The Tazaungdaing Festival, also known as the Festival of Lights, held on the full moon day of Tazaungmon, the eighth month of the Burmese calendar, is celebrated as a national holiday in Burma (Myanmar) and marks the end of the rainy season. It also marks the end of the Kathina season, during which monks are […]
Out
It’s 18:30 last night and the clashes have subsided. We head out to meet others for dinner in the city. A few metres down the road our eyes are watering and the noses are burning from tear gas that is drifting over from the 500m away conflict area. We jump into the next taxi and […]
Food Feast and Interviews
Yesterday some friends and couchsurfers came over for Thai food. I was a bit overwhelmed by the response to my invitation and in the end it was eleven of us who needed to be fed from two hot plates. Good thing that Thai food can be cooked quickly, once all the preparations are done. As […]
Break Time
It’s so nice to get a break. I don’t have to worry about where I’m going to sleep or eat. I don’t have to worry about somebody stealing stuff from my room and nobody is trying to rip me off. Well actually that’s not completely true. 35 bucks for a piece of plastic that says […]
Trainee’s Log, Sept 22nd, Day 6
Yawn, for the past five days I’ve been tired, low-on-energy and cranky. The routine of the 0-4 watch goes completely against my normal rhythm. Most of my preferred sleeping time (23:00 to 7:00) I spend awake now. Getting more than six hours sleep in one go is virtually impossible. The first meal after waking up […]
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 […]