Thailand

Apologies for long delay, wifi in Asia is not reliable and uploading photos also tricky.

Thailand – We decided to make a day-long bus run for Bangkok, crossing into Thailand at Aranyaprathet which is as grotty as all the other borders. Once inside Thailand it became obvious that it is decades more advanced than where we have been, better housing, roads, schools and electricity supply. We arrived at 9pm two hours late (normal) and checked into the Mandarin Oriental for three days of decadence. Within five minutes we realized the service would be the best anywhere and it was that way for the entire stay.

The Jim Thompson Museum is located in the house that he built. JT was an American architect, designer and one time part owner of the Oriental Hotel and the primary promoter of the Thai Silk Industry. He disappeared mysteriously in Malaysia in 1967 but his brand continues and is widely marketed.

Those who have seen the King’s Palace will understand how difficult it is to capture on film particularly with our pocket camera, but it is the tourist highlight of the city. When we weren’t enjoying our view of the Chao Prah River we rode the sky train. Two full days was perfect. On to Myanmar.

Yangon – We had been warned that one’s itinerary may not always go to plan and so it proved as we were thwarted in our attempt to take the train to Inle Lake via Thazi. The 11:00 am train did not exist and taking the 4:00 pm over night would have defeated the objective of seeing the countryside.

We managed to bring forward one of our Yangon hotel nights at the Governor’s Residence. This could be a blessing in disguise as it will give us more time in Bagan.
The hotel is an oasis of calm set in the diplomatic neighbourhood of Yangon which is a rather tired city, suffering from years of neglect and pollution.

The feature attraction is the Shwe Dagon Pagoda, a massive golden stupah that towers over the city. As in Thailand all the temples are either bright gold or multicoloured mosaics made of millions of tiny pieces of mirror, porcelain and coloured glass. In this part of the world one can become rather blasé about all the Buddahs and shrines but this one is special!