Tagged: featured

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Burma / South East Asia

17 Aug, 2014

Riding the Circle Line in order to escape bustling Yangon

23-25 March 2014 I wish I could say that I saved the best for the end, but unfortunately Yangon was not my most favorite place. Maybe because it was freaking hot when I was there, which made me very loom the whole day long! Yangon was the only city during my whole trip where I felt the need of taking a shower after I just had one! With some effort I managened to convince myself for a walking tour of Yangon. I did not expect this city to have some of the grandest colonial-era buildings in all of South East...

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Burma / South East Asia

4 Aug, 2014

‘By the old Moulmein pagoda lookin’ lazy at the sea…’

19-22 March 2014 Instead of taking another boring busride to Mawlamyine (Molmein), I chose for the ferry option. A bit more expensive and double the time to get to my destination, but it’s a relaxing and scenic way to travel! A tuktuk picked us up at the guesthouse and drove us to the jetty where we jumped on board a small long tailed boat. There were only 2 of us that were taking this trip so plenty of place in the boat. There are no build in seats, but they provide plastic chairs to sit on (actually quite comfortable!) and...

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Burma / South East Asia

13 Jul, 2014

Spelunking in Hpa-An

17-19 March 2014 The bus journey from Bago to Hpa-An was ‘just’ a little more than 4 hours. A fairly short trip compared to other bus rides I’ve taken. This little riverside town in the southeast part of Burma has not that much to offer itselves. On my first evening, I did went for a wander. Afterwards I positioned myself at the riverbanks reading a bit, doing some diary, watching the local farmers offloading veggies, watching the sunset…in 1 word ENJOYING it all! 🙂 But the real hightlights of Hpa-An are to be found in the surrounding lush countryside and...

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Burma / South East Asia

3 Jul, 2014

A very short trip to Bago

16-17 March 2014 I do like temples. Maybe that’s the reason why I decided to stop in Bago for a day? Anyway, I hired a motorbike taxi to drive me around.It was actually way to hot to do anything (I burned my feet several times as you need to put off your shoes..even to walk up the stairs to the temples), even the driver was sweating non-stop! But as I was only staying for 1 day I couldn’t just sit and do nothing. As so I saw 8 temples in about 4 hours! This was just a short daytrip, so...

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Burma / South East Asia

23 Jun, 2014

It’s all about temples and stupas in Bagan

11-14 March 2014 I took the 7.30 pm nightbus from Inle Lake to Bagan. The plan was to arrive in Bagan around 4.30-5 am and head to one of the temples for sunrise. But again, not everything goes as you want it. Only 4 hours after we left Inle Lake the car broke down! Some technical failure. We waited SOOOO long that we saw the sunrise coming up from the highway. It’s not what I wanted, but it was actually not that bad 🙂 And well, it was a nightbus so I had some sleep while they were fixing the...

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Burma / South East Asia

20 Jun, 2014

On the boat on Inle Lake and trekking in Nyaugshwe

07-11 March 2014 A busride of 12 hours is nothing new anymore. But if you have stomach problems, you want to be at your destination as soon as possible! As so, my busride from Hsipaw to Inle Lake was as you can imagine not so pleasant 🙁 but I did made it! We were dropped off in Nyaungshwe, the closest gateway to Inle Lake. Once we got off the bus, we needed to pay a 10 USD gouvernment fee to enter the Inle Lake area. I was never asked to show the ticket later and I don’t know if I...

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Burma / South East Asia

7 Jun, 2014

The Shan state town of Hsipaw

03-06 March 2014 I never considered myself as a morning person, but if it’s necessary or worth it I can get up at unhuman hours 🙂 Getting up at 3am to catch a 4am train is one of those moments. The 12-hours trainride from Mandalay to Hsipaw was however never boring. Although I had a ‘first class’ ticket, sleeping on the train wasn’t easy as the train rides up into the hills via steep, zig-zagging hills. Amazing views and a breathtaking gorge is what you get for the not so comfortable ride. The train makes however enough stops to stretch...

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Burma / South East Asia

24 May, 2014

Into Myanmar, welcome to Mandalay!

28 Feb – 2 March 2014 It is the first time in all my travels that I go to a country where there is a time difference calculated in half hours. Meaning, when you come from Belgium, you need to add 5,5 hours to the Belgian time. In my case, coming from Bangkok, I turned my watch 1/2 hour back.TIP: If you fly into Mandalay with Air Asia, there is a FREE shuttle bus from Air Asia waiting for you to bring you to downtown Mandalay, it stops somewhere at 80th and 27th street. Be aware that this service is...

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South East Asia / Thailand

21 May, 2014

Bangkok twice

Was it 10 years ago? The last time I was in Bangkok? It was for sure more than 8 years ago that I’ve been to Thailand’s capital. Actually, I was in Bangkok for 1 night 2 months ago when I flew into it from Brussels. My hostel back then was close to Chinatown, so after check-in, I went out to explore the neighbourhood. Chinatown in Bangkok is quite huige! It has so many little alleys where you can easily get lost in. I got lost in a part where they sell all kinds of 2nd hand motorbike parts, and then again a part...

Cambodia / South East Asia

8 May, 2014

Battambang bats, caves and volunteering

Battambang Many people don’t know it, but Battambang is Cambodia’s second most populous city. Youwouldn’t say however when wandering around town. Not that it was deserted, but one wouldexpect the place to be packed with Khmer people. My busride from Siem Reap to Battambang took 4,5h. Alex instead took the slowboat. A ridethat ‘should’ take 7-8 hours, but because the water in the river was too low, the boat got stuck on the sandbanks several times. All men had to help to push it back into the water which made it only arriving after 12 hours! Well, it was hot,...

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