You have the rare privilege of seeing one of Asia’s last unexplored archipelagos
Published by Asya in Asia, Burma (Myanmar), Parks, Photos, Scuba Diving, Swimming
The Mergui Archipelago is an archipelago, located in southernmost part of the Union of Myanmar (Burma). It consists of more than 800 beautiful islands covering an area of 10,000 sq. miles. Varying in size from very small to hundreds of square km, they are surrounding with an amazing diversity of flora and fauna and very beautiful underwater scenes and marine life. For many years this beautiful archipelago was closed to foreigners. Only in 1997 was Burma opened up for scuba diving to live-aboard dive boats.
Continue reading You have the rare privilege of seeing one of Asia’s last unexplored archipelagos
Most people have heard of the Padaung hill tribe from television documentaries, magazines and travel books as the giraffe women hill tribe of Thailand. In the border mountains between 
elegant. The “secret” of the “giraffe” women is that the clavicle and the ribs descend 45 degrees down from their normal position. The maximum weight of a coil is of 5 kg. This ancient tradition has unknown roots. The coils may have made Kayan women unattractive to slave trade. They claim to be descendants of the ancient long-necked dragon and women traditionally wore coils as a protection from wild animals. The coils also became symbols of wealth and status and were worn as jewels.
The origins of Shwedagon are lost in antiquity, its age unknown. Long before the pagoda was built, its location on Singuttara hill was already an ancient sacred site because of the buried relics of the three previous Buddhas. According to one legend, nearly 5000 years had passed since the last Buddha walked the Earth, and Singuttara hill would soon lose its blessedness unless it was reconsecrated with relics of a new Buddha. In order that such new relics might be obtained, King Okkalapa of Suvannabhumi spent much time atop the hill, meditating and praying. A series of miracles ensued and eight hairs of the historical Buddha were, somewhat magically, brought to the hill. To enshrine the relics, multiple pagodas of silver, tin, copper, lead, marble, iron and gold where built one on top of the other to a height of twenty meters. During the following centuries, passing from myth to historical fact, the pagoda grew to its present height of ninety-eight meters. Much of the continued construction of Shwedagon was actually reconstruction following disastrous earthquakes. During the 17th century the pagoda suffered earthquake damage on at least eight occasions. A particularly bad quake in 1786 brought the entire top half of the pagoda to the ground and its current shape and height date from the reconstruction of that time. 
Bagan, formerly Pagan, formally titled Arimaddanapura (the City of the Enemy Crusher) and also known as Tambadipa (the Land of Copper) or Tassadessa (the Parched Land), was the ancient capital of several ancient kingdoms in Myanmar. It is located in the dry central plains of the country, on the eastern bank of the Ayeyarwady River, 145 kilometres (90 miles) southwest of Mandalay.
It was not until King Pyinbya moved the capital to Bagan in 874 A.D that it became a major city. However, in Burmese tradition, the capital shifted with each reign, and thus Bagan was once again abandoned until the reign of Anawrahta. 
