In Myanmar there is a national holiday called Union Day on February 12th which was a Tuesday this year. Union day is not the day they celebrate kicking out the Brits but the day when the all the regions of the country came together as one country for the first time. Now I have lived in two countries where they celebrate kicking out the Brits. I wonder how many more I will live in. Our school decided to make the Monday a holiday as well thus creating a nice 4 day weekend. We decided to spend the time in Kalaw, which is a small town in the hills about 350 miles north of Yangon and not far from Inle Lake. Continue reading “Cooling off in Kalaw”
Guest Blog – Simon and Paula on tour
For anyone considering heading out to visit Gav and Schubie, buckle up. You’ll know you’re not on a regular route when all the beach bunnies on the flight to Bangkok head off for connecting flights to Ko di Caprio and you join the line for Yangon with an all-local cast of cut-throats. Continue reading “Guest Blog – Simon and Paula on tour”
Santas with Mantas
This Christmas break was our first big holiday since arriving at the school. A whopping three weeks! For the first part of the time we went to Indonesia scuba diving. Continue reading “Santas with Mantas”
Birding in Burma
This year Thanksgiving coincided with a Burmese national holiday called Tazaungdaing. This meant an extra day of school holiday than normal. We contemplated going to the beach and in retrospect that would probably have been a good choice considering Lindsey’s Dengue Fever but instead decided we would go on a short birding trip to see a bit of the country and for me to see a few birds. Continue reading “Birding in Burma”
Birthday Abroad
A couple of weeks ago we were driving past the local mall and I saw a big ‘Merry Christmas’ sign. My first thought was, ‘well that’s a bit early’, but then I realised that in fact it’s a perfectly normal time to be advertising Christmas and in fact in the UK it starts a lot earlier. Continue reading “Birthday Abroad”
5 days in Angkor
For our first trip in the region we decided to go to Angkor Wat which is probably one of the most famous tourist destinations in Southeast Asia; and for good reason. Continue reading “5 days in Angkor”
Culture Chaos, Stickers and Skinks
One of the things that I imagine we will most about London is the access to cultural events. I can’t say that I miss that yet because we haven’t had time to miss anything really although Lindsey is starting to miss the cool October weather of London. Continue reading “Culture Chaos, Stickers and Skinks”
4 days in Cambodia
Last week I went on a trip to Cambodia. The purpose of the outing was to visit a remote school being run by a charity who are just starting to set up schools in Myanmar. Continue reading “4 days in Cambodia”
Yangon by bike – hair raising!
This morning, Sunday 30th September, a colleague had suggested going for an early morning bike ride. The advantage of going early is that there are few cars on the road which is important as you are taking your life in your hands on Yangon roads at normal hours. Continue reading “Yangon by bike – hair raising!”