Category Archives: Travel My computer crashed the other day: locked up with a blank screen and humming motor, and refused to boot again. I don’t like to speak ill of my MacLemon, but this latest episode makes hard-drive number four in as many years – and I have also replaced a battery. What is worse, of course, is that without my Mac, I […]  It seems like half the North Americans I have ever met have at least a drop or two Irish in them! Not surprising, I suppose, in view of the continued growth of the Irish diaspora. Three million people outside Ireland (a country of less than 5 million internal residents) have legal claim to citizenship, and between 80 and 100 million more have […]  It was hot. And dark. And – unless you enjoy clanging discordant pentatonic music – noisy. It was almost time for the evening performance at the Mandalay Marionettes Theatre. As we filed into the tiny space, a small band played Burmese classics to welcome us. Yoke Thay, traditional Myanmar puppet theatre, dates back several centuries. It was entertainment, held […]  There is something special about whales. Granted, except for trips to the Vancouver Aquarium many, many, years ago, I’ve only ever seen bits of whales – a dorsal or a tail or a flipper – as most of their huge bodies stay submerged. I’m still waiting to see a whale breach; I’ve seen some magnificent photos, but when […]  Our private tour bus pulled over on a nondescript patch of road, somewhere between Mandalay and Pyin Oo Lwin. It seemed a quiet spot, with broken-down-looking vehicles parked at the side, and bamboo shop-fronts sitting back from the earthen verge. Ten photographic-tour participants, photographer Karl Grobl and Burmese guide Mr MM piled out of the vehicle, and […] |
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