Introducing, The Golden Land

By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin' eastward to the sea,
There's a Burma girl a-settin', and I know she thinks o' me;
For the wind is in the palm-trees, and the temple-bells they say:
"Come you back, you British soldier; come you back to Mandalay!"
Come you back to Mandalay,
Where the old Flotilla lay:
Can't you 'ear their paddles chunkin' from Rangoon to Mandalay?
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin'-fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay!

-An exceprt from Rudyard Kipling's Mandalay-

Just as i touched down from Mingladon Airport, Yangon, I had a hunch that this time, it was going to be a complete new experience for me. Three weeks of the Golden Land, i dont think i can ever get enough of the food, people and culture. I may be bias for saying that because i am partly burmese by birth but one really has to see it to believe.

Yangon in its own world of momentum unlike any other cosmopolitan i've visited, does try and keep in pace with the people. I could never get enough of seeing monks in their deep saffron robes marching from house to house, in the busses, at the tea shops or at the pagodas.

Bagan, a painful 10 hour bus trip yet worth every penny or Kyats i've paid. The ancient kingdom is filled with pagodas from various sizes and some looked like castles and i can only imagine what it was like during the days of previous centuries. At one point, i actually told myself that i could live here. Teach english to the burmese monks and just continue exploring and excavating this breath taking city of wonders. Climbing up pagodas at 5am just to witness the sunrise, hey i could do that everyday.

The amount of friends one makes while travelling is sometimes to good to be true. Meeting people from all over the world and sharing stories with them, the next thing you know, you're setting up dates on when to meet up for coffee back at the capital city.

I cannot wait to see where my next trip would take me. Hopefully Tibet :D