Yangon: Coolest City in the World? - Episode 2

Yangon city, Burma/Myanmar - August 9-20, 2015 - Yangon is still something of a secret in its own way. Responsible tourism only! In fact, words can not describe this fascinating place.

Barbed-wire blockades are always at the ready in case of unrest.

Shan noodle soup at a great place to eat that is becoming to well known! If you go to Yangon, find it yourself!

All this moss... I like it.

A building burning downtown. No casualties. I was unable to find out which building it was, but found another picture of it here: http://news.yahoo.com/photos/lbb80145-yangon-myanmar-16-08-2015-fire-fighters-photo-132058021.html

A man watches the fire from his rooftop.

Cold sagging with a fat stack.

Gauntlet - Episode 6: Mandalay

Mandalay city, Myanmar - July 12-13, 2014 - A one night stop in Mandalay would take us back to Bangkok. The city had an atmosphere that was reminiscent of Phnom Penh five years ago, and a noticeably problematic political situation. I felt my time there to be too short.

At the time we visited there had been rioting, and the city was on a 9pm curfew. Here were the streets of Mandalay at 9pm, ruled only by dogs and military police.

The same intersection at 9am the following morning.

Mandalay has a haunted feel.

Betel nut spit.

The betel nuts themselves, soaked in coffee. Tasty, tangy.

Burmese cinema.

Our hotel. HAUNT-ED.

See the rest of the our Cambodia/Thailand/Burma/Laos trip:
Episode 1: Pailin, Cambodia
Episode 2: Bangkok, Thailand
Episode 3: Mae Sot, Thailand
Episode 4: Yangon, Myanmar
Episode 5: Bagan, Myanmar
Episode 7: Vientiane and Vang Vieng, Laos
Coda: Sihanoukville, Cambodia

Gauntlet - Episode 4: Yangon

Yangon city, Myanmar - July 8-10, 2014 - Yangon is an interesting city. In the short time I spent there, I was opened to the mystery of the wealth of unknown information that one gets in their first time in a country remotely different from there own. In Asia, at least the city has an unusual atmosphere because motorbikes are illegalised in the city centre. What we saw in Yangon was, unsurprisingly, the epitome of rapid economic development and exposure to globalisation. The city has the aura of the old and the bizarre, the picturesque poverty-stricken Asia that so many charmingly idealise, and modern technology can be seen puncturing layers through decades of isolation. I get the feeling this is one of the most singular cities in the world.

A woman sew longyis (traditional Burmese pants, similar to a long skirt or sarong, worn by almost all Burmese men) late into the night.

Myanmar Humanitarian League.

The Shwedagon pagoda, apparently a 3000-year-old site, looms in the background.

Monks pray inside Shwedagon.

(The praying man is wearing an example of the longyi mentioned earlier.)

Burmese street food: Egg fritters mixed with chickpeas. Rating: 8/10

Burmese street food: The Bandgladeshi offerings - okra, tea leaf soup, mutton curry, spiced fish, spiced mango condiment, chili paste mixed with river prawns. Rating: 7.5/10 - would be higher if the okra was covered in the stickest most salivatory, alien substance i've ever seen.

Burmese pavements are nice.

China town sprawls for miles. The markets open right up onto main streets, going fully halfway across, and sometimes severely congesting traffic. The are beautiful interesting places to explore.

See the rest of the our Cambodia/Thailand/Burma/Laos trip:
Episode 1: Pailin, Cambodia
Episode 2: Bangkok, Thailand
Episode 3: Mae Sot, Thailand
Episode 5: Bagan, Myanmar
Episode 6: Mandalay, Myanmar
Episode 7: Vientiane and Vang Vieng, Laos
Coda: Sihanoukville, Cambodia

Stones and Other Things

Chanthaburi province, Thailand - February 26 - January 1, 2014 - Chanthaburi lies not far from the Cambodian border in Southwestern Thailand, and the driving force behind this wealthy little countryside town is the gem trade. Chanthaburi is world-famous for its gem market - as a place that you can sell, manufacture, and buy large quantities of precious and semi-precious stones. In Thailand, it is famous for its durians and I also heard a rumour on the Internet that it is infamous for its high-quality assassins. It seemed very peaceful to me, if not somewhat inevitably characterised by the diverse and bizarre range of gem traders that frequent it.

Eleven people total in the car with us on the way to Pailin.

The driver had a raw chunk of gold.

This is a typical kind of protective grating you might see around Chanthaburi.

This was a birdshop - budgies to pigeons to chickens.

The was some French influence in the late nineteenth century, including a cathedral.

Typical Chanthaburi river scene.

What

This thing was really loud at night time. What it was will remain a mystery.

And frogs.

If you go to this place - Sam Nget, the Great Thaksin Shipyard, make sure you see the archaeological site, the most interesting thing. apparently, that we missed.

Thankyou to the Thai people who let me practically hitch hike around at their own expenses.!

This was the best Chanthaburi graffiti I saw. 

The light under the bridge is a man on the prow of a small boat hunting large prawns. He shines his headlight into their eyes where it is reflected to see them.

King Taksin is all over Chanthaburi. The town is historically famous as the place where
he built warships and formed an army which he used to reclaim Ayutayyah, then capitcal city, froming Burmese invaders in the mid-eighteenth century.

Gem appraisals occur on either side on the gem market in the street beyond.

A cheap gem dealer.

700 baht.

And a typical, morning market scene.