Jo Herrings Adventures

I have been touched, pinched, squeezed and had my back rubbed as I was sick. Myanmar is one phenomenal place which I have so much hope for. Hope for democracy, hope for development and hope for conservation, all in a gradual process without losing its authenticity. I have felt safe, with my large amounts of cash (remember no ATM’s so budgeting became a real past time of all travellers not just the “budget” ones) and in pilgrimaging crowds, in villages and on rickety hill top roads, travelling solo or in a crowd. Not once did I fear for my personal safety or that of my belongings. I had to stop myself on the first day from being so travel weary and closed. I had to trust. I had to open up and Myanmar may well have taught me one of my greatest lessons on my Big Adventure. captive in Myanmar There were moments of democratic desire, like an aged village monk carrying a bamboo log who stopped me to ask “Do you know Aung San?” to which I replied quietly knowing it was a very c...

Ok so I am very much in a backwater here in Yangon, Myanmar - or as many of you will know it as Rangoon, Burma. I have been unable to exchange $600 USD (mostly as my notes from cash machines in Cambodia were marked, torn or creased!) so far but am hoping that a friendly departing Canadian's crisp 100 dollar bills swapped, ensure I can see this seemingly undiscovered country! ATM's are non existent here, as is wifi. So this is my last chance to let you know I am going off piste for a month.Also my mobile is no longer working - it seems the only place in the world without a shared network agreement.This is what backpacking is supposed to be! Ahhhh no ringing in my ears or incessant tapping on the bus next to me and dog barks from sms's! I've meet a cool Spanglish woman called Ayesha and we are planning to travel upriver to Bagan to see the many temples, then up to Mandalay to see the political activists the Moustache Brothers and east to the hill tribes and hiking...