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  1. #76
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    [QUOTE=

    The "sinh" that BLD mentioned is a long wraparound skirt worn by women in Laos. Mrs. BLD and I both wore shorts, and we had to cover our legs before we could be admitted inside the temple complex. How come BLD was allowed to show his legs and we weren't? Unfair! Lol.

    [/QUOTE] it's coz I've got great legs katie

  2. #77
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    @bld - yeah, true, the Bld's legs are nicer than his mrs or mine. <envious>

    @smug fb - tnx. I went to Cambodia last year, when I did a Th-cambo-vn trip, so I won't be going anytime soon. Unless TD crowdfunds my next trip. Lol

    @headworx - the military's presence is still very obvious in myanmar. Along the way, we passed by several checkpts & i noticed that the driver had to give cash at every chkpt. My papers weren't asked, since I looked local & I hid my camera when a chkpt was near. I had all the necessary papers, but checking them would take time & we had a long drive ahead.

    Btw, tnx for all the greens.

  3. #78
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    Quote Originally Posted by beerlaodrinker View Post
    Find any oil?
    Several shallow gas shows and a sniff of oil in 1 well, but nothing in commercial quantities. It would be good to go back in there with the technology and techniques available these days. Maybe it will open up for exploration and some Majors will buy up acreage now it's no longer a full-on Military dictatorship country.

  4. #79
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    Fast forward to Yangon for a bit.

    Headworx posted some photos from the 80s, one of which (photo 5) I think is the Sule Pagoda. It's in the city center, near the Independence Monument and a park. In the spirit of then/now, here are pics of the Sule Pagoda & surrounds in 2016.



    Last edited by katie23; 03-05-2016 at 08:27 PM.

  5. #80
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    I left my guesthouse early and walked to the Sule Pagoda to take pics before the water craziness started. Since it was still early, people were just starting to set up their shops.




  6. #81
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    These sleeping beauties haven't waken up yet.


    Nice colonial-style buildings in the vicinity

  7. #82
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    Quote Originally Posted by katie23 View Post
    Fast forward to Yangon for a bit.

    Headworx posted some photos from the 80s, one of which (photo 5) I think is the Sule Pagoda. It's in the city center, near the Independence Monument and a park. In the spirit of then/now, here are pics of the Sule Pagoda & surrounds in 2016.



    i love those old a buses, really adds a bit of character to the place. I'm hanging out for someone to introduce a Vientiane Yangon flight. Lao airlines threatened to do it but it never eventuated, under Asian and the so called open sky policy maybe this will change. Lao govt just gave airasia landing rights from Bangkok to Luang Prabang and Bangkok Vientiane, maybe things they won't hold the monopoly anymore?

  8. #83
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    Quote Originally Posted by Headworx View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by beerlaodrinker View Post
    Find any oil?
    Several shallow gas shows and a sniff of oil in 1 well, but nothing in commercial quantities. It would be good to go back in there with the technology and techniques available these days. Maybe it will open up for exploration and some Majors will buy up acreage now it's no longer a full-on Military dictatorship country.
    its been some 35 years since I stomped geophones in the oilfield so yeah I can imagine the technology has radically changed , got a few Lao based mates working exploration in Myanmar now and the reports I'm hearing are pretty positive, they are focused on copper and gold exploration but as you know it takes 20 years or more to discover something worth mining , economy worldwide now is shit but if your persistent then who knows ? At least they are putting the cock on the block and having a go. Could be a similar scenario to Laos, win win situation really

  9. #84
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    Quote Originally Posted by Headworx View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by beerlaodrinker View Post
    Find any oil?
    Several shallow gas shows and a sniff of oil in 1 well, but nothing in commercial quantities. It would be good to go back in there with the technology and techniques available these days. Maybe it will open up for exploration and some Majors will buy up acreage now it's no longer a full-on Military dictatorship country.
    It's all in the fucking food.

  10. #85
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    Methane curry gas? How to tap into that market? You might be onto something there. That's got me thinkin now, I'm gonna pm Loytoy and withnall to see if we can come up with a commercial viable mix of a a bucket and withnalls ass trumpet

  11. #86
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    There's probably enough oil in most Myanmar dishes to power a small vehicle for a day or two. No need to worry about expensive offshore drilling- just order your dinner and you're good to go.

  12. #87
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    and easy to get as it all floats to the top
    no digging involved.

  13. #88
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    Hi all, I haven't forgotten this thread. There are dozens more pics, but I haven't resized the pics or uploaded to PB. Am very busy with work & other stuff at the moment.

    So just a lil story for now. On my 2nd (and last) nite in Yangon, I joined some fellow guests from the hotel, mostly young ppl. We went to a bar/club, which was some distance frm my hotel. It was near the Shwedagon Pagoda.

    Upon entering the club, at first it looked like an ordinary club. But then, I was surprised to see the outfits of the ladies there. Most wore skimpy tight outfits. While we, as tourists, were just in shorts & shirts, normal tourist attire. The girls were fully.made up - face & hair. I had a feeling they were prozzies but I wasn't sure yet.

    Later on, I went to the Ladies' room. More surprise! It was large, not just the typical cubicles. Squat toilets there too. What kinda surprised me was that it was more of a dressing room than just an ordinary toilet. There were ladies in stages of undress, changing frm jeans & long skirts, to their skimpy outfits. Some ladies were doing their makeup too, or their hair. Was quite a revelation. Since my looks blend in, they didnt mind me & I was able to observe discreetly. So that's when I had my hunch confirmed that most of the girls there were "workers".

    At the tables, there were some older men who were with the girls - some were Chinese as I recognized the language. There were a lot of security guards in the place - even on the dance floor. I found that weird.

    Sorry, no pics of that event, as I didnt bring my gadgets as I thought they might get wet again (it was Songkran/ Thingyan).

  14. #89
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    Continuing with the journey from Myawaddy to Mawlamyine. There were many other overloaded vehicles...



    First time that I saw this type of palm tree

  15. #90
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    The shared taxi that I rode passed by several checkpoints. This was one of them. When it got nearer, I hid my camera (to skip the questions & paper-checking). I noticed that everytime we passed by a checkpoint, the driver gave some money, and no receipt was given...

  16. #91
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    This is supposed to announce a township, but I don't know which one


    The taxi had this on the dashboard. It's supposed to celebrate Thingyan or the water festival, according to the driver.

  17. #92
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    great thread Katie

    roads look pretty good

  18. #93
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    Some roadside huts




    We stopped by this roadside restaurant. Some passengers got off for a kidney break.
    Many other shared taxis taking people to their provinces for the 5-day holiday.

  19. #94
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    Bridge over troubled waters.. I think this is the Than lwin (?) river. To those who want to know, please check the map, as I've forgotten...



  20. #95
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    @baldrick - yeah, the roads were good. The driver said that I was lucky, since there was a stretch of road that was newly opened (just that week) and that the travel time was significantly decreased. I think they opened the roads in time for the holidays and for people going to the provinces. In Yangon, the fly-overs were also newly opened to the public, in time for the water festival.

    When I was researching on land travel from Myawaddy, some blogs & sources said that traffic to & from Yangon was just one way. Myawaddy to Yangon is allowed during odd days, Yangon to Myawaddy during even days only. To be safe, I planned my trip (Myawaddy to Mawlamyine) on an odd-numbered day. I think they made a new road in 2014(?) and two-way traffic is now possible everyday from the Myawaddy border to Yangon.
    Last edited by katie23; 21-05-2016 at 07:29 PM. Reason: added info

  21. #96
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    I liked this road lined with palm trees


    Saw an elephant being transported. There were 2 trucks - one with the elephant, another with monkeys, plus many workers or handlers in both trucks. I think they belonged to a circus group. My pic of the monkeys was blurred.
    Last edited by katie23; 21-05-2016 at 07:30 PM.

  22. #97
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    Young rubber trees. According to the driver, the main products in this region are rubber and rice.


    Mountains in the distance

  23. #98
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    After passing by many ricefields and rubber plantations, it was good to see this sign


    Passed by some roadside temples


    The flowers which symbolize the water festival in Myanmar. They bloom during the summer months.

  24. #99
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    When we were in the vicinity of Hpa-an (I think), the shared taxi veered off the main road to drop off a fellow passenger in her village.

    Tuktuk, Myanmar style

  25. #100
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    This is the village hall, I think


    Part of a traktor (?)

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