Southeast Asia Travel News

The following Burma (Myanmar) visa information was valid for late 2017, early 18 but bear in mind that regulations can change at short notice and that furthermore, our information is primarily applicable to UK, Australian, NZ, Canadian, US, and Western European nation passport holders. Visas are required for all nationalities other than those of ASEAN member states and they are…

The following are a few of our thoughts on the current situation with regards Burma (Myanmar) tourism. We wouldn’t claim in any way to understand the entire situation – and it is certainly more complicated than initial appearances – nor would we presume our opinions are necessarily the correct ones. Firstly, we categorically and unreservedly condemn the recent actions of…

The fascinating, yet rarely-visited town of Monywa lies just to the west of Mandalay in Burma’s (Myanmar’s) Sagaing Division. As usual, on our Southeast Asia tours, the issue isn’t which destinations to include but rather which ones time restraints force us to omit.  There are myriad wonderful sites to be seen but if you included everything the tour would last…

The previous post was mainly to show happy campers enjoying an All Points East Burma tour and so hopefully incite a new booking or two; Burma tour photos II is a more self-indulgent collection of our own personal favourite images from our recent tour. So in approximate chronological order………… Another train photo taken on Rangoon’s circular line tour. The colourful,…

A selection of Burma tour photos from our recent Discover Burma, (Myanmar) tour – a 2-week jaunt through this fabulous country taking in Rangoon, Mandalay, Bagan, Pindaya, Mount Popa, the small Shan State town of Kalaw and of course the iconic Lake Inle. First up, day 1 and what better way to get over any jet-lag than a relaxing sunset…

Rangoon’s magnificent and iconic Shwedagon Pagoda is Yangon City’s best-known tourist destination and indeed Burma’s single most prestigious religious site. If you only see one temple in the country then you’d better make it this one! The sprawling Shwedagon Pagoda complex is considered to date originally from the Mon period some 1,500 years ago but has been updated, repaired and…

Generally included in any standard Inle Lake tour itinerary we reckon this fascinating site, located slightly upriver at the southwestern corner of the Lake, is one of the highlights of the region. The boat trip is picturesque, the surrounding scenery bucolic, the ancient pagodas highly photogenic and the friendly local Pa-O people welcoming and fun. In Dein is a village,…

Located in Burma’s western Shan State and famous for mountain scenery, floating gardens and the unusual rowing techniques of local fishermen Lake Inle is certainly one of Burma’s top tourist destinations. Either a very long drive from Mandalay or Bagan – or even longer from Rangoon – most visitors inevitably arrive by Heho Airport, an hour or so from the…

Burma When’s the best time to go? A frequently asked question but not an easily answered one and at the risk of doing some unapologetic fence-sitting we’d say every season has its pros and cons. Broadly speaking Burma’s climate falls into 3 general seasons: rainy, dry cool and dry hot, though of course in such a large and geographically varied…

Burma cottage industries – a few photos and descriptions from our Burma (Myanmar) tours. Guide: “Ok, next I’ll take you to visit some people who make rubber bands”. “Really?! And that’s interesting to see is it?” (It’s hot, the ‘roads’ are appalling and I’m carting around heavy camera gear.) Guide. “Yes – everybody likes it”. (Not convinced) “Errr ok then…

The Padaung people of Burma, more commonly known as the ‘Long-Neck Karen’, live in Kayah State in northeastern Burma and though the provincial capital Loikaw is now officially open for tourism it’s still very difficult to get to so your most likely contact with them would be at one of their lakeside souvenir stalls at Inle. The pros and cons…

Moulmein Mawlamyine Burma was made famous by the line from Rudyard Kipling’s poem, “by the old Moulmein pagoda lookin’ lazy at the sea…,” as well as having had George Orwell as its police chief for a while, yet this wonderful town in southern Burma’s Mon State certainly isn’t a famous destination as far as today’s foreign visitors go. Moulmein falls…

Now portrait photography in Burma does amount to pretty much the same as taking people photographs anywhere else but with a few subtle differences so, here’s a brief run down. You have two basic strategies: either ask permission for a close-up shot or discreet shots with zooms. If you have a guide with you it’s easy to ask politely though hand…

No, would be our easy answer as with regards photographing local people in Burma! Increasingly in Burma’s tourist hotspots, you will see local people posing for photographs in return for money and to our minds, this is a habit that shouldn’t be encouraged. If you don’t want your photo taken then suffice to say so; we don’t feel it should…

Selection of Marina’s Burma photos, who travelled on our recent off the beaten track South Burma tour, ‘Lookin’ Lazy at the Sea. Thanks a lot for the great pics, Marina! Taken, we believe, on the local boat between Moulmein, (Mawlamyine), and Bilu, (Ogre), Island. One of the Mon girls making the traditional Burmese bamboo hats on Bilu Island. See our…

Our earlier post covered Burma’s Mon State so we’ll take up our South Burma tour photos where we left off with the very scenic boat journey up the Thanlwin, or Salween, River from Moulmein, (Mawlamyine),  to the Karen State capital of Hpa-An. Great boat, helpful skipper and wonderful landscapes made for an excellent trip not forgetting a memorable stop in…

The first time our Moulmein guide suggested a visit to see some rubber band making we have to confess to be considerably less than enthusiastic! “Rubber bands – elastic bands!?” “Yes, really – very interesting and not far – just a short visit, very good”. Think it must have been the ‘not far’ part that convinced us but a great…

A selection of photos of Mon and Karen States taken on our recently completed, and inaugural, South Burma tour.  Doesn’t matter how much you research new tour itineraries, doing it with a group is always different and teething problems are generally par for the course though, in this case – if we do say so ourselves – all went surprisingly…

The second batch of photos taken by Wi on her recent 2-week Discover Burma tour includes some of her wonderful portraits of a few of the characters encountered en-route and, in case you missed the previous set of landscape photos, here’s the link.     The Pa-O, like many people in Burma, are big fans of the betel nut but…

Here’s another selection of excellent Burma tour pictures from a recent Discover Burma tour taken by Wi for your perusal.  Burma’s certainly a photographer’s paradise and as usual, Wi returned with literally thousands of images so after making a tricky selection we’ll split our favourites into landscape and portrait posts. So, without further waffle – a few of the landscapes……..