Just over a year ago I flew into Yangon, Myanmar. With the Military Coup in Myanmar less than a month old, I feel it’s timely to write about my experiences on the Yangon Circle Line.
My First Hot Air Balloon Ride in Jaipur, India
It’s dark outside as we drive through the quiet Jaipur streets in the early morning. There’s none of the usual loud beeping horns and colourful bustle that fills the city during the day. I’m excited and a little anxious as … Read the rest
Baring all in Lake Baikal, Siberia
Getting naked in front of others is something I usually avoid at all costs. Exposing my sixty-year-old body intimidates me. Ten years ago, I envied the thousands who stripped off on the Opera House forecourt for photographer Spencer Tunick, wanting … Read the rest
Chewing Betel Nut in Myanmar
The others take a tuk tuk, but Han Ni Soe, our guide, and I decide to walk. We’re in Kalaw, in the Shan State of Myanmar, and will meet the rest of our group at a monastery at the top … Read the rest
Monks, Muti and Mountains: Myanmar in a day
Our hiking guides, Rhythm and Eddie, have journeyed over nine hours by bus from Yangon to Kalaw, in the Shan State of Myanmar, to lead us on a 10km walk into the hills behind the town. They are sprightly and … Read the rest
Is that really Lenin in the Mausoleum?
Descending into the cool darkness, I hold tightly onto the railing being careful not to slip on the shiny black marble stairs. As my eyes adjust to the dim lighting, a uniformed man points urgently towards my chest. He has … Read the rest
Visiting the Street Art Museum in St Petersburg
“Street Art” and “St Petersburg” are seldom heard in the same sentence. Yet, here I am in St Petersburg on my way to a Street Art Museum.
Getting to the Street Art Museum
Getting out of the city centre by … Read the rest
Communal Living in St Petersburg
Doctor Zhivago, in the epic drama, returns to his Moscow home to find it occupied by several working-class families. Bolsheviks had taken over the large house, divided it into tenements and handed the accommodation over to strangers.
Today in Russia, … Read the rest
Moscow’s GUM Store on Red Square
Mention Moscow’s Red Square and rows of tanks and military parades might come to mind, not a world class shopping centre. Yet, along the eastern border of Red Square an intricate neo-Russian façade opens into GUM, a large shopping mall … Read the rest
Finding All the Tea in China
Something marvellous is unfolding inside the delicate glass teapot. I watch mesmerised as the tightly rolled ball of tea leaves slowly opens to reveal a golden yellow flower. This, the Princess Flower Tea, is my tea of choice when visiting … Read the rest