This post is part of a series called Myanmar 2018 A 13 hour layover in Beijing provided a perfect opportunity for a layover tour to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall of China. This section was first built in the middle of the 6th century. In the Ming Dynasty, the current wall was built…
View MoreThis post is part of a series called Myanmar 2018 In the morning, it was time to say goodbye to the Avalon Myanmar and her crew as well as some of our group that were continuing on to Inle Lake. After a short flight to Yangon and once settled in at the hotel, it was…
View MoreThis post is part of a series called Myanmar 2018 This day started earlier than normal, a group of us were leaving the boat at 5:30 am to watch the sunrise in Bagan. We hopped on the coach for the short ride and soon noticed large numbers of Burmese walking along the side of the…
View MoreThis post is part of a series called Myanmar 2018 Up early again for sunrise. Every morning they’d see me out there and without my asking would bring me a ginger tea. One morning I was up top and they still found me! Amazing service. At first light, we set sail for the small village…
View More
This post is part of a series called Myanmar 2018 We were still docked in Mandalay in the morning, so I couldn’t get a nice sunrise picture. I did, however, get a picture of someone’s neatly arranged laundry… A small shrine to Buddha on a nearby tree. Do you think the water bottle is an…
View More
This post is part of a series called Myanmar 2018 Where we were docked in Mandalay wasn’t the best spot to capture the sunrise, but that didn’t stop me from trying. We had a busy day in Mandalay, starting out with a visit to a gold leaf workshop to learn how it’s made. This is…
View More
This post is part of a series called Myanmar 2018 It was a beautiful Christmas morning on the Irrawaddy River, not a snowflake in sight. We pulled anchor and literally crossed the river to Mingun. Taxi anyone? We certainly weren’t alone on the river anymore! A buddha figure in a snake, why not? This…
View More
This post is part of a series called Myanmar 2018 As with every other day, my day started on the front of the boat, watching the sunrise and the river wake up. This was another of my favourite mornings – the cloud and the fog made the scene somewhat surreal. Some images really lend themselves…
View More
This post is part of a series called Myanmar 2018 The first thing I would do every morning was look out the window. On this morning I didn’t even leave the room before taking my first photo; I grabbed the camera and tripod, opened the door and started clicking away. Then I headed up top…
View More
This post is part of a series called Myanmar 2018 Another day, another beautiful sunrise. This morning we were staying put and doing an official “tour” of Katha. As we disembarked the boat, the staff and crew lined both sides of the stairs greeting us with smiles, “min ga la bar” (hello in Burmese)…
View More
This post is part of a series called Myanmar 2018 As the sun came up in the morning, it became obvious that we were tied up to a sand bar. The river is so shallow that the boat can’t move at night; they “dock” wherever they can. The mornings were quite cool on the river…
View More
This post is part of a series called Myanmar 2018 Finally – time to fly north and board the Avalon Myanmar! Our destination was Bhamo, a small city in northern Myanmar that sits about 40 miles west of the Myanmar/China border. There is no scheduled flight from Yangon to Bhamo so Avalon had to charter…
View More
This post is part of a series called Myanmar 2018 The next morning was the start of my organized tour and they had a very busy day planned for us. We started with a short walking tour of the colonial city. The Yangon city hall was initially planned in 1913 by the British; the start…
View More
This post is part of a series called Myanmar 2018 It was my first full day in Myanmar and I woke to a steamy Yangon morning – it was going to be a hot day! After breakfast I gathered my things and headed out in search of the meeting point for my tour. Just 2…
View More