Musings of a Wandering Mind

Travel Plans: Myanmar, Bhutan and parts of North India

I could not have been more excited. In a week’s time, I will be in Yangon exploring its gilded Pagodas and conversing with its longyi-wearing people who always seem to be smiling with their beetle-stained teeth.

A visit to Myanmar is something I have been dreaming for years. I longed to travel into the country when reading Pico Iyer’s cultural experiences in the country, reading the stories of teak-country from Amitav Ghosh or hearing about Eric Newby’s adventure of sailing down the Ayeyarwady.

I always thought of it as a distant dream, but when the country began opening up in the last few years, my antennae were alerted. When the world–more precisely all the travel magazines and travel writings–started focusing heavily on Myanmar in the last year, I knew it was high time. It was the beginning of a transformational period in the country, and I wanted to be there before the country changed much.

I will be off to Myanmar next week, spending three weeks travelling through Yangon, Bagan, Mandalay and Inle Lake. I don’t think I have looked forward any journey so longingly in the recent years.

Soon after I return from Myanmar, I am out again to visit another neighbour – Bhutan. Later, in November and December months, my travel calendar is lined up with trips to Varanasi on a photography tour, Darjeeling and its surroundings for a photography assignment, and Rajasthan for another photography tour.

In Varanasi and Rajasthan, I will be leading photography tours for Darter. Do join me on these trips.