Acasă din nou în Bucureşti – Back Home in Bucharest. Note: acasă = ‘at home’ I’m in the fourth month of my around-the-world Adventures with a longish stay in Romania until the end of August. I’ve owned a condo in Bucharest since 2006. My current one is near Piaţa Dorobanţi.... read more
Title image for Hotels Around the World: the key card to my hotel room in Doha, Qatar I evidently forgot to turn the card into the front desk. It now decorates my desk in Bucharest. Travel tip: I have chosen an international hotel chain where I stay in big cities... read more
Title image: Doha, Qatar skyline seen from the balcony of my hotel room across the bay. Why Doha? From Myanmar I aimed for Romania for the rest of the summer. I figured I could fit in one more stop on my around-the-world ticket. Qatar Airways offered an easy flight from... read more
Title image: My guide, Win, took this picture of me in front of the Tayok-phi Temple in Bagan, Myanmar. When he showed it to me, I was put in mind of a similar picture of me – always with my umbrella. Here I am in 2016 in front of Guri... read more
My wonderful guide in Myanmar, Win Kyaw Zan, helped me greatly with this list of Famous Burmese. I love doing these lists. And my informants around the world seem to enjoy thinking about the famous people in their respective countries. Famous Burmese: Historical King Anawrahta King Anawrahta (1014-1078) founded of... read more
Alo Taw Pawk ‘Wish Fulfilling’ Pagoda on Inle Lake, central Myanmar is the title image. Everywhere you look are amazing Inle Lake vistas. Inle Lake Vistas: Pagodas Like everywhere else in Myanmar, this scenic lake is dotted with pagodas. Cruising into the village of Win Yadanar, we passed these: Another... read more
The title image for Inle Lake Villages: water hyacinths growing thick on Inle Lake in central Myanmar. Inle Lake is famous for its villages, indigenous crafts and the fishermen who are out every day from dawn to dusk: Inle Lake Villages: Floating Villages A comparison to Venice is tempting. The... read more
The more time I spent in Myanmar, the more I wanted to learn. It helped to have a great guide in Win Kyaw Zan. He taught me about four aspects of Bagan Life. Bagan Life: Beauty Thanakha. The young woman in the title image is wearing it on her face.... read more
A quick flight from Yangon took us to Bagan. It is the city of 4444 temples and pagodas, mostly from the 13th century. The title image is of Narathihapatae Phaya. It is also called Tayok-pyi < ta ‘Mongolian’ + yok ‘strong energy’ + pyi ‘run away’ + phaya ‘temple.’ It is... read more
After Singapore I flew to Yangon (once called Rangoon). Driving away from the airport, I saw a billboard for Myanmar (once called Burma). It welcomed me to the ‘Country of Gold.’ I saw the same billboard a week later when I was leaving the country . It was only then... read more
