Myanmar

Welcome to moreh manipur — If you tend to fall in the category of ‘gastronomically adventurous’, the Northeast region of India may just become your new home. The seven sister states – as they were called before Sikkim joined the party in 1975 and made it ‘eight sister states‘– of the Northeast are not only culturally different from the rest of India, but they also stand out in their culinary habits. And this holds true especially when it comes to what constitutes ‘non-vegetarian’ diet in this region. Back in my home state of Kerala in South India, there is a proverb in Malayalam which I […]

In Search of Sambhar: Riding to Moreh on the India-Myanmar border

Pangsau pass return — ‘Vinegar Joe’ may have made enemies as far and wide as China and United Kingdom. But he had also left something behind for me to explore in Upper Assam. And the Indian government had made it possible to visit this place only on 3 days of the month. In my case, it was on December 30th 2017. What a way to end the year! The infamous history of the Stilwell Road After kicking off my K2K2K ride from Kibithoo, I tried to stay focused on my route and not make much too much deviations. But that resolution was broken within […]

Riding on the historic Stilwell road. Towards Pangsau Pass in Myanmar.

View from the Sulamani temple — 4 years ago, I had taken a bus ticket from the Aung Mingalar bus station in Yangon, heading towards Bagan. And I just realised – in 2018 – that I never wrote about Bagan! Well, since Bagan was hit by an unfortunate earthquake in 2016, here is looking at a mystical, magical place that I am always happy to revisit. Note: These experiences are from 2014, when Myanmar just started opening up for tourism, and Bagan was an extremely offbeat place to visit. Your experience now would be very different from mine, as Bagan has already become quite touristy and […]

A Bicycling trip through Bagan: Before the earthquake

The Shwedagon stupa — Myanmar has always been a very enigmatic country for me. While growing up, I read the newspapers about Aung San Suu Kyi and the civil unrest in Myanmar, but could not get satisfactory information about either, with all the media controls imposed by the government. The country also maintained a stringent control over tourism, with restrictions on border crossings on all sides, and foreigners not allowed to go beyond defined perimeters. But since 2010, there has been a remarkable change in the affairs of Myanmar, with Aung San Suu Kyi’s release, and many international carriers launching direct flights to the […]

In Photos: Shwedagon pagoda of Yangon, Myanmar

Shwedagon pagoda in Yangon — Everybody is doing it. So, I might as well. To recount a year is difficult, and especially when it is a year like 2013 which was nothing short of momentous. I checked my hard disk to find out that I have travelled to a total of 14 countries this year, and the total pictures in my hard disk totalled up to 32000! So, what better way to recount a year, than to show it in pictures. January The Thaipusam festival is one of the most bizarre festivals that one can imagine. I have been wanting to check out […]

2013: My year in travel photos