Travelogue
Phnom Penh - The Empire Strikes Back - 19 July 2011
After several visits I can see Phnom Penh is changing; its buildings, attitudes, cars and infrastructure. Some things haven’t changed; transport, the people, politics, the disparities in wealth, and the poverty. Taxis from Phnom Penh International Airport charge out at a standard US$10 for the ride into the city. Cambodia still runs on its de facto currency, the Greenback, which is available from all ATMs. The local currency, the riel, is used for small change and the two-tier monetary system can be confusing for first-time visitors. You can buy a visa for Cambodia upon arrival. Tourist visas can be renewed once and business visas indefinitely inside the Kingdom of Cambodia, the land of the Khmers. Phnom Penh is a smaller and more manageable size than a megalopolis like Bangkok, that’s one of the reasons I prefer the Cambodian capital. Fours years on and I recognised one of the Cambodian immigration staff. Air arrivals to Cambodia are looking strong for 2011. Already 1.8 million visitors have entered through the two international airports at Siem Reap and Phnom Penh in the first six months, compared with a total of 3.2 million for the whole of 2010. With more visitors the level of interaction with the locals is changing. Visitors aren’t as novel as they once were, so disappearing are those spontaneous moments when kids ride by or come out of their homes just to say hello. At Phnom Penh’s airport it’s possible to walk out the
The Plain of Bagan - 12 July 2011
Entry to the ancient site at Bagan for foreigners costs US$10, also payable as €10 or 9000 Burmese kyats, regardless of the length of your stay. If you’re travelling by bus you get hauled off on the outskirts of town to pay at a small booth on a dusty road. Better value then than Angkor in Cambodia which charges out at US$20 per day and
The Road to Bagan - 5 July 2011
When the agent at Seven Diamonds travel booked my bus ticket I distinctly heard the English word “foreigner” mentioned. I paid 1000 kyat more than at my hotel for the ticket to Bagan but the hotel charged 2000 kyat to take you to the bus station whereas Seven Diamonds’ fee included the pick-up. The agent told me the bus took five hours, though
Mandalay - The City of Gems - 2 July 2011
Mandalay is home to one million people and is the second-largest city in Myanmar. The city is regarded as the commercial hub of the north of the country. It was Burma’s last royal capital, and has been immortalised in books, poetry and song. “The Road to Mandalay” coined by Rudyard Kipling, refers to the journey up the Ayeyarwaddy River
Yangon - The End of Strife - 28 June 2011
A visitor once described swooping down to Rangoon and central Burma’s “flat green, soggy plains overwhelmed by angry monsoon clouds in unbearable heat.” Yangon formerly known as Rangoon, is barely more than an hour by plane from Bangkok and six-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT but in some ways is light years away from the rest of the world, a
Burmese Days - 24 June 2011
Practical Information - Republic of the Union of Myanmar – Visitor GuideMany visitors I met using guidebooks complained that information on cost and travel, especially travel times, was incorrect, so here's an update.VisasVisitors to Myanmar require a visa. This can be either a tourist of business visa. Visas are available from the Embassy
Langkawi - The Jewel of Kedah - 22 June 2011
The chatty and helpful lady at the Penang Tourist Office by the dockside sold me my ticket to Langkawi. “Be sure to arrive at least 30 minutes before sailing” she said “and ask the bus driver to drop you here outside the door, not at the bus stop, which is someway down the road.” I did and he did. All Penang’s modern bus fleet, air-conditioned
Penang - Pearl of the Orient - 18 June 2011
Penang was Britain’s oldest colonial possession in Southeast Asia, the place where Raffles had started his overseas career with the East India Company. It was also breathtakingly beautiful. It was said that few places merited the title Pearl of the Orient as much as Penang, with its fringe of perfect beaches, its variegated interior of spice
Kuala Lumpur - City of Towers - 14 June 2011
In the 1850s Malaysia’s future capital, Kuala Lumpur, was a mining settlement fought over by rival Chinese gangs. The conflict often resulted in open warfare, prompting the British who then ruled the Federation of Malaya to step in, least the lucrative work at the mines ceased altogether. During its early times, Kuala Lumpur had many
