The Wilson's wandered a great deal last year and got just a little behind on their travel posts, so we are happy to be able to share highlights and recommendations (because giving all the details would take too long) from our most recent trip last month to Myanmar and Thailand. Of course we wouldn't go to Myanmar without first stopping in Thailand. Using Delta miles we flew on Korean Air directly to Chiang Mai from Seoul, and discovered Thailand STILL has not figured out how to speed up their immigration entry process. After a short night, we took the familiar 30 minute flight from Chiang Mai to Maehongson, now flown by Bangkok Air in addition to Kan Air - both highly recommended. I posted a little more detail of our time in Maehongson on facebook but here are a few people and places I am especially fond of.
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| Fields, mountains and river in Patyng - my back yard growing up... |
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| Fields, mountains and river in Patyng |
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| Andrea and Doi |
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| Andrea and Lee walking out to the orchards in Napajat |
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| Ninae and Wi at Maesagert |
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| Golf, Nam Waan and Ba Youie - Patyng |
We had 5 wonderful days in Napajat and Patyng, seeing friends in both places. Then it was back to Chiang Mai and after a couple hour wait in the lovely Bangkok Air lounge, a direct flight to Mandalay.
Mandalay as a city was honestly a bit disappointing. As one of our guide books describes it, "spurred by massive Chinese investment in recent years, modern Mandalay is one of Southeast Asia's boom cities and a far cry from the low-rise, slow-paced, bicycle-powered backwater it was." In literature and history, Mandalay has somewhat of a mystique about it, but today, the actual city is just not that attractive. There are cultural and historical gems hidden in and about it that represent remnants of the four former royal capitals and some of these are definitely worth seeing. We had scheduled 3 days/4 nights but if doing it again, two days would be enough.
The highlight of our time in Mandalay was hiring a car and driver for the day who took us to three of these former royal capitals - Amanapura, Inwa/Ava and Sagaing for the princely sum of $40! The highlight of the day for me was on the island of Inwa, walking into Bagaya Monastery, a 200 year old teak monastery with massive teak floor boards and posts (267 to be precise, the tallest measuring 60 feet, one having a circumference of 9 feet). There was something so evocative about it, reminding me somehow of our former house in Dorpae where I lived during elementary school. It is also a lawsuit waiting to happen with nails protruding and gaps in the floors to slip through!
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| Ferry to Inwa |
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