simon43

As they say, 'necessity is the mother of invention'. I think the Burmese people are the most inventive when it comes to day-to-day living and devices. Bring them a washing machine with a burnt out motor and they will manually (and labouriously) rewind that motor with old wire from some other electrical equipment so that the washing machine is usuable again. An old motor that was unrepairable provided magnets that I could use in my Science lessons. My teaching assistant cannibalised an old fluorescent light to salvage the bimetallic thermal switch for other experiments. We grew plants on the school roof to use in coloured water experiments (to demonstrate how water moves up the stem to the flower, leafs etc.) So many challenges - so running my computer etc from a car battery and inverter is no longer a challenge :)

I also take a solar panel controller unit, in case I have to purchase a solar panel (usually unnecessary since I can recharge my car battery from the mains electricity when it's available.) Over the years, I have minimised my electricity energy consumption, just the fridge, laptop, mobile phones and LED lights. I don't usually need air-con nor even a fan, since I choose my accommodation to be well-shaded by trees (the latter are also useful to hang my ham radio antennas from, as an 'advertisement' to the local police that I'm possibly a spy.....)

I heard (honest! 3rd party knowledge only), that the park is a notorious gay pick-up and action area.... I suspect that GG will enjoy this demonstration of sexual diversity!

Ah, the wonders of mains grid electricity and the occasional outage. Consider yourselfs lucky! I'm off to Myanmar on Saturday and amongst the items in my luggage that I always take is this assembly: The supply of mains grid electricity in Myanmar has been hugely insufficient for yonks, and daily power outages are the norm. In rural locations, (where I'm heading), generators are in short supply, or the hotel can't afford the diesel fuel. So if one really needs a supply of 'the juice', one has to improvise. I teach online every evening for about 3 hours, and my laptop battery won't be able to provide power for that length of time, including powering 3 separate mobile phones and an LED light array clipped to my laptop. The 3 mobile phones are used to ensure internet stability - Wi-fi from the hotel and SIMs from 3 different mobile networks, all connected together using Speedify software. If the preferred internet sources goes 'down' or too slow, the software will automatically share or switch to a working network in an instant, without dropping the connection. What's not shown, (because I buy this locally), is a sturdy 12 volt car battery that is charged up by that lethal-looking battery charger when there is mains grid power available. A fully-charged car battery can supplly my laptop with enough juice for perhaps 24 hours or more. I 'abandon' the battery on my return by plane, since transporting car batteries isn't permitted, (and it's too heavy for me to lug around anyway!).

Having now based my self in Cambodia (next week ????!), I find most females can speak good to very good English. They've made the effort, since most foreigners speak no Khmer (and won't make an effort to learn it). I profess to only knowing 1 word of Khmer (bong!!). I can speak Thai, Lao, French and Burmese (some of these languages I can speak and read very well, others more basic). I should make an effort to learn some Khmer for politeness sake, but my old brain is currently struggling with practicing 'I need to buy a car battery because my hotel has no generator' in Burmese language....... Although Siem Reap has its own share of total 'slappers' and loser barang in Pub Street, I find most Khmer females very friendly and approachable and intelligent, able to discuss topics and not just say 'up to you..'. Most are physcially pretty as well :)

So Iran now is now attacking countries which are not involved nor taken sides in this conflict. I wonder what their justification will be...

Rubbish! I consider myself a decent person, but I'm neither shocked nor deeply affected. I don't hear you wokies making a fuss about the many thousands of civilians killed in Myanmar. Speak up about them and I might start giving Gaza more thought.

Just 36 hours after applying online, I received my tourist e-visa by email. (At least this demonstrates that I'm still allowed into Myanmar!)

I found a sturdy bag in Sakura for my 'emergency power' kit! Now the problem is that flights from Yangon to Heho are booked up for a few days. So I'll stay in Yangon for 3 days, visit the monastery school over the river in Dala Township (where I taught in 2012 - I have some old photos of my young students who will now be in their 20's). I might drop into one of my old school employers, but I don't expect any job offers! (Yangon is too polluted anyway....). There is also a good educational book shop that sells bilingual story books that I used to donate - so that's worth a visit. I would take coach travel, but this isn't possible since I teach online every evening and all the coach websites have either no seat availability, or foreigners have been banned from travelling on that route..... Such are the challenges of travel in Myanmar :) Update - (deleted). MAI manually issued the flight ticket with many apologies for their fcuked-up website...

Also, my Burmese language skills are up to asking "I want to buy a car battery because there is no electricity at my hotel. Where is the shop?" However, whether or not I can understand the reply remains to be seen.... I hope that by immersing myself for a few weeks in a (mostly) Bumese language enivonment, I can improve my language knowledge.....

I've arranged a visit to Myanmar for a few weeks, returning to my 'base' in Siem Reap a few days before the Water Festival. That gives me time to stock up on food and go into 'hibernation mode' at my room for the festival period....

Getting to the Inle Lake region is a bit of a journey. That's not due to the problems in the Middle East. Rather, it's because the flight from Bangkok to Yangon departs (for some unknown reason) at 2am on Sunday morning, arriving in Yangon about 1 hour later. My flight into Bangkok from Siem Reap arrives the previous afternoon, so I have a lot of time to kill AND I also need to teach 2 online lessons. Rather than fire up Zoom at a noisy airport, and risk having not enough 'juice' for my laptop, I'll stay for the afternoon at a cheap(ish) airport hostel that I know near Swampy. Once I arrive at Yangon, I have about 6 hours to kill before my flight to HeHo airport, which is about 1 hour from the small town of Nyaung Shwe, at the head of Inle Lake. As previously mentioned, I have neither the time nor the interest in taking the long coach journey from Yangon to Nyaung Shwe! My hotel in Nyuang Shwe is cheap, less than $10 USD/night. They also informed me that there is mains electricity for about 3 hours per day, (a fact that I remember being similar when I was in Nyaung Shwe about 14 months ago). The hotel internet and mobile internet is fine, so long as I buy SIM data cards for 3 different mobile networks when I arrive (Atom network is krap, so I won't buy that SIM), then use 3 different mobile phones at the same time AND the hotel wi-fi also to obtain a reliable internet connection, connecting all devices to my laptop using Speedify software. I've done this before in Myanmar and that works OK. To ensure that I can do my online lessons during these 'black-outs', I need to bring my trusty 12v/220v inverter and car battery charger with me (2 useful travel items when visiting Myanmar!). I'll buy a car battery when I arrive in town. I already have a strong LED light that clips to my laptop, and a solar-powered torch for getting about in the dark :) Car batteries are heavy, so I'm off to the local Sakura (secondhand item) shop today in Siem Reap to buy a cheap but strong bag to carry the battery, since I might travel up to Mandalay as well. The battery has to be 'abandoned' before I return home - can't take it on a plane. A Christian nun in Taunggyi emailed me yesterday about a new orphanage that's just opened with about 80 children, caught up in the civil war, (many people were evacuated from the town of Loikaw, south of Inle Lake). She said that they are teaching the kids English, but any teaching resources will be most welcomed. I think the local print shop in Taunggyi will be getting good business from me. I should emphasise that 'orphanage' doesn't always mean 'orphans'. Many of the kids do have parents, but the latter are destitute, and it's better for the offspring to stay at a monastery school or Christian orphanage, where they are safe, have clothes, food and other kids etc. My hotel also told me that nowadays the police ban foreigners from hiring motorbikes in Nyaung Shwe. That's annoying, because I don't want to be reliant on taxis to get around locally. I can rent a bicycle, and the furthest-away orphanage is about 8 miles from Nyauang Shwe - so that will be a nice ride. (I'll have to move hotels to Taunggyi when visiting the orphanages in that town).

At 64 years old??

I always use https://pattaya-express.com/ Very reliable

I think in this war situation, travel insurance won't cover you...