The United States of America today restored full diplomatic status to Myanmar, happy news for them; those of you who have traveled into this wonderful country filled with the sweetest, most welcoming people; and travelers with future plans to visit. How timely since I just published a new travel guide, Sheila’s Guide to Myanmar/Burma a [...]
“Travel Tips & Advice on Burma, 1988”
The United States Restores Diplomatic Status to Myanmar/Burma
January 14th, 2012 
Sheila Simkin 
Posted in Burma, 1988, Featured, Myanmar (Burma) 
Tags: adventure, advice, Burma, Myanmar, tourist guide, travel 
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Training from Mandalay to Rangoon: Are We There Yet? Burma (Now Myanmar)
September 23rd, 2006 Sheila Simkin More sights to see through the open windows – a man plowing the fields with his oxen…View image, more people selling food and water in big jugs always balanced perfectly on their heads…View image….it seemed as if the train stopped hundreds of times. By now, those wooden seats (with perhaps their half-inch of padding) were [...]
Posted in Asia, Burma, 1988 Tags: adventure, Burma, culture, destination, event, food, information, log, Myanmar, nature, sightseeing, train, transportation, travel, walking No Comments »
“Daylight Express” Train from Mandalay to Rangoon, Burma (Now Myanmar)
September 22nd, 2006 Sheila Simkin Up, ready, packed, and “ex-Marine” wore a new pair of beige trousers in honor of this “Upper Class” journey. It was pitch black, inside and outside, at the train station with people sleeping on the platform floor. The train pulled into Mandalay station on time, but there were no light in the cars. Since it [...]
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Mandalay Hill and Sagaing, Burma (Now Mandalay)
September 21st, 2006 Sheila Simkin The City of Mandalay lies almost at the foot of the hill that gave the City its name. It is approximately 800′ high with several temples, the famous temple lions …View image… and an impressive standing Buddha are located. …View image… Unfortunately, we didn’t have the time to climb the 1,000 steps to the top. [...]
Posted in Asia, Burma, 1988 Tags: adventure, Burma, culture, destination, event, food, information, log, Mandalay Hill, Myanmar, nature, Sagaing Temples, sightseeing, travel, walking No Comments »
On The Road to Mandalay, Burma (Now Myanmar)
September 20th, 2006 Sheila Simkin Another early morning, this time at the Pagan Airport and, would you believe it, the shattered toilet pieces were still scattered all over the floor? Just amazing! A half-hour flight, group hummed a few bars of “On The Road to Mandalay,” (the “road” is actually the Irrawadddy River) and were met by “Rose,” our new [...]
Posted in Asia, Burma, 1988 Tags: adventure, Burma, culture, destination, event, food, information, log, Mandalay, Myanmar, nature, Pagan, sightseeing, travel, walking No Comments »
The Temples of Pagan, Burma (Now Myanmar)
September 19th, 2006 Sheila Simkin Pagan is usually everyone’s number one reason for visiting Burma. It certainly lived up to our expectations and was an immensely visual delight. …View image… Each temple had distinct features that surrounding ones did not have. …View image… They were built as tributes to the Buddha by kings and merchants to gain merit and resembled [...]
Posted in Asia, Burma, 1988 Tags: adventure, buddhist, Burma, culture, destination, event, food, information, log, Myanmar, nature, Pagan, sightseeing, temples, travel, walking No Comments »
Pagan’s Buddhist Initiates, Day Two in Burma (Now Myanmar)
September 18th, 2006 Sheila Simkin It was back to the airport for our flight to Pagan. Landing in Pagan, there was the Prime Minister’s brightly colored plane…not a good sign for us. Waiting in the arrival hall for our Tourist Burma Pagan guide, we ladies decided to use the bathroom. All of a sudden, there was this huge, awful explosion. [...]
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Shwedagon Pagoda, Burma (Now Myanmar)
September 17th, 2006 Sheila Simkin Shwedagon Pagoda is most definitely the star of Rangoon. It is built on one the the few hills and has many steps up to the Pagoda that you must climb barefoot (even have to take socks off). The interior passages are crowded with merchants selling handicrafts, incense, kalagas (intricate cloth, beaded, sequined depictions of Burmese [...]
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Touring Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar)
September 16th, 2006 Sheila Simkin We were ready to power-tour Rangoon, but first, Mary led us to a small bus with 18 seats, most without padding or springs and drove us to the Thamada Hotel. …View image… The Thamada had an elevator, inoperative, so we schlepped our bags up to the third floor. Dingy, dirty and dark, with a single [...]
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Day One, Arrival in Burma
September 15th, 2006 Sheila Simkin Our 15-person group of 8 Americans, 5 Brits and 2 French met up in front of a hotel in Bangkok and were transferred to the airport. Our Thai Tour Leader, from Diethelm Travel, had an unpronounceable Thai name, and asked us to call him “Charlie.” Charlie suggested buying a carton of 7-7 Cigarettes and a [...]
Posted in Asia, Burma, 1988 Tags: adventure, Burma, culture, destination, event, food, information, log, Myanmar, nature, Rangoon, sightseeing, travel, walking No Comments »
