simon43

Thanks BurmaBill, Norfolkandchance. To be honest, I was more annoyed than anything else, because I like custard cremes. And yes - I brought along medicine just in case, so are feeling weak but better now. Now I am in the small town of Nyaung Shwe, which nestles at the north end of Inle Lake, and is where tourists set off for boat trips on the lake. I was last here visiting orphanages 6 years ago, and how it has changed, thanks to Covid and then the military coup. Absolutely no foreign tourists of course. There are local tourists, but my driver tells me that they all stay in nearby Taunggyi, and then make day trips to Nyaung Shwe. So the town economy has collapsed 😞 No large hotels are open, no 'western' food restaurants, no tourist shops etc. The mobile internet is stopped by the military and there are only a few hours of electricity each day... My trip from Mandalay was not so good! As I mentioned, I got food poisoning the day before, so wasn't feeling on top of the world. My driver told me that the main route to Inle Lake had huge delays (4 hours), since every vehicle was x-rayed for weapons. So we took a smaller road over the mountains. This was a 6-hour 'switchback' journey on a small and very bumpy road. Every few km we had to stop for police or military checkpoints. As we approached Kalaw, the military presence was much tougher, and the soldiers were surprised to see a foreigner. At 2 checkpoints, they did not want to let me proceed. But my driver told them that I was an important foreigner, and the soldier didn't want the responsibility of stopping me! So we proceeded. Right now, I'm at a zero-star hotel in Nyaung Shwe. (I won't show you photos of the bathroom because maybe you've just eaten your lunch!). Since there are no minimarts open or western food restaurants, I bought some banana, fried chicken and fresh bread, which will keep me in the land of the living tonight. Tomorrow I'll start my orphanage and monastery school visits/donations 🙂 I chatted with the banana seller, who spoke good English. My Burmese language ability is what language experts call 'pretty crxp'. It's at conversational level for both spoken and reading the language, which no doubt is still much better than most westerners! She told me that I was the first foreigner that she had seen in weeks...

For perhaps the first time in 20 years, I got food poisoning yesterday. Spent the evening emptying my stomach into the toilet, and then a very unpeaceful night... I'm travelling today to the orphanages. My stomach is ok now, but I feel rather weak. Hopefully I'll improve as the day passes. PS - It was a custard creme that did it!

I have no wealth, so I don't have to worry about flaunting it. But (for whatever reason), my status amongst the locals here in Myanmar is rather high, (probably down to the fact that I'm a foreigner, old, a teacher and a charity worker. The locals can't duck enough as they pass me! 🙂

They have many jets that they use to bomb and kill innocent civilians. All jets and spare parts purchased from Russia and China....

About 6 months ago I lived down in the Khao Lak area, a few km back from the beach. If I take off my house rental cost, then I was spending less than 5,000 a month on food, internet and utilities, (not because I could only afford 5k, but because I was interested to see what my monthly budget was). I cooked my own food, (bought fresh from the local market), I did a lot of walking (maybe 5km+ each day (because I prefer to walk for health reasons, nut use a car or motorbike). Life was simple, cheap and healthy! [quote]...and had nightmares the trees were talking to me [/quote] However, I think your monthly medical costs (psychiatrist etc), will send you over budget...

[quote] ... Once the code is scanned, all the information from that phone will be sent to scammers. They receive all access to the phone. All personal and financial information is accessible to the scammers and often the victim's bank accounts are drained. ... [/quote] Lol, urban legion.... totally impossible. The QR code is typically used to forward the user to a phishing website. But a QR code in itself cannot do what you state above 🙂

Yes, I know about the 2 rates - I've lived/worked in Myanmar many times since 2012. My comment was that my $1=4,400 kyat is not a black-market rate. It is the rate offered by the government-registered currency exchange offices on the high street, (hardly an 'under-the-counter' rate!).

I had a half-day today (Wednesday) because some of my students have to practice for our school's winter sports festival on New Year's Eve. Apparently, my promotional video last week has attracted the highest ever number of hits on the school Facebook page, (so that means 10 hits LoL!), and I have therefore been ordered to be the official announcer on that day 🙂 I visited a school book shop today and stocked up on more books that I need to take next week on my visit to the orphanages. I also invested in some pipe-cleaners and cotton wool.... Now I wonder what they are for? 🙂 Mandalay is very quiet now after dark. There is no evening curfew, but numerous teens and young men are being 'conscripted' off the streets to fight in the army against the civilians. Naturally, this is keeping most young men at home after dark 😞 The kyat to USD exchange rate is all over the place! If I exchange USD to kyat in a bank or withdraw kyat from my Bangkok bank account via the ATM machines here, the exchange rate is about 1 USD = 2,100 kyat MMK If I change USD notes in the local (registered) currency exchange office (which I did today), the rate is $1 USD = 4,400 kyat MMK!! Naturally, I avoid withdrawing from an ATM machine....

I learnt yonks ago that slowly and carefully with deep intent, is the best way to do anything 🙂

I usually give ChatGPT a few concise instructions and it produces good images, BUT it seems to be dyslexic and unable to put form correctly-spelt words! Viz: please create an image with the letters of the alphabet from A to Z in order, and please also write the sentence "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog"

Another Monday and my day off. I dropped some vocabulary posters off at the Girls' orphanage, and also ordered 8 more laminated poster sets (8 different posters/set), from the print shop. The reason for needing these extra sets is because I have planned a journey next week 🙂 . Since it's Christmas, I have a few days of holiday. Ideally, I would love to jump on a motorbike and ride across to Kalaw, Inle Lake and Taunggyi, just as I used to do when I worked in Naypyitaw. But it's not practical to do that, because I haven't yet bought a motorbike! Additionally, although the regions that I plan to travel through are considered reasonably safe, (by some close friends working in Myanmar, NOT by the red maps on the UK/US etc government advice web sites), I'm not happy to ride in a region bristling with trigger-happy soldiers when wearing a motorcycle helmet - it can make it difficult for them to recognise that I am a foreigner and they could shoot first.... So I've planned a private car tour guide trip from my base in Mandalay, and visiting/donating at all the orphanages that I previously supported. I want to check on their needs, meet some old friends and (hopefully), make my first attempt at 'vlogging' for YouTube with a video from a foreigner who is not just visiting Myanmar on a 'trip to the most dangerous country in the world' as how these vloggers seem to promote their videos. My tour guide and driver is fully aware of the reason behind my trip, and he also knows some more homes which never receive any donations or help. Using a car also makes it easier to transport donation items, such as rice, clothes that we might buy in the region after assessing the homes' needs. Anyway, my plan is to record a sort of 'introducing myself' video in the next few days, get that up on my new YT channel, and then follow up with my Christmas trip through war-torn Myanmar to some of these orphanages 🙂 There are some regions that I previously visited, such as Pin Laung and Loikaw etc, but these are too dangerous for me to visit now (so sad). ChatGPT has a vivid imagination....

Edit: I should add that these schools are all in Myanmar, not Thailand

This is a massive trailer where there are usually workers seated at the rear to facilitate turning of the rear wheels. " when the trailer’s rear end lost control and overturned." Well, either there was some mechanical failure, or the driver or rear wheel workers did something wrong....

Although somewhat off-topic, all the schools that I've taught in have CCTV in the classroom, for the protection of both students and teachers.

Nope, still the wrong forum - move to Jokes and Trolls Forum....