Author Archives: admin

Day 43: Across the Friendship bridge

After leaving Thaton, the drive to the Thai border crossing took me along Highway 85 and over the Thanlwin bridge at Hpa An. It takes about two and a half hours to get to the border, and I pull over … Continue reading

Posted in Enroute | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Touching the Thai border

The first part of my drive today is down Highway 5 along the eastern edge of the Karen Hills. I am starting to find the odd person who is willing to try their English on me, and find out that … Continue reading

Posted in Enroute | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Seeing the wood for the trees

As I head south towards Hsi Hseng I get to sample a little local village life in the small, forest settlements. Firstly, nobody speaks English here, and none of the road signs have anything but Burmese on them, which I … Continue reading

Posted in Enroute | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Looking at Mandalay

Rudyard Kipling wrote the famous Mandalay poem in 1890. His father was a museum curator and you may remember this from my visit to Lahore a few weeks ago. Kipling was born in Bombay in 1865 and became a journalist … Continue reading

Posted in Places | Leave a comment

Day 40: Road to Mandalay

Once east of Kalewa, I drive along the main road that takes me over the hills and into the open lowland that takes me onto Mandalay. This is pretty much thick forest all the way. I am mindful of the … Continue reading

Posted in Enroute | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Crossing at Moreh

Before I checked out of the hotel, I walked across the road to see the fort, nestled in the large park opposite. Kangla was the original ancient city where Imphal now stands and was the capital until Imphal took over … Continue reading

Posted in Enroute | Leave a comment

Into Imphal

The drive around the last mountain ridge, which takes me as high as 1300 ft before heading down the winding hillside. Despite the drop down the mountain road into the spectacular plain, Imphal is still at a height of 800 … Continue reading

Posted in Places | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Sub-Himalayan Manipur Hills

Before I leave this morning, I find that I am 11,000 miles from home. Google maps tells me that it would take about five days and 20 hours if I headed back now. This does, of course, assume that I … Continue reading

Posted in Enroute | Leave a comment

Day 37: Skipping along borders

Today, Google maps has plotted a route back into the Assam region of northern India and then east towards Silchar and the Burmese border. The nearest actual border crossing I can see is Dawki/Tamabil, north of Sylhet. The crossing it … Continue reading

Posted in Enroute | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Farming and livestock

As I head north I watch the land roll by. Small herds of cattle stand waiting and the fields are being prepared for the spring. People work hard here, that’s for sure. I pass a group of women carrying large … Continue reading

Posted in Enroute | Leave a comment