Next stop at Mandalay

I got a flight this morning from Bagan to Mandalay, it was only about an hour so I got to Mandalay by lunch time. I was going to take the daily ferry from Bagan to Mandalay up the Irrawaddy which leaves at 7.00am but I was told it had been cancelled because of lack of tourists since the democracy demonstrations last year, so another flight it was.

I got a taxi from the airport to a budget hotel called the ET Hotel. It was pretty unremarkable and I quickly dumped my stuff and as I'd only an afternoon to see the sights I had to hurry things along and prioritise. The main tourist sights in Mandalay are the Hill and the Kings Palace. The Kings Palace dominates central Mandalay and from the exterior it resembles a huge fortress with walls which must be over a kilometer long on each of its four sides which are surrounded by a moat. I had been told that the old Kings Palace inside the walls had been gutted and that there was very little to see, and so with only half a day in Mandalay, that one got struck off the list.

So it was to the hill. I flagged down a trishaw which is the normal mode of transport around Mandalay and proceeded there. Mandalay is situated on a flat plain and the hill is the only one in the whole area so you get a grandstand view over the old city. There's a staircase up the hill which is lined with small Pagodas and food stalls and the like. Many Burmese Buddhists come here on pilgrimage, and today was no exception, with many family groups climbing the stairs.

Even though the sky was pretty overcast I still got a great view of the city, with the moat surrounding it. I had a quick lunch of noodles at one of the foodstalls and then it was back down again. My trishaw driver took me to a famous Buddhist temple which is known as the worlds largest book. This is because there are hundreds of stones there, each of which is inscribed with verses from one of the Buddhist scriptures. The cute little shoe girl at the entrance, who was about 9 years old had had her face painted with really elaborate Thannaka. Thannaka is the traditional facepaint that Burmese females of all ages tend to daub their faces with. You notice though that souveneir vendors and others in the tourist trade tend to get their prettiest young daughters decked out in very elaborate patterns usually in the shape of flowers to try and suck tourists in to buy their goods.

After the temple it was back to the hotel, where I arranged a taxi to take me to the famous U-Bein bridge for $12. The U-Bein Bridge is supposed to be the longest wooden bridge in the world. Built entirely of of teak in the 17th Century it is over a kilometre long and crosses Taungthaman Lake. It's a very narrow footbridge looking very rickety now and with a few sections replaced by white concrete sections but basically still intact. There were plenty of Burmese crossing it and a couple of other tourists around. I had a laugh when I saw a hi-so Burmese girl wearing high heals trying to cross, her shoes soon got stuck between the Teak slats and she had a problem extricating herself.

At the beginning of the bridge there was a cluster of vendors, including one guy with a unique scam. He had two cages. In one were 3 or 4 owls. In the other were a bunch of smaller song birds. The owls had just finished feasting on one of the songbirds which he had given them for their afternoon meal and there was just a bunch of feathers left. You could buy and free one of the songbirds for 2000 Kyatt and preserve it from a grisly fate at the hands of the owls, or you could do the same for one of the owls for 6000 Kyatt. Either way the guy got his money and won.

Next I asked my taxi to take me to the Ava Bridge. This giant Steel Bridge was the first bridge across the Irrawaddy when it was built by the British in 1936 and was one of the longest if not the longest in the British Empire when it was built. Sadly it was only open 6 years before the British blew 2 of its spans in 1942 in the face of the advancing Japanese and it was over a decade before it was repaired. Now its been supplanted by a new Chinese built bridge which handles most of the traffic, but its still an impressive piece of early twentieth century construction when seen from half a mile downriver. Sadly it was now too late in the day to visit any of the old royal capitals of Burma which litter this area including Ava, Amarapura and Sagaing, although I managed to get a look at Sagaing from across the river at a Pagoda.

With a parting look at Sagaing it was back to Mandalay and dinner. I had checked out my faithful lp and I liked the look of BBB, which was a modern air-con restaurant selling Western food. The guidebook recommemded the Barbecue chicken and it was indeed fantastic. After a satisfying feed it was back to the ET for an early night as my bus to Inle Lake tomorrow left at 6.00.

World's First Undersea Restaurant-Ithaa

Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa announces the arrival of Ithaa, the world's first aquarium-style undersea restaurant at the resort. Designed in New Zealand, constructed in Singapore using materials from the United States and then shipped to the Maldives, Ithaa will sit six meters below the waves of the Indian Ocean, surrounded by a vibrant coral reef and encased in clear acrylic offering diners 180-degrees of panoramic underwater views.

"We have used aquarium technology to put diners face-to-face with the stunning underwater environment of the Maldives", says Carsten Schieck, General Manager of Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa. "Our guests always comment on being blown away by the colour, clarity, and beauty of the underwater world in the Maldives, so it seemed the perfect idea to build a restaurant where diners can experience fine cuisine and take time to enjoy the views without ever getting their feet wet."

Created by MJ Murphy Ltd, a design consultancy based in New Zealand, Ithaa's distinctive feature is the use of curved transparent acrylic walls and roof, similar to those used in aquarium attractions including Sydney Aquarium, Ocean Park Shark Aquarium in Hong Kong, and the San Sebastian Aquarium in Spain.

"The fact that the entire restaurant except for the floor is made of plexi-glass makes this unique in the world," continues Schieck, "We are currently planting a coral garden on the reef to add to the spectacular view, and when the restaurant opens in early 2005, we will hold daily fish-feeding sessions to attract the rays, sharks and other fish to the reefs near the restaurant."

The five-metre by nine-metre transparent arch, which spans the entire room, provides a feeling of being completely at one with the underwater world while submerged beneath the surface of the ocean. Set with the resort's renowned house reef one side, and a clear lagoon on the other, diners enjoy their meal within Ithaa's translucent shell as the underwater drama unfolds on all sides.

Naturally the food will be as spectacular as the underwater setting, explains Schieck, "In such a unique restaurant we wanted to create a distinctive cuisine, which is why we've decided to offer 'contemporary Maldivian cuisine' as a theme. We take local spices and traditional flavours and give them a western twist to create a fusion cuisine that you could find in the best restaurants in London or New York. Nobody else has done this before and we're very excited about it. For a while we considered making Ithaa a seafood restaurant, but in the end we felt this was too predictable!"

While the cuisine is dedicated to the fine balance of western food items with a Maldivian flavour, the wine concept is equally exciting; offering diners the perfect opportunity to discover the wines of the prestigious Champagne house Louis Roederer.

Ithaa is reached by a wooden walkway from the nearby over-water Sunset Grill Restaurant. Diners begin their meal with drinks on a specially constructed deck over the ocean and then descend to the restaurant via a spiral staircase where the à la carte menu is served. Seating only 14 people, Ithaa offers one of the most intimate and exclusive dining experiences in the world.

This innovative restaurant is the first of its kind in the world, and is part of a $25 million re-build of Rangalifinolhu Island, one of the twin islands that make up Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa. This re-build includes the construction of 79 of the most luxurious Beach Villas in the country as well as the Spa Village, a self-contained, over-water 'resort-within-a-resort' consisting of a spa, restaurant and 21 villas.

Yoga Popular in Hong Kong

A 5,000-year-old tradition rooted in meditation might not seem the obvious leisure activity for Hong Kong’s high-octane big-spending population, but in the past five years yoga has taken the city by storm.

Yoga in Hong KongLocal company Pure Yoga last year opened what it believes is the world’s biggest yoga studio, and the city has just hosted Asia’s largest yoga conference, a four-day extravaganza with classes on everything from Thai massage to Sanskrit and a huge array of yoga equipment on sale.

Just a few years ago yoga in Hong Kong was the preserve of a handful of small independent studios owned and run by instructors with little business acumen.Now it is part of the mainstream, dominated by chains such as Pure Yoga and Yoga Planet, run by the flamboyant Indian yogi Master Kamal whose media appearances have turned him into something of a local celebrity.

For American yoga instructor Desiree Rumbaugh, a guest teacher at the weekend’s Evolution Asia conference, it is the fast pace of life in Hong Kong that has made yoga such a hit.“It’s amazing, it’s like 10 times the stress of New York,” she says. “The city has such a buzz to it. And people here are really committed, they are going to classes three or four times a week.”

Colin Grant, founder of Pure Yoga and the man behind Evolution Asia, estimates around two percent of Hong Kong’s six million people now practise yoga regularly, a renaissance he attributes to the new style of studio.“When we first opened I didn’t have a yogi head, I had a business head, so I applied what I thought would be good business sense to a yoga studio,” he said.

“We offered complimentary towels, we supplied mats and we had lockers. So someone working in a regular office could rock up and do a class and not have to drag a big bag into work.

“We made a million-dollar (740,000-euro) investment in our first studio and everyone thought we were mad. But it changed the model and within a month we had 450 people a day coming to classes, most of whom had never done a class in their lives.”

For Hong Kong’s image-conscious residents, yoga’s new-found popularity also goes hand-in-hand with the availability of fashionable gear.High-profile devotees such as Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow and Sting have helped make the practice trendy, and even Louis Vuitton has its own yoga line.

Yoga mats, bags and clothes are big business for major brands such as Adidas and Nike, but even dedicated labels like the Vancouver-based Lululemon are now multi-million dollar concerns. Lululemon had revenues of nearly 150 million dollars last year, and in May announced plans for a stock market float to fund expansion.Yoga is now estimated to generate about 18 billion dollars annually worldwide.

The increasing involvement of mainstream brands keen to cash in on yogas popularity, combined with the growing perception of it as a way of keeping fit, has led to concern that the true meaning behind the ancient discipline is being lost.Conference-goer Elke Shuettler, a Hong Kong resident who began learning yoga in her native Germany, said there was a danger people learning now could miss out on the spiritual and mental benefits.

“Yoga is much more than gymnastics,” she said. “It is very important that there is more to it than the physical side.” Grant conceded there were concerns, particularly over a new breed of classes claiming to combine the discipline with such un-yogic activities as kick-boxing.But he said commercialisation would not necessarily harm yoga.

“Were not going to be offering fusion-combat-yoga, I can tell you that. But if people like it—no problem,” he said. “It’s what you make it. If I want to do a power class and have a good workout or do a deep meditation class, neither is more yogic or less yogic.”

Conference director Paveena Atipatha believes that while yoga’s popularity has probably peaked in the United States, Asia offers considerable growth opportunities.“In the US yoga is now a 3.5-billion-dollar industry. But Asia is where the US was five or even 10 years ago,” she said.

Yoga is already popular in Japan and growing rapidly in Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines and Korea. Studio operators are now looking to Chinas growing middle class as the next major opportunity.

“Hong Kong is probably one of the more mature markets,” said Grant. “Quite a lot of our students have gone to China and set up studios there. It’s at the very early stages in China but we’re looking at opportunities there.”

Trekking the Rhododendron Sanctuary

The multi-coloured flower sanctuary in Southern Sikkim in India is a trekker Paradise. The Rhododendron Sanctuary at Barsey is something that provides the ideal trekking trail for the non-trekker. The best season for trekking is from March to May every year.

It took us almost two and a half hour to reach Jorethang in South Sikkim in our Tata Sumo from a place in Western Sikkim. From there again, four of us started for Sombarey, - the nearest town to Barsey. The journey was something to cherish and good enough to eradicate any anxiety at having to find accommodation.

Sombarey is a small hill town of nearly 60-70 families located at an altitude of 4, 700 ft. On reaching there, we checked into a guesthouse and ordered some refreshments.

Next morning, the trekking trail for Barsey was prepared. The locals advised us to carry a good amount of food at the Zureli Dara, the sole viewpoint of the entire Sombarey town. Unfortunately, the dense fog has prevented us from getting a clear view of the town. Our next destination was Gumha monastery en route to Hilley. This time we were lucky to attend the prayer time. We were carried away by the rhythmic tunes of the drums and musical instruments. The view was so poetic and serenity – colourful prayer flags, the integral part of any Buddhist monastery, were fluttering in the air, spreading the message of love and peace.

At last, we reached Hilley at an altitude of 9,000 ft. The Indian armies who guarded the Sanctuary asked us to purchase tickets to enter the sanctuary. The Rhododendron sanctuary is spread across an area of 104 sq km flush with alpine vegetation including silver firs, magnolias, hemlocks and pines. The hallmark of the sanctuary is the numerous species of rhododendrons – variety of wild flowers and numerous streams. The journey through the narrow foot trail was a palpable excitement. There was no chance of sunlight penetrating in the dense forest due to mist. The drifting clouds, swirling mists, slippery trails and recurrent streams ensured we must be cautious enough to enjoy a safe trekking. We gather some broken branches to guide us all along the narrow trek.

At Barsey, we were greeted with a riot of colours ranging from crimson red and violet to bright yellows. The place was filled with Rhododendron in all directions. There are 36 varieties of Rhododendron in the sanctuary. The rear blue rhododendron can also be found at Taal, a two hour walk from Barsey. The blossoming time differs according to the altitude region as well as the climatic conditions.

We were lucky enough to view Mt Kangchendzonga glittering with silver peak from Barsey. The sheer beauty of nature is charmed enough to make one decide to spend the rest of one’s life there forever. However, we hurriedly finished our packed lunch and walk another 4 km down the hills.

Reaching Barsey is either through airport, rail or by road. The nearest airport is Bagdogra and New Jalpaiguri is the nearest railhead. If you prefer the road tour, you need to alight at Jorethang from Siliguri. From Jorethang you can go to Sombarey for a night’s halt.

Book Review: Cambodian Gold Diggers

English resident Canadian-born author Geoff Ryman is in the running to win the prestigious Hugo award for best science fiction/fantasy story of 2007 for his superb short-story, ‘Pol Pot’s Beautiful Daughter’. It is truly wonderful – an entertaining tale of the eponymous vapid, wealthy young lady who hangs out at Sorya Mall.

This is the opening paragraph: “In Cambodia people are used to ghosts. Ghosts buy newspapers. They own property.”

The author uses the interesting literary device of reminding the reader time and again that this is just a fantasy; the story is not true. And yet the individual components are all real – Pol Pot does have a daughter of the same age (and with a disturbingly similar name) living in Cambodia, and in Cambodia people are used to ghosts. They do own property. Last month some hapless villagers allowed greed to cloud their judgment – and paid the price.

This true tale began in April with a group of Vietnamese soldiers on a mission to find the remains of war-dead uncovered a Khmer Rouge period mass grave in Kampot. There were no Vietnamese in the grave so the soldiers left, but a local helping them on the dig recovered a gold earring from one body. Immediately a host of villagers – many of whom had originally been enlisted by the Khmer Rouge to bury the victims - ‘exhumed’ two hundred bodies – i.e. scattered the bones around in a mad scramble to scavenge jewellery. The total haul was one gold necklace (sold to buy a cow) and 27 small gold earrings, sold for a little food. Most of the diggers dug for days but didn’t recover any booty. Many villagers subsequently returned to gather up the bones and light incense and pray for the victims – too late.

The villagers were soon reporting numerous instances of the angry souls punishing them for such disrespect. Many report being unable to sleep due to hearing screams coming from the grave site. For all that, it is interesting that the older villagers knew – and in many cases personally buried – many of the deceased, yet still adopted the mentality of the sixty-year-old farmer who stated, “People say, ‘This goose has no owner’”. Youk Chhang, who heads the Documentation Center of Cambodia said, “I think it has become a memory, rather than a physical thing any longer,” speaking of the pain of the past. “There will be no more tears. There are no more feelings to express - only a flash of memory when you see a piece of bone.” For younger Cambodians, who know remarkably little about the Khmer Rouge period, he said, “It’s just a dead person.”

What the youth of today need, clearly, is moral guidance. Thank goodness, therefore, that the vice-prime minister and Minister of the Council of Ministers, was officially declared last month as the president of the National Scout Association of Cambodia. Good to see a senior (in both senses of the term) politician taking a hands-on role with such an esteemed non-government organisation – and very fetching he looked in his pink scarf and woggle too. I couldn’t find out how many knots he knows, but hopefully his wise leadership will result in a reduction of scenes like that at Spark last month where a staring contest culminated in a gun fight, and arrests of princes – the latest on charges of armed robbery and possession of a samurai sword. Getting young hoodlums busy working towards their ornithology badges can’t come soon enough.

Hangovers in Asia: Tips to avoid Them

Hangovers can often be a big problem in Asia, often due to the low cost of booze and the sheer amount of fun and naughtiness that countries like Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia and others offer. I have combined a list of hangover cures that some people swear at and some people swear by, only some of them I endorse. Some of them focus on prevention and others on damage control.

1) One beer, one water. It seems like a good way to keep hydrated In practice this never works for me as my bladder cannot cope with matching every alcoholic drink with a non-alcoholic equivalent.

2) Beer with ice. This is my favourite way to rehydrate and keep my beer cool at the same time.

3) Stay off the spirits. Spirits in Asia are dangerous. The worst hangovers in my entire life have taken place here after sessions on no name vodka. If you order a spirit in Asia make sure to order it by brand otherwise you get the cheap, nasty stuff. Even if you do order by the brand in some countries like Cambodia and Vietnam there is no telling whether the bottle is genuine or counterfeit.

4) Choose your beer wisely. If you are an established Asian beer drinker like me then you already know which brews are good and which are god-damned terrible. Chang is my alcoholic nemesis while Anchor is my Cheap Charlie’s beer of choice. If I had it my way then I would drink Draft Guinness and John Smiths but they are expensive and really don’t store well in the tropics.

5) Go to bed with water and an aspirin. My mate swears by this but it is no good for me because if I am already hopelessly drunk then a litre of water and a painkiller will most likely make me vomit.

6) Eat something before you pass out. Often harder than it seems if you are in a less developed country. For some reason a lot of Asians like to go to bed really early and then rise with the sun. Because of this it can be hard to find anything decent to eat at 3am. Emergency stashes of food should be kept in your hotel room or apartment at all times. Eating really only works for me before I pass out.

7) The hair that bit the dog. This is not my ideal way of beating a hangover but on occasion it has helped to provide some relief. A glass of beer mid-afternoon has helped delay earth-shattering hangovers before but I have found that it just buys you a bit of time rather than taking care of the problem.

8) English Breakfast in the morning. I think people that eat English breakfasts to cure their hangovers are insane. It just does not work for me. If I did I would vomit. People that can do this are mentals.

9) Coffee. The breakfast of champions. Nothing gets me moving more than a cup of hot, sugary, black coffee in the morning. Sugar and caffeine really do work miracles for me and have helped to bring me back into the world of the living on many an occasion.

Intangki National Park: Ecological degradation

HIAPIERAI PEREN

Nagaland is one of the fastest deforested states in North East India. All the virgin forests have been deforested within two decades. Most of the forests in Nagaland belong to village communities and only few forests have been reserved by government. It is very unfortunate to see that many villagers have sold their forests to log operators without knowing the value of forests and the consequences of deforestation.

Forests have very vital roles in maintaining a balanced ecological system. The forests have preserved the soil, protected from flooding and silting of rivers, canals and dams were held under control. It also plays a vital role in regulating the earth's temperature and helps balance the carbon dioxide and oxygen for all living creatures - both human and animals. The destruction of forests possesses critical treats to the people, increasing erosion of irreplaceable soil, creating greater water shortages and contribution to drought and desertification. Even in Nagaland we can see the climate change and every year it has become warmer and warmer.

Almost all the private virgin forests are gone now. Government forests are the only reserved forests in Nagaland but now even government reserved forests are becoming hot spots of deforestation. Intangki national park is the biggest reserved forest in Nagaland. Intangki is a virgin forest, a paradise for wild animals and enchanted forest of Nagaland. Our only hope of having forests in Nagaland are the so called reserved forests protected by government but today, Intangki National Park is encroached and the encroachers have established a new village within Intangki National Park.

We have heard and seen logging, cutting down virgin forests to establish villages, putting poison in the river, fish and wild animals are dying in the Intangki forest. Today, Intangki National Park is a hot spot of ecological degradation in Nagaland due to encroachments and rampant logging is taking place within Intangki National Park. The encroachers are justifying themselves that this Intangki National Park is nobody's land.

Who will then protect and preserve the Intangki National Park? We have already lost much of the pristine forests; Intangki National Park is the pride of Nagaland and it is our only preserved forest to attract tourists in Nagaland. Therefore, we need to conserve National Park by all means. If government reserved forests such as National Park, geological park and wild life sanctuaries cannot be protected by government then forests would go forever.

The Zeliangrong students' union and Zeliangrong Hoho had raised their voices to evict the village and to protect National Park. The government has assured to talk to the National workers since National workers are very much involved in this affair, but government has not taken any action to protect Intangki National Park so far. M.M. Thomas, the former governor of Nagaland has stated that "Politics should certainly speak of freedom from alien powers, but it should also speak of what freedom is for 'freedom from' should be set within the context of 'freedom for' that is the socio-political vision and purpose which makes freedom meaningful."

It is true that fighting for the political freedom without concern for the integrity of creation is no value. Then the question we need to ponder is 'what is the use of freedom after all the natural resources have gone?

The government and the NSCN (IM) had recognized the importance of integrity of creation and encourage the people for tree plantation with the slogan, "Plant ten trees while felling one" the government of Nagaland has declared the year 1999 as "plantation year." We appreciate the good work and for the ecological concern. But what are they doing to protect Intangki National Park?

If the present ruling government and the national workers cannot protect government reserved forests then we need to think who will protect our Intangki National Park. Thomas Berry gives thoughtful question, "after we burn our life boat, how will we stay a float? What will then be the need of religion, Christianity or the church?" when our lands become uninhabitable place for human and nature against us, what will be the use of religion, government and freedom?

There was a time when we thought that ecological crisis is not a serious problem but now ecology crisis is a reality in Nagaland. For so long the church has become silent spectators and escapist from ecological concern but now the church needs to involve and care for the earth.

The time has come for all the environmentalists, churches, NGOs, overground and underground, ruling and opposition parties need to realize the seriousness of ecological crisis and come together to work and protect our forests in order to maintain ecological balance. I appeal to encroachers to retreat from Intangki National Park and preserve the Intangki National Park for common good.

If the present trends of deforestation continue, environment catastrophe is eminent. Therefore, let us preserve our forest and let every village has a reserved forest and protect government reserved forests for maintaining balance ecological system and for the sake of future generation.