A trio of dazzling hamlets–one a hillside studded with pagodas, the next an ancient settlement with its very own “leaning tower” and the third a monastic base with an eponymous, ramshackle bridge–awaits you just an hour outside Mandalay.
Continue ReadingSoutheast Asia
Machismo, Gold and Grit
The swanky Las Vegas hotel which apparently lifts its name from Mandalay will be the furthest thing from your mind as your vehicle pulls in.
Continue ReadingYangon’s Shwedagon Pagoda
Around 500 years before a certain Messianic baby was born somewhere in the Middle East, legend has it that two Burmese merchants visited India, gave the Buddha honey cakes and took a few of his hairs back with them. Their reward? A 30-story, solid gold pagoda.
Continue ReadingIs Pattaya More Than Its Seedy Reputation?
As a 60-something tourist explains, “All tourists spend money and get exactly what they want in return. I just happen to come to Pattaya to fuck.”
Continue Reading