On the cliffs, at sunset

from here to there

This is what happens when you Google directions in a place where there are no street names:

Head south

56 m

Turn right

850 m

Turn right

46 m

Turn left

300 m

Turn left

 

Destination will be on the right

somebody went to Manila and all I got...

daytrip to Managaha

Managaha is a tiny islet just off the coast of Saipan, about 1 1/2 miles away or so.  It is probably 1 sq mi. big.  Teeny tiny tropical paradise.  It's definitely got the best snorkeling around.

In the news this week

A few weeks before Christmas, we learned for the first time about the Koi.  

The Koi is a sailing ship that has brought many a sailor home from rough seas.  But one day, she ran into trouble on the high seas and she succumbed, sinking to the depths of the ocean floor...

...only to be rediscovered, several centuries later:

Air Bagan

There are a lot of photos from our trip to Burma/Thailand that I still haven't shared here.  But I just must tell you about one of our favorite parts of our travel in Myanmar.  Since the rail and bus options are not excellent, we opted, like many tourists do, to fly from city to city (except for once when we hired a driver and private car).  

There is "Yangon Airways" where the terror-inspiring slogan is, "You're safe with us."  Not only do you get paper tickets, you also get the planes from way back when they used to issue paper tickets, too.

For those who did not travel before circa 1998 and the era of E-ticketing,
this is what an old-fashioned airline ticket looks like

The closest airport to Inle Lake is Heho airport, where cars are not allowed to drive up to the front entrance so you either walk over from the parking lot or you can hire one of these hand-held cart pushers to do it for you:

And then, once you check in, you get a boarding sticker!

 

This mural of an idealized Myanmar scene is in the Yangon departure terminal.
Ethnographically speaking, it will blow your mind.

But by far our favorite airline was "Air Bagan."  There were so many entertaining aspects.
Everything that possibly can be is colored turquoise.  The flight attendants are trained to do exactly the opposite of what airline attendants do in the U.S. ("Please sir, sit down and let me take your suitcase, I will load that for you into the overhead compartment."), their in-flight magazine is guaranteed to be unlike any you have ever read before---EVER, and will provide enough material to contemplate for the rest of your visit in Myanmar.

And then, to top it all off, there is a theme song that is played at landing.  It is sappy, it is sentimental, it is the very definition of triumphant.  The Air Bagan song will remain a family favorite for a long, long time to come.

a Saipan Christmas

2015

Happy New Year, everybody!  

The future is looking pretty good from our angle.  Plenty to contemplate and observe out there in the world.  Looking forward to new adventures and discoveries this next year.