Weekly Photo Challenge: Frames of the World

I love this week’s photo challenge: Frame. I’m sharing three of my favorite travel photos. Oman We woke up early after a splendidly silent night in Wahiba Sands. The sun wasn’t quite above the horizon. I opened the door within a door at the entrance to our desert camp and found two amazing views in the frame — a woodcarving

Weekly Photo Challenge: Silhouettes

Hornbills in the wild, in Yala National Park, Sri Lanka — a favorite trip and a favorite country. Sunset in Bagan, Myanmar — a place unlike any other, with hundreds of temples across the landscape as far as the eye can see. Sunrise on top of a volcano, Gunung Agung, in Bali, Indonesia — back in 2002 when I was

Day 8: Thoughts on Myanmar

Upon arrival at the Yangon airport in Myanmar, the first word spoken to us (at Customs and with a smile, I might add) was “Obama.” Similarly, the first basic thing we knew about Myanmar was probably “Aung San Suu Kyi.” Travelers and locals seem to identify each other in broad strokes like these, depending on current events, world leaders and

Myanmar, Day 7: Friday Night Lights

On our last evening in Myanmar, we returned to the Shwedagon Pagoda just after sunset. The Yangon sky was turning a dark shade of blue as the gold tones of the pagoda were taking on a richer hue in the ambient light. Couples and families casually strolled around the pagoda in bare feet as the day’s heat subsided and the

Myanmar Day 6: Crash, Boom, Bang

Day 6 started peacefully, waking up to a blue sky and spectacular view of Mount Popa. We enjoyed a late breakfast alone at the resort and then retired to the pool in the early afternoon. Sometimes we forget to be still on vacation and take it all in. Sitting at the pool was just what we needed, and then we

Myanmar, Day 5: Mount Popa

Day 5 began with our search for transportation to Mount Popa. We had declined the offer to hire a private van for $90 USD, mainly because of the finite amount of cash in our pockets. In Myanmar there is no option to get more cash if you run out (zero ATMs) and no option to use a credit card. Forecasting

Myanmar, Day 4: To the Market

No matter where you travel, no matter how many times you travel… in one way or another, you always get taken to the market. But it’s up to you whether or not you part with your money. Let’s start by backing up to the end of Myanmar, Day 3. Throughout this trip we had intended to go to Mount Popa

Bygone Bagan in Myanmar

After two days exploring Yangon, we departed for Bagan on Monday morning. Bagan is northwest of Yangon, in central Myanmar, on the Ayeyarwaddy river. There are just a couple flights each day, and it’s best to be on the first one because the others will be cancelled if they’re not full. We were in the air by 7:00 a.m., flying