Slowly Making My Way Around Myanmar

I moved to Yangon, Myanmar, in May 2023. The Golden Land as it is called, is a country like no other, peculiar in many ways. I've heard some people still refer to the country as Burma which is the former name, but the name was changed to Myanmar in 1989. The people however, are still referred to as Burmese. 

One thing that stands out is how Burmese people are polite, they would not openly get annoyed as it is does not reflect well to openly express anger or irritation. Even when people struggle with something, you'll hardly get an outright NO. Losing face is something people would not do, so they might say okay or beat around the bush. In all that, you are 'not allowed' to lose your cool as it is not taken well :-) If you put too much pressure, they could shut you out. And you'd never hear a thing even if it were killing them. However, they are always eager to help when they can, which I think is sweet.

My arrival was anything but pleasant because of my nationality. I was treated shabbily and told clearly that it was because of my nationality, but I'll save that story for another day!

In speaking with people, I noticed not many people know of this country or where in Asia it is located. So I've put a map below for reference - see the red arrow? The flag is also beneath the map.

Flag below

Yosemite, Kings Canyon & Sequoia National Parks

I visited California in September. Before getting there, my friend Manuela, who knows some of the kind of activities I would like, planned things. We visited three national parks – Yosemite National Park and Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park. We started with Yosemite.

If nature, outdoors and hiking interest you, this would be something to do in California.

Yosemite National Park is known for its granite rocks, cliffs and waterfalls. The half dome and the El Capitan are two that were referred to frequently. To climb the half dome, a permit is required. That was not on our list, so we did not find out how to get the permit.

The park has a few vista points where everyone could get great views of things from.

Zip lining in Kenya

When was the last time you did something you'd been hoping to do?

I did recently and it was so much fun.

I had seen a few posts of outdoor activities in Kenya so I did some research. I knew I had a trip to Kenya and wanted to take advantage of the weekend I would be there.

Most of the places I saw did not have what I was looking for at the time I would be there. I found The Forest and there was a wide range of activities.

I checked with a colleague in Nairobi for transportation but she was worried. It was far out of Nairobi and she said clearly that she would worry about my safety if I were to take a random taxi.The place is far and she would hate to hear that the car broke down by any chance. I asked her to check if I could get a trustworthy driver to hire for the day. She did and came back with good news. She was super helpful with planning things for me.

I asked her to call and make some enquiries for me, we found out that some activities were planned in a way that people would be grouped. For the day I wanted to go, I was put in a group and I made the payment.