On my first day in Mandalay, I walked up to a tea house/beer garden.  This is a very common scene in Myanmar – basically a nondescript pavilion overlaying wobbly tables and chairs that serves as a restaurant/bar.  I hesitated at the entrance when I realized only men were inside; perhaps it was culturally taboo for … Continue Reading

Within an hour of my arrival in Mandalay, a Dutch girl was buoyantly relaying her most cherished Myanmar memory to me, which strangely enough involved getting plowed down by a motorcycle as she rode her bike down a dusty, uneven road.  Her entire right leg was bandaged and unable to bend, and her wrist bore … Continue Reading