# Where have you been?



## krandall

(With or without Havs?) I recently returned from a trip to India, and I want Lalla to tell us all about her Burma trip!
I'll get some photos together of my India trip that you might enjoy. 

Anyone else been anywhere interesting that they want to tell us about? It doesn't need to be so exotic either. Beautiful places in the U.S. (or where ever you live!) are fun too!


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## 31818

I'm going to Los Cabos Mexico at the tip of Baja California with my Momi and Popi in 10 days. !ARRIBA! I'll be vacationing there for about two months. I'm gonna soak up some sun and sand on the beach. My Popi promises me that it is tropical there and looks a lot like Cuba.

besos, Ricky Ricardo


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## Lalla

Burma is utterly wonderful; I'll post some photos when I've got my jet-lagged act together, Karen. I look forward to hearing about other people's holidays, too, I'd love to hear about India. I've been there a couple of times, most recently two years ago for the Jaipur Literary Festival, which was really exciting. The hugest difference in Burma is the total lack of hassling - it has been so isolated for so long that tourism is relatively new; a country still recovering and not entirely out of the throes of military rule, waking up to the world around, totally unspoilt in so many ways with delightful, generous-hearted people. They appear to have come through decades of horror seemingly able to be calm and welcoming, gentle and hospitable - perhaps it is simply the deep-rooted Buddhism that pervades their lives. How a people can suffer so much and be so lacking in resentment or anger (apparently) is difficult to fathom. The sheer beauty of the country, the pagodas, the villages, Inlé Lake in the Shan hills with its idiosyncratic one-legged-rowing fisherman, the great meandering Irrawaddy River.... I feel overwhelmed by the wonder of it all and humbled by the kindness of its people.


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## SJ1998

Hi, I am planning a trip to India this spring. First visit there so planning just for Golden Triangle. Any suggestions as to how long? There are tours for every preference it seems. We usually book private tours though our hotel and focus on specific sites. I like a balance of being there long enough but short enough that I leave wanting more.

Re. Burma - I would love to go there this year but I dont think I can get a trip together fast enough. Looking forward to hearing more!


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## Lalla

No amount of time spent in India is long enough! There's just so much to see and do - on my first trip there we only 'did' Rajasthan, travelling around on a train, to Jodhpur, Jaipur, Udaipur, Jaisalmer...all over. And then went on to Calcutta. We were only there for three weeks and it all seemed hectic and rushed, but India IS hectic, and everyone rushes. Next trip was just Jaipur, and actually I was grateful for staying put in one place, time to breathe and semi-relax. I think it probably helps enormously to have a guide looking after just you, rather than being in a group where you are necessarily herded according to schedules that are more or less inflexible.

Burma is totally different, in every conceivable way - gentle and peaceful, at least to tourists - there are still troubles in some parts, and tourism is still restricted, but these are early days in a country waking up from decades of isolation. We went on a seven-night trip from Mandalay down the Irrawaddy by boat to Bagan and back again; it's not actually all that far, given the huge length of that impressive river - the 'road to Mandalay' IS the Irrawaddy, which makes sense of lines like 'where the old flotilla lay', which I'd never understood before! So there were lots of stops along the way at various small towns and villages, and then the most spectacular balloon ride imaginable, over the four thousand or so pagodas of Bagan - totally breathtaking, beyond wonderful. Our pilot had ballooned all over the world, including in Iran, Turkey, Australia, the States, parts of Europe...he said that absolutely nowhere came anywhere close to the marvel of flying over the pagodas of Bagan. I don't doubt his word. Then we went to Inlé Lake, tucked in amongst the Shan hills, vast and placid and beautiful beyond belief, accessible only by boat, and populated by the stilt-village dwelling Intha peoples. Weavers weave lotus silk on looms that must date back hundreds of years, only the elderly women allowed to do the spinning, again on ancient wheels with ancient tools, producing incomparably beautiful yarn from the lotus stalks, dyeing them with ancient recipe dyes, weaving them into exquisite cloth, the rare and valuable lotus yarn intermingled mostly with ordinary silk and/or cotton. The fishermen, on their long elegant punt-like boats, balance at one end on one leg, rowing with an oar hooked around the other knee and ankle, the better to free up their hands for manipulating their nets. We went on a two and a half hour boat ride down a meandering, glorious channel from Inlé to a lower lake and the almost un-visited pagodas of Sagar, unrestored, eerily beautiful, some of them semi-submerged, the only sounds the tinkling of the htees, the little bell-encrusted top-knot 'umbrellas' that surmount each pagoda and blow in the breeze. Hardly any tourists go there, it's a ghost place, beautiful and strange, and a far cry from the bustle of the stilt-villages, the market places, the to-ings and fro-ings of laden river boats and the fairly numerous tourists in the main lake. As you see, I could go on and on! This is a magical moment to visit Burma; there are elections in November of this year, and breath is bated awaiting the outcome; Aung San Suu Kyi is poised to take a majority, but no-one knows what the outcome will be, other than that she would not be allowed to take office even if she won - the constitution forbids any leader who has been married, as she has, to a foreigner, and the constitution is unlikely to change. So who knows what will happen. I think it would be hard to go backwards, and close the country again as it has been since the military coup in 1962. But the situation is fragile. If it does go on opening up it will surely not be long before commercialism and opportunism changes forever the gentle place that it is now. I long to go back. I learnt a lot of Burmese before going - just a mass of phrases and useful things to be able to say, hardly a 'language', more a tool kit; but it stood me in good stead, and people seemed to appreciate any attempts on the part of a foreigner to speak their tongue beyond the usual 'mingalaba' ('hello') that everyone can manage! It was fun being able to understand quite a bit, and say a few words. And I learned a lot more while I was there.


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## krandall

Lalla, can you travel on your own in Burma or do you need to go on an organized tour? We like to rent a car (or in India a car and driver!!!) and go where we want when we want. We will have a general idea of where we want to go, but like to be able to spend more time in an area we find particularly interesting, or move on if we don't. Do they allow that kind of "loose" tourism there at this point? (I know that in China, for instance, it's pretty much still all organized tours)


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## Lalla

I'm not absolutely sure, Karen, but I think it is still fairly restricted; I do know that driving yourself is a complete no no - nobody is insured in Burma and if you are in an accident you will end up being the one who pays, whoever is to blame. Driving in Yangon is frenetic - I wouldn't do it if I were paid!! I think it would be very difficult to manage without a guide, in most places. I guess that it might be possible in some places, but am not sure it's allowed yet. There are whole areas in Burma where tourists are still not allowed to venture, mostly because there are tribal wars still going on - such as in the far north of the Shan States. The tourist route is fairly restricted, mostly to Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan and Inlé Lake. We went through a travel agency called Abercrombie and Kent, and had our own guide, both on the river trip from Mandalay to Bagan and back, and then a different guide met us in Mandalay and flew with us to Heho airport, by car to where we picked up a boat to go to one of several hotels on Inlé Lake itself. I don't think, without a guide, we would have known how to find the various places we visited around the lake, and down the channel to a smaller, connected lake where Sagar is. It simply is not a flexible place yet, the military are still in power, and although they are encouraging tourism it is in a restricted way still. That may change after November's elections but could go either way, from what I was hearing.


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## krandall

Lalla said:


> I'm not absolutely sure, Karen, but I think it is still fairly restricted; I do know that driving yourself is a complete no no - nobody is insured in Burma and if you are in an accident you will end up being the one who pays, whoever is to blame. Driving in Yangon is frenetic - I wouldn't do it if I were paid!! I think it would be very difficult to manage without a guide, in most places. I guess that it might be possible in some places, but am not sure it's allowed yet. There are whole areas in Burma where tourists are still not allowed to venture, mostly because there are tribal wars still going on - such as in the far north of the Shan States. The tourist route is fairly restricted, mostly to Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan and Inlé Lake. We went through a travel agency called Abercrombie and Kent, and had our own guide, both on the river trip from Mandalay to Bagan and back, and then a different guide met us in Mandalay and flew with us to Heho airport, by car to where we picked up a boat to go to one of several hotels on Inlé Lake itself. I don't think, without a guide, we would have known how to find the various places we visited around the lake, and down the channel to a smaller, connected lake where Sagar is. It simply is not a flexible place yet, the military are still in power, and although they are encouraging tourism it is in a restricted way still. That may change after November's elections but could go either way, from what I was hearing.


That won't work for us then.  If we can't visit the kinds of biotopes we are interested in (with aquatic plants) and those are rarely places any "normal" tourists are interested in, it's too expensive to go to JUST be a tourist. We'll just have to wait a few more years!


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## Lalla

krandall said:


> That won't work for us then.  If we can't visit the kinds of biotopes we are interested in (with aquatic plants) and those are rarely places any "normal" tourists are interested in, it's too expensive to go to JUST be a tourist. We'll just have to wait a few more years!


I'm afraid that's right, Karen; it's all too difficult at the moment, I fear, but perhaps one day...xxx


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## sandypaws

Not to change the subject, but welcome back Lalla. Glad you had a good vacation in Burma. I know you've been really busy with your old actors' home, but it's nice to have you posting again.

BTW, I saw your "kids" and DH in the Havanese Breed Magazine. I love the moment Richard and Cuba are having. I also enjoyed the article which was quite thought provoking.


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## DebW

I'm getting relief from the cold Minnesota winters by flying back and forth to Liberia. I'm in Monrovia right now. I work in clinical trial research, and we're starting a study on Ebola vaccines.

This is an eye-opening experience! Very poor, and even in the city conveniences like electricity can be sporadic.


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## jabojenny

I know it's not as exciting as most of your trips but we went to Florida over Christmas, with the pups, and it was so nice. We visit my parents and they spoil the pups terribly. My mom asked Timmy if he wanted to stay in Florida with them, she didn't extend the invitation to Mae ound:, hmmm wonder why? We fly down with the pups and I always get such a kick when we land and take them out from under our seats and everyone is so surprised we had them with us, they're like celebrities.


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## krandall

DebW said:


> I'm getting relief from the cold Minnesota winters by flying back and forth to Liberia. I'm in Monrovia right now. I work in clinical trial research, and we're starting a study on Ebola vaccines.
> 
> This is an eye-opening experience! Very poor, and even in the city conveniences like electricity can be sporadic.


Wow! You're brave traveling to Africa right now!


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## krandall

jabojenny said:


> I know it's not as exciting as most of your trips but we went to Florida over Christmas, with the pups, and it was so nice. We visit my parents and they spoil the pups terribly. My mom asked Timmy if he wanted to stay in Florida with them, she didn't extend the invitation to Mae ound:, hmmm wonder why? We fly down with the pups and I always get such a kick when we land and take them out from under our seats and everyone is so surprised we had them with us, they're like celebrities.


Hey, Florida is good too! ANYPLACE warm!!!


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## SJ1998

Lalla said:


> No amount of time spent in India is long enough! There's just so much to see and do - on my first trip there we only 'did' Rajasthan, travelling around on a train, to Jodhpur, Jaipur, Udaipur, Jaisalmer...all over. And then went on to Calcutta. We were only there for three weeks and it all seemed hectic and rushed, but India IS hectic, and everyone rushes. Next trip was just Jaipur, and actually I was grateful for staying put in one place, time to breathe and semi-relax. I think it probably helps enormously to have a guide looking after just you, rather than being in a group where you are necessarily herded according to schedules that are more or less inflexible.
> 
> Burma is totally different, in every conceivable way - gentle and peaceful, at least to tourists - there are still troubles in some parts, and tourism is still restricted, but these are early days in a country waking up from decades of isolation. We went on a seven-night trip from Mandalay down the Irrawaddy by boat to Bagan and back again; it's not actually all that far, given the huge length of that impressive river - the 'road to Mandalay' IS the Irrawaddy, which makes sense of lines like 'where the old flotilla lay', which I'd never understood before! So there were lots of stops along the way at various small towns and villages, and then the most spectacular balloon ride imaginable, over the four thousand or so pagodas of Bagan - totally breathtaking, beyond wonderful. Our pilot had ballooned all over the world, including in Iran, Turkey, Australia, the States, parts of Europe...he said that absolutely nowhere came anywhere close to the marvel of flying over the pagodas of Bagan. I don't doubt his word. Then we went to Inlé Lake, tucked in amongst the Shan hills, vast and placid and beautiful beyond belief, accessible only by boat, and populated by the stilt-village dwelling Intha peoples. Weavers weave lotus silk on looms that must date back hundreds of years, only the elderly women allowed to do the spinning, again on ancient wheels with ancient tools, producing incomparably beautiful yarn from the lotus stalks, dyeing them with ancient recipe dyes, weaving them into exquisite cloth, the rare and valuable lotus yarn intermingled mostly with ordinary silk and/or cotton. The fishermen, on their long elegant punt-like boats, balance at one end on one leg, rowing with an oar hooked around the other knee and ankle, the better to free up their hands for manipulating their nets. We went on a two and a half hour boat ride down a meandering, glorious channel from Inlé to a lower lake and the almost un-visited pagodas of Sagar, unrestored, eerily beautiful, some of them semi-submerged, the only sounds the tinkling of the htees, the little bell-encrusted top-knot 'umbrellas' that surmount each pagoda and blow in the breeze. Hardly any tourists go there, it's a ghost place, beautiful and strange, and a far cry from the bustle of the stilt-villages, the market places, the to-ings and fro-ings of laden river boats and the fairly numerous tourists in the main lake. As you see, I could go on and on! This is a magical moment to visit Burma; there are elections in November of this year, and breath is bated awaiting the outcome; Aung San Suu Kyi is poised to take a majority, but no-one knows what the outcome will be, other than that she would not be allowed to take office even if she won - the constitution forbids any leader who has been married, as she has, to a foreigner, and the constitution is unlikely to change. So who knows what will happen. I think it would be hard to go backwards, and close the country again as it has been since the military coup in 1962. But the situation is fragile. If it does go on opening up it will surely not be long before commercialism and opportunism changes forever the gentle place that it is now. I long to go back. I learnt a lot of Burmese before going - just a mass of phrases and useful things to be able to say, hardly a 'language', more a tool kit; but it stood me in good stead, and people seemed to appreciate any attempts on the part of a foreigner to speak their tongue beyond the usual 'mingalaba' ('hello') that everyone can manage! It was fun being able to understand quite a bit, and say a few words. And I learned a lot more while I was there.


Thank you for the info on India, and for the lovely account of your Burma trip. It sounds amazing. A guy in my office went last year, he had a similar description of the people.


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## SJ1998

krandall said:


> That won't work for us then.  If we can't visit the kinds of biotopes we are interested in (with aquatic plants) and those are rarely places any "normal" tourists are interested in, it's too expensive to go to JUST be a tourist. We'll just have to wait a few more years!


You could check with the Embassy as well if you have a keen interest in going before it gets too developed. You might be able to use a combination of internal flights (for time purposes due to road conditions) and local guides and drivers. I have looked at going as a tourist and I was surprised that it was possible to get a visa online.


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## SJ1998

jabojenny said:


> I know it's not as exciting as most of your trips but we went to Florida over Christmas, with the pups, and it was so nice. We visit my parents and they spoil the pups terribly. My mom asked Timmy if he wanted to stay in Florida with them, she didn't extend the invitation to Mae ound:, hmmm wonder why? We fly down with the pups and I always get such a kick when we land and take them out from under our seats and everyone is so surprised we had them with us, they're like celebrities.


What part of Florida if you dont mind my asking?


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## krandall

SJ1998 said:


> You could check with the Embassy as well if you have a keen interest in going before it gets too developed. You might be able to use a combination of internal flights (for time purposes due to road conditions) and local guides and drivers. I have looked at going as a tourist and I was surprised that it was possible to get a visa online.


Yes, I always get my visas on line. The trouble with flying is that we need to be on the ground so that we can SEE the wet area, and jump out and look over an area when we come across it. We spend a lot of time covering a fairly small area, but we are thorough!


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## jabojenny

Naples, I call it "La La" land.


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## Heather's

Your such a lucky dog Ricky! We love Cabo too. Hope you have lots of fun relaxing in the sun and sipping Margarita's


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## Ari214

One of my favorite places I've been to was Florence. Wish I could have been there longer! On our honeymoon last year we went to Playa del Carmen and stayed at the Rosewood Mayakoba. Which was AMAZING! I know the destination is not super exotic but the resort was beautiful. The service was excellent and it was what a nice, relaxing vacation should be!

On traveling related news: we took Kipper on his first flight over Christmas and he did great!!! Yaay! Granted flight was only an hour, but still _


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## Lalla

krandall said:


> Yes, I always get my visas on line. The trouble with flying is that we need to be on the ground so that we can SEE the wet area, and jump out and look over an area when we come across it. We spend a lot of time covering a fairly small area, but we are thorough!


There are certainly naturalists and scientists in Burma, Karen; a colleague of my husband's is there at the moment - he works on large mammals, in this instance particularly the clouded leopard, and is in the northern forests of Burma; it's actually quite dangerous there, with tribal wars still flaring up. I think there must be procedures that make study possible and allow travel in different ways from those expected of tourists if people are on fact-finding expeditions.


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## Lalla

sandypaws said:


> Not to change the subject, but welcome back Lalla. Glad you had a good vacation in Burma. I know you've been really busy with your old actors' home, but it's nice to have you posting again.
> 
> BTW, I saw your "kids" and DH in the Havanese Breed Magazine. I love the moment Richard and Cuba are having. I also enjoyed the article which was quite thought provoking.


Hullo, Mary! It's nice to be back, I've missed the forum. I'm very glad you enjoyed the Havanese Breed Magazine article; it was originally published in a tabloid newspaper here, the Daily Mail, and there was a huge response. They edited it annoyingly, but the reprint in the HBM took Richard's original unabridged version from his website, which was hugely better. And the photo was nice, wasn't it!


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## krandall

Lalla said:


> Hullo, Mary! It's nice to be back, I've missed the forum. I'm very glad you enjoyed the Havanese Breed Magazine article; it was originally published in a tabloid newspaper here, the Daily Mail, and there was a huge response. They edited it annoyingly, but the reprint in the HBM took Richard's original unabridged version from his website, which was hugely better. And the photo was nice, wasn't it!


Can you give us the web site so those of us who don't get Havanese Breed can read it?


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## Lalla

Here's the link, Karen, and anyone else who might be interested. Fireworks are a major problem here in Oxford - students use any excuse to have them, beginning of term, end of term, end of exams, graduation, parties....we get them all the year round, pretty much, even in the summer. And I'm positive they are much noisier than they used to be. Perhaps one might hope that such constant exposure would make a dog get used to it, but mine don't seem to.

https://richarddawkins.net/2014/11/i-love-fireworks-but/


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## krandall

Lalla said:


> Here's the link, Karen, and anyone else who might be interested. Fireworks are a major problem here in Oxford - students use any excuse to have them, beginning of term, end of term, end of exams, graduation, parties....we get them all the year round, pretty much, even in the summer. And I'm positive they are much noisier than they used to be. Perhaps one might hope that such constant exposure would make a dog get used to it, but mine don't seem to.
> 
> https://richarddawkins.net/2014/11/i-love-fireworks-but/


Great article, Lalla. Unfortunately, laws don't help that much here in the US. Different states have different laws, but here in Massachusetts, private fireworks ARE illegal. We have the string of public fireworks around 4th of July. (each local town seems to choose a different day). Many towns also have fireworks in conjunction with some town-wide event, like the Lions Carnival. Beachfront communities very often have weekly fireworks, and heaven help those poor pets near Disney Land and Disney World, where fireworks are a nightly event. And all those are the legally sanctioned fireworks.

As I said, in our state, private fireworks are NOT legal, but that doesn't stop them. Even if you report that there are fireworks going off nearby, unless you know FOR SURE who is doing it, by the time the police get there to investigate, he perpetrators are long gone. When my horses were still at home, we had occasional problems with live, burning fireworks landing in their pastures in late summer, with tinder-dry grass. (To say nothing of the fact that panicked horses can easily fracture a leg in the dark) We knew WHERE the fireworks were coming from... The famer's fields beyond ours. But we were also quite sure that HE was not responsible. It was most likely teenage boys from the surrounding neighborhoods. But no one was ever caught.

So I agree that I SO wish something could be done to limit fireworks. (Especially private ones) but I'm just not sure how it can be done. &#128533;


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## Hsusa

So exciting to hear about your trips. My husband and I visited Kenya last September and it was a marvelous trip. Seeing the animals was breath-taking. And it went very smoothly. We had a guide who drove us to a few of the safari spots, then went on Safari with us. Our next trip will be a tour of the Oregon coast and Northern California...in mid June. We will drive in our motor home, taking Sheba, who will be 9 months by then, and our adult daughter, who has autism. I'm looking forward to seeing the beauty of the coast.


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## Hsusa

My name is Helene, by the way!


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## krandall

Both sound like great trips, Helene! I've never been to Africa, though I'd like to some day. I adore the Pacific Northwest, though I have spent most of my time there in Washington rather than Oregon. It's very beautiful country, though!!!


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## Hsusa

I was so happy to visit Africa. I never imagined I would get there. It was a long journey. We flew into Nairobi. The airport there requires a lot of patience. Going in...a long wait for visas to be carefully checked. Going out...many security checks to counteract terrorism. In Nairobi itself, there were several security checkpoints...looking for bombs under cars was common before you were permitted to drive into a hotel parking area, for example. 
We flew to two of our safari destinations on very small planes. Flying in we could look down and spot the giraffes and elephants. At the airports, there are people in charge of moving the elephants away, so the planes could land!
We saw and photographed two of the remaining five white rhinos in the world. A mother and youngster. So sad to realize we were probably seeing the last hurrah of these amazing animals. 
One of the best parts of the trip was witnessing the great migration of the wildebeest and zebras traveling single file as they made their way across the Mara River to Tanzania. There were thousands of them, which meant that the lions and crocodiles were well-fed!


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## Lalla

Long time no posting but I seem to be back today! And had a look on the 'Where have you Been" thread to see ...well, where people have been! has anyone been to Phuket? I'm off there for ten days in August to stay with a friend; I know it's not proper 'season', which will be rainier than the usual time to go which is December/January; but presumably less touristy, too, which will be nice.

Re Burma again - things are far more unsettled than when we last discussed it here; there is an election in November and unrest meantime. It's such a lovely country, with such lovely people; I do so hope they manage to survive all these awful political shenanigans, not to mention tribal wars. I'm so glad I went when I did. It's not all doom and gloom but it is very volatile at the moment, I believe.


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## krandall

Lalla said:


> Long time no posting but I seem to be back today! And had a look on the 'Where have you Been" thread to see ...well, where people have been! has anyone been to Phuket? I'm off there for ten days in August to stay with a friend; I know it's not proper 'season', which will be rainier than the usual time to go which is December/January; but presumably less touristy, too, which will be nice.
> 
> Re Burma again - things are far more unsettled than when we last discussed it here; there is an election in November and unrest meantime. It's such a lovely country, with such lovely people; I do so hope they manage to survive all these awful political shenanigans, not to mention tribal wars. I'm so glad I went when I did. It's not all doom and gloom but it is very volatile at the moment, I believe.


Phuket is beautiful!!! I've been several times. If possible, though, get off the island, which is quite crowded and touristy. Krabi, which is the other side of the bay from Phuket is LOVELY, as is Khao Lak, just north of Phuket (an easy drive). There are several pretty waterfalls to the right of the main road north (Rte 4). The nicest is Tam Nang (spelled variously&#8230; they do phonetic translations, and the spelling is anyone's guess a lot of the time! ) waterfall in Si Phangnga National park. It's a LITTLE bit of a hike from the parking area, but not far, and there is a BEAUTIFUL waterfall with a nice swimming hole at the bottom. I've included photos of the waterfall in various seasons and also the sign on the main road to help you find it.

The next photo is the main beach in Phuket. Although there are definitely stretches without boats, the beaches are often crowded. And the last photo, if you have a car, is the beach just heading over the causeway to the mainland. THIS is where the beautiful beaches start, IMO!  Krabi Bay is supposed to be a fabulous place for diving and snorkeling, though we've never had time to pry ourselves away from the fresh water plants to see the reefs.

As far as the weather goes, weather all over the world is changing. The "dry season" in southern Thailand isn't always so dry, and the "rainy season" isn't always so rainy. So we'll cross fingers for you for good weather. OTOH, going in the rainy season is the RIGHT time to see Thailand's spectacular waterfalls. And if you have the time, to get to Khao Sok NAtional PArk, it is gorgeous. The place I liked best to stay there was:

The Cliff & River Jungle Resort
251 KM. 97 Moo 7, Khao Sok National Park, Phanom, Surat thani, 84520, Thailand, ‏‎800-491-9631‎ ‎

Not expensive by our standards and SOOO pretty. It is right on the edge of a cliff over the river, with trees growing right up through the deck where you eat your meals (there is covered dining for wet weather, and the food is good) Each guest house is rustic but well appointed and pretty. The pool makes you feel like you are swimming on the mountain top. You can take raft trips on the river right from the steps below the resort. We were treated to gibbons in the trees right over our heads one morning.

I love Thailand SO much. I'd love to go back there, but our work has taken us on to India&#8230; which I don't like NEARLY as much in SO many ways&#8230; but there are nice plants there!


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## Lalla

stunning photos, Karen, and really helpful advice, thank you SO much!! I'm a bit panicky about leaving the UK for ten days with a ton of stuff to do, but sometimes one just has to grasp an opportunity and run with it. So I'm off!! And everything can just wait till I come back.
Where is your next field trip likely to be? You must get to such interesting places in search of your aquarium plants?


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