Few places are so compelling to me that I feel I must return soon. But Burma was that kind of place. Relatively untouristed, it is on the verge of great growth as a destination for adventuresome travelers. Once Burma opens up, it will change rapidly. Indeed, the release of ASSK this year seems to have [...]

Most of Myanmar is a malarial risk area. All areas other than the cities of Yangon and Mandalay and areas over 1000 meters in altitude are considered malarial risk. Burma has more deaths from malaria than any other Asian country. That’s a pretty shocking statistic for such a small country. One of the reasons for [...]

What do people really know about travel to Burma? I received an email from a friend today asking about travel to Burma, as a colleague of his thought he wanted to set up a business meeting there. The email made me realize how few people know much about Burma. Here is what I told him: [...]

I have been reflecting on my “lessons learned” while booking our first trip as we are preparing for a return to Burma. Planning a trip to Burma isn’t like planning for a trip to any place else. All of the conveniences that I have come to rely on to book international travel – buying plane [...]

There is a previous post here by Cheryl on buying some new flip flops for travel. Both of us ordered a couple of pairs that looked good on the web, but… even though I ordered a brand I’ve had good luck with, I found that they make two widths of footbed, one that fits me, [...]

Reflections on the trip Sikkim exceeded our expectations. It’s a beautiful country, and the people are justly proud of its natural beauty. They are looking to position themselves as an eco-tourism destination. Unlike the rest of India, you don’t see trash by the side of the roads. All of my reading about the history of [...]

We decided early on which hotel we wanted in Kolkata based on lots of research and the recommendation of a friend:  The Oberoi Grand.  Of course the hotel gets great reviews for both the rooms and the service, but the location is perfect for exploring Kolkata. Prices on the Oberoi website were well over $600 [...]

After all my figuring of the costs of a foreign wire transfer, it turned out that my bank did not charge me for the transfer. My only cost was a small foreign exchange premium. So check with your bank. If you have multiple accounts, they can be linked to give you more clout and better [...]

As I was planning this trip, you may remember that I researched flight options to make sure it was possible to get from Bangkok to Bagdogra in one day. The schedules of the airlines made the choice of which airline to take very simple

It looked like I could make the arrangements online. For security purposes, I had to request an authorization code they emailed to me. As I moved through the process, I suddenly realized they wanted to transfer money out of my brokerage account rather than my bank account.