Middle-aged flash packers

It was all going too well. Upgraded to a much nicer room, fantastic weather and scenery, delicious seafood and great company. Could life get any better? No. It couldn’t. After a dire but fun game of billiards with J and N, ( they won, they would definitely want me to tell you that) followed by…

On our last evening in Yangon we all went to live the high life and had cocktails at the Governor’s Residence. A beautiful colonial building, it is a homage to days gone by, with teak staircases, boxes of Monte Cristo cigars in cabinets and rattan sofas. The cocktails were very imaginative and packed a punch.…

For those of you who are worried we are all lying in hospital beds, hooked up to intravenous drips, we are fine. Thanks for your concern. And messages wishing us well. Not. I’ll put it out there straight away, I’m not bowled over by Yangon. Just the drive from the airport to our hotel was…

Steve and I decided to have a bit of a leg stretch and walk to Mandalay Hill. As it was a Sunday, there seemed to be plenty of young young ladies milling about in their best longyis, taking selfies. The walkway alongside the palace moat was a popular background to show off their loveliness. The…

Getting up at 4am is something I avoid like the plague. I once read a magazine article about someone who tried to be a milkman but gave it up after 3 weeks because he couldn’t stand the early starts. I don’t think I’d have lasted 3 days. But needs must and the journey to Mandalay…

Obviously we couldn’t just look at mount popa and it’s picturesque temple from afar, we needed to get up close and personal. The temple is a shrine to 37 nats, spirits that are worshipped alongside Buddha. They form the legends that underpin Myanmar’s ancient culture. I had already looked at a few blogs on climbing…

Today we moved on to Mount Popa, a designated national park area, about an hour’s drive east of Bagan. We had a little bit of trouble getting a taxi to our destination. The app equivalent of Uber didn’t come up with anything and a contact Jan and Nik had found wanted silly money. The hotel…

Nik and Jan decided to try out the e-bikes today. The bikes look more like scooters and Steve calls them the silent assassins as they don’t make a noise and sneak up behind you. We stuck to our own pedal power again but before we set off, we popped into the Shwezigon pagoda to see…

Our flight to Bagan had us up very early and on arrival our rooms weren’t ready so we toddled off to the Shwezigon Pagoda, just 5 minutes walk away. It was very busy and to be honest it didn’t really float my boat. I’m a bit of a philistine saying this as it’s a very…

We were all up surprising early considering what a late night we had. Having originally thought we’d have a lazy day, my thoughts turned to going on a cycle ride. Steve came up with the idea of cycling to a long bridge not too far away. Nik and Jan were up for it so off…