So every year, around oh .... October or maybe Christmas, the inevitable question comes up. Where are you going to go next? Urrghhhh !! This stupid merry-go-round yet again .... the standard answer starts with "I don't know, thinking of a few places, but I don't know yet", over and over and over. But the question is always sincere and I try to say something useful. Not completely sure how this year's options came to be. Suddenly, my brain told me that this year's options were narrowed down to Europe and Uganda (to go see the mountain gorillas, in Uganda, not in the Alps :o)) or back to Asia to check out the now "hip" (do people still say "hip"???) and reemerging Myanmar. "See it before it all changes !!!" is the mantra ... so the follower in me obeys. If Aung San Suu Kyi says it's ok now, I suppose that's good enough for me?! I remember Bryan Adams in 1992-93 touring around and playing gigs in SE Asia, and marveling over Vietnam and the surrounding countries. He commented on how wonderful it was to see places where there were no Coca-Cola signs, nor McDonalds or KFC. He was in a different world ... and was savouring the difference. 23 years later, Myanmar might be the last of the last. Antarctica doesn't count :o)
So, without really realizing it, the rest of the body agrees with my brain... I guess we are off to the heat and the humidity of Asia once again ... brillant! Whose idea was this again??
Off to Hong Kong on July 2nd, a few hours in the airport before flying further down to Bangkok, and I'll hang around and be thai-erd for almost a week before hopping over to Yangon (Rangoon in the old days). Once I get to Bangkok, I'll be there for a day max, and get out of the big mess. Where exactly ?? ... I have a few options. I'll wait to see what the weather is like ... Ko Chang in the Gulf of Thailand ? Koh Tao or Koh Pha Ngan further south? So many places ... so little time.
Truth be told, I'd rather be in Myanmar longer, but the beachy/resort areas are rumoured to be all closed in July and August (that monsoon thing), so I'll have to fight it out in the Land Of Smiles. But I'll be ok, trust me. Mango shakes, tuk-tuks at every turn, the air conditioned 7-11's in every main part of any town, and a whole bunch of other things I won't get into ... that's what I'll face instead. It won't have changed much in two years ... or will it?? At least the rapid transit rail link to the airport is finally done, it took a while I understand ... the last of Noah's Ark animals finally got off the boat.
So, I'll hit Yangon on July 10th, and be there til July 29th ... 20 days should be good. The map of the G Adventures tour is posted here, and you can see the loop before we return back to Yangon. Then, after a few extra days doing who knows what, I'll fly over to Kuala Lumpur, another familiar place from 2010. After an overnight in KL, I'll hop over to another place that will illicit a "Where is that?" look .... Kuching, Malaysia -- on the rather large island of Borneo. A map of Borneo is here too, also from the G Adventures website. It's the land of the jungle ... and the man of the jungle ... the one and only Orangutan. Sadly though, the rainforest is being cut down in favour of palm seed farms, so his habitat is greatly getting shrunk around him. There was an amazing edition of National Geographic a few years back on the island of Borneo, so that article alone lured me into the idea of going (hey, who doesn't love colourful maps and pictures???). Once again, I better see the jungle and the place before it changes too much ... man this world sucks sometimes.
I was thinking of Borneo a couple of years ago before deciding on the Philippines. I'm glad I left it for later .... for this will be a perfect contrast to Myanmar ... still very exotic, off the beaten backpacker track a tiny bit, but yet a few glimpes of the modern world very much on the island. I hope to squeeze in a day in Brunei as well, but I doubt it ... it might be too tight before heading home through HK on Aug. 23rd. If only I had another week ... but it is not to be .... we will try to make 52 days do. If anyone has any experience packing for 50 days of heat and humidity, and then two days hiking up a mountain in almost 0 C temperatures, let me know.
Whose idea was this again ??
So, without really realizing it, the rest of the body agrees with my brain... I guess we are off to the heat and the humidity of Asia once again ... brillant! Whose idea was this again??
Off to Hong Kong on July 2nd, a few hours in the airport before flying further down to Bangkok, and I'll hang around and be thai-erd for almost a week before hopping over to Yangon (Rangoon in the old days). Once I get to Bangkok, I'll be there for a day max, and get out of the big mess. Where exactly ?? ... I have a few options. I'll wait to see what the weather is like ... Ko Chang in the Gulf of Thailand ? Koh Tao or Koh Pha Ngan further south? So many places ... so little time.
Truth be told, I'd rather be in Myanmar longer, but the beachy/resort areas are rumoured to be all closed in July and August (that monsoon thing), so I'll have to fight it out in the Land Of Smiles. But I'll be ok, trust me. Mango shakes, tuk-tuks at every turn, the air conditioned 7-11's in every main part of any town, and a whole bunch of other things I won't get into ... that's what I'll face instead. It won't have changed much in two years ... or will it?? At least the rapid transit rail link to the airport is finally done, it took a while I understand ... the last of Noah's Ark animals finally got off the boat.
So, I'll hit Yangon on July 10th, and be there til July 29th ... 20 days should be good. The map of the G Adventures tour is posted here, and you can see the loop before we return back to Yangon. Then, after a few extra days doing who knows what, I'll fly over to Kuala Lumpur, another familiar place from 2010. After an overnight in KL, I'll hop over to another place that will illicit a "Where is that?" look .... Kuching, Malaysia -- on the rather large island of Borneo. A map of Borneo is here too, also from the G Adventures website. It's the land of the jungle ... and the man of the jungle ... the one and only Orangutan. Sadly though, the rainforest is being cut down in favour of palm seed farms, so his habitat is greatly getting shrunk around him. There was an amazing edition of National Geographic a few years back on the island of Borneo, so that article alone lured me into the idea of going (hey, who doesn't love colourful maps and pictures???). Once again, I better see the jungle and the place before it changes too much ... man this world sucks sometimes.
I was thinking of Borneo a couple of years ago before deciding on the Philippines. I'm glad I left it for later .... for this will be a perfect contrast to Myanmar ... still very exotic, off the beaten backpacker track a tiny bit, but yet a few glimpes of the modern world very much on the island. I hope to squeeze in a day in Brunei as well, but I doubt it ... it might be too tight before heading home through HK on Aug. 23rd. If only I had another week ... but it is not to be .... we will try to make 52 days do. If anyone has any experience packing for 50 days of heat and humidity, and then two days hiking up a mountain in almost 0 C temperatures, let me know.
Whose idea was this again ??
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