cool. It's a bit like Dalat with British colonial architecture instead of French.

Flowers are one of the biggest exports and they travel downhill on motorbikes or trucks
while uphill trundle the trucks heading for China - it's about a 10 hour trip from
where these pictures were taken.





The colonial architecture is still very evident. This picture shows a house which is only
used for a few weeks of the year as a holiday home, that might explain why the croquet lawn
is in such a state.



Hillstations seem to bring out the enterprising in people, certainly the sign makers are taking full advantage of any opportunities to replicate well known companies.

Alas it rained so we didn't get a chance to see the Famous Flower Garden which was a real pity as it had a horse and cart constructed entirely from flowers at the entrance.

Mandalay in Myanmar

Mandalay in Myanmar, some of hundreds of pictures taken:

At a monastry in Mandalay, 1,500 monks queue for their main meal in silence

At a ceremony where novice monks enter the monastery for a short period









Mandalay is one of the centres of Buddha image creation, both bronze and marble










Lots of colonial buildings but I'll leave you with the Post Office which is typically British and was also typically closed when we wanted to use it.

Thre are more, many, many, many more on Flickr, feel free to click through to them. I'll post pictures from Inlay, Bagan and Yangon very soon.

Child Safety Vietnam

I used to get very worried about children on motorbikes without helmets but, as with most things, it's become perfectly normal now. People tell me that it's difficult to get helmets for very young children and that, even if they could, they are too heavy for their necks. So this is how young children are protected on the move:

They have a little chair to sit on, this one is made of chrome but you see rattan ones too. On their heads are hats to protect them from the sun and netting to keep off dust and insects. In front of them is usually a booster cushion shaped like a teddybear or some other cute animal. It is attached by elastic to the bike and provides both a soft landing incase of sharp braking or bumps and a handy place to put your head for a quiet snooze. As someone who's been known to nod off on the back of the bike I'm considering attaching one to the Man for added comfort.

Packaged Packaging

Carry out and delivery food is very common, most cafes, restaurants and stalls do it so they need something to put their takeaways into.



This is a wandering purveyor of expanded polystyrene and plastic requirements to local food shops. The toilet roll? It also works as napkins.

Land Development

Saigon has a new and nearly completed landmark, the Bitexco Financial Tower. It can be seen from all over the city and surrounds and even has a helipad on one side. Alas my picture doesn't do it justice but I'll get some better ones soon.

Large swathes of the city centre are also earmarked for ripping down and "improving". Not everyone is in favour of course and I've been told that the flags flying from the residential buildings at the top end of Le Loi are in protest to the planned redevelopment of that area.

Such a shame to see buildings of character go under the jack hammer but I doubt the mild misgivings of one expat blogger are going to make the slightest difference.

Backpacker Bingo

Backpacker Bingo is a surprisingly popular sport. The rules are simple, prepare a ist of typical backpacker attributes and tick them off as they're spotted. The more advanced gameplay requires that you get a picture as evidence.

To get you started here are some of the things you might want to look out for:
too many wrist/arm/ankle bands, careful bed head, new dreds, novelty shorts , motorcycle leg rash, overly large bottles of water, overtly "dressing like a local", star t-shirts in wrong colours, inappropriate facial hair, new tattoos, beachwear as streetwear, unworn hiking boots dangling from well worn backpacks, unravelling extension, "on tour" t-shirts, front and back packs worn together augmented by carrier bags, an accessory or item of clothing from every country visited, robes of any description, walking with a staff.

It's a fine way to pass the hottest hours of the day while you sip on a cool one.

Architectural Signage Puzzle

Perhaps someone out there can help me with this. I've seen signage like this since I arrived and have never been able to work out what it means or meant. Any ideas?

Blog Break Broken

It's been a busy time at work and the blog's suffered for it. However, the balloons have finally gone up so it's business as usual.