But For the Sky

Month: April 2012

  • The Most Bizarre Pedicure

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    Claudia
    in

    It’s simple: you put your feet in a tank full of fish that nibble on dead skin. Dozens of the little guys attack your feet and ankles, feeding off tiny particles of dead skin. Fifteen minutes later, you pull your feet out, and they are softer and smoother than they’ve been in a long time.…

  • Weekly Twitter Updates

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    Us
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    In #Pakse #Laos heading off into the jungle to do some ziplining and sleep in some treehouses! # Heading to #Laos tomorrow & doing this for a few days!: http://t.co/t9ZtGSZP # Traveling to #Myanmar and want the low-down on money matters? http://t.co/MyCBg7mw #Burma # Sums up development in #Kep & #Kampot (where we've been this…

  • Celebrating the New Year in Myanmar and Thailand: A Wet Mess!

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    Claudia
    in ,

    We finally succeeded in being in the right place at the right time: not only were we in Myanmar for their election day, but we also managed to take part in New Year celebrations in both Myanmar and Thailand. The (lunar) New Year is celebrated over several days in mid-April in these two countries as…

  • Why We Loved Myanmar

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    Claudia
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    We left Myanmar with smiles on our faces and a warm, fuzzy feeling in our hearts. We both agreed that it was our favorite country out of the 15 we had visited so far on this round-the-world trip. And we’ve talked to many other travelers who feel the same. So what is it about this…

  • Inle Lake: A World Afloat

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    Nick
    in ,

    We pull our bikes up to a building offering longtail ferry transport across the lake. A genial old man with a huge smile welcomes us into the yard and offers us a seat on a bench while the boat is readied. Old Man: “Would you like some tea?” Claudia: “Sure, thank you.” Old Man: “Where…

  • Pankam: A Palaung Village in Shan State

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    Claudia
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    A popular activity in most southeast Asian countries is trekking to minority hill villages. So we left enough time in our Myanmar itinerary to head northeast from Mandalay to a town called Hsipaw, from where we could trek and overnight in nearby Palaung villages that are said to be largely uninfluenced by Western culture and…

  • Yum: Noodles, Tea Leaves, and A Mysterious Dessert

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    Claudia
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    I don’t think we knew what to expect from Myanmar cooking, but we ended up finding some gems during our culinary exporations. Burmese meals often consist of a buffet of meat and seafood curries sitting in a ton of oil that you pick by pointing at what you want, and are served with a vegetable…

  • Weekly Twitter Updates

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    Us
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    Arrived in #Kep on the #Cambodia coast. It's famous for crabs which we plan on devouring tonight. Missing #Maryland & Cantler's! # 1 of our most favorite experiences of this entire trip: Election night in #Mandalay #Myanmar #Burma #NLD #AungSanSuuKyi http://t.co/zVvv51qD # Visited the Killing Fields outside #PhnomPenh today. Wow. Very moving. #Cambodia has come…

  • Mustache Brothers: The Randomest Show on Earth

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    Claudia
    in

    We talked a little bit about the Mustache Brothers show in our last post, but it’s such a spectacle that we thought it deserved its own post. There are three brothers: Lu Maw, Par Par Lay, and U Lu Zaw, but it’s essentially a one-man variety show with Lu Maw, the only English speaker, on…

  • Aung San Suu Kyi, Election Day, and The Mustache Brothers

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    Us
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    We were lucky enough to be in Mandalay for a historic event: a by-election in which Aung San Suu Kyi ran for a parliamentary seat, the first election she has stood in since 1990. There were 44 parliamentary seats being contested by her party, the National League for Democracy. We started spotting tee-shirts and other…