Tag Archives: portraits

Pyin Oo Lwin (or Maymyo), a small town 67 kilometers (42 mi) east of Mandalay is an odd place, with it’s dusty streets and Wild-West look. According to Wikipedia: “The town began as a military outpost established near a small Shan village with two dozen households…”, becoming a permanent military town by 1896. Tour books will tell you the town still feels “anglicised” […]

View full post »

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 […]

View full post »

“I love the Burman with the blind favouritism born of first impression. When I die I will be a Burman … and I will always walk about with a pretty almond-coloured girl who shall laugh and jest too, as a young maiden ought. She shall not pull a sari over her head when a man […]

View full post »

A friend of mine is currently bicycling around Bhutan. Bhutan! That magical, mysterious, land-locked country on the southern slopes of the eastern Himalayas where happiness is valued and elevations range from 200 m (660 ft) to more than 7,000 m (23,000 ft). Cycling! What a wonderful, life-embracing, inspirational woman she is. In spite of watching her progress with total awe and some envy, I […]

View full post »

“… and you can have a shot of Jack Daniel’s,” our guide told us as we set off on our tour around the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee. It was a joke, of course – a pun on the word “shot”: a jigger of alcohol or a picture. No free tastings were available, as Lynchburg is […]

View full post »