by Calvin Sun | Aug 13, 2011 | Getting that VISA, How Did You Do That?, Let me tell you a Story..., Mythbusters, North Korea, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come
Press play. And then start reading. Well, I just got into the most isolated country in the world without a hitch and I’ll be coming out with a lot of stories. There’s a lot of material to go over in terms of what I’ve seen...
by Stephanie Quan | Aug 12, 2011 | Cambodia, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea
Battambang doesn’t have much, but what it does have is a bamboo train- which is really really fun to ride. I first read about this in a Smithsonian article, which is also where I read about that Yangon art gallery (where I ended up participating in a performance...
by Calvin Sun | Aug 9, 2011 | North Korea, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea
…I should be in North Korea. Bye bye Internet. - At time of posting in Pyongyang, it was 75.2 °F - Humidity: 88% | Wind Speed: n/a | Cloud Cover:...
by Stephanie Quan | Aug 9, 2011 | Cambodia, How's the weather?, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea
Is the name of a bar in Siam Reap. If you buy two buckets, you get a t-shirt. I have a t-shirt. Its been raining. Which is nice because it normally happens in the late afternoon, just when the heat is past my level of toleration. It has meant though that I’ve...
by Calvin Sun | Aug 8, 2011 | North Korea, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Travel Warnings
Thank you, U.S. State Department, for issuing this warning for me. In any case, I’ll be in North Korea within the next 12 hours! The Department of State warns U.S. citizens against entering North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK), without...
by Calvin Sun | Aug 8, 2011 | China, Fit for Foodies, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea
The last time I was in Beijing was exactly 10 years ago and I was 14 years old. Has it changed much then? Yes. I feel there’s a greater air of confidence among the city life, the infrastructure and cleanliness have improved from the 2008 Olympics, and the people...
by Stephanie Quan | Aug 7, 2011 | Let me tell you a Story..., Myanmar, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Way Way Off the Beaten Path
On my last day in Myanmar, I decided to look up an art gallery I had read about in Smithsonian. The article outlined a series of artists who made art that skirted government censorship; artists who made paintings of women trapped in spiderwebs and lied about the...
by Calvin Sun | Aug 6, 2011 | Let me tell you a Story..., Myanmar, Mythbusters, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Travel Warnings, Way Way Off the Beaten Path
I had to wait until I got out of Myanmar to post this without getting prematurely deported or thrown in jail. I got a small rush writing this while still in the country, but I didn’t want to take my chances before leaving Myanmar for good (as if posting this in...
by Calvin Sun | Aug 6, 2011 | Epiphanies on the Road, Fit for Foodies, Myanmar, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea
The 66m long reclining buddha of Chaukhtatgyi Paya Traveling to Myanmar is like being in a time warp. Imagine a place untouched by McDonalds and Starbucks, where images of 1960s Southeast Asia become real life here. Cone-hat wearing villagers bike along a dirt road...
by Calvin Sun | Aug 6, 2011 | How Did You Do That?, How's the weather?, Myanmar, Public Transportation, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Walking Tours, What Dreams May Come
Press play. And then start reading. Pretty much any M83 song will do here. The Kyaiktiyo (pronounced: “Chachiyo”) Golden Rock has been a pilgrimage site for thousands of Burmese Buddhists, but for the determined traveler, it’s an immersion in the...
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