This Asian lashy hotel providess spacious suites with fan-cooled ventilation system on the ceilings, teak floors and luxury bathrooms.If you want to have an unforgettable experience, there is the large Strand Suite with amazing verandah looking to the river.

In addition to the excuisite old-world atmosphere, is a priceless privy collection of local artefacts and antiques. It is a perfectly situated business and  hotel,offering a Business Centre with conference facilities.It was depicted by leading online travel magazine Smart Travel Asia as “the elite period doyenne of the Yangon hotel scene.”

The Governor’s Residence is situated within the beautiful Yangon Embassy Quarter and just in front of the Shwedagon Pagoda only ten minutes away from the city centre and half an hour from the airport of Yangon, the capital of Burma.

A romantic, ancient mansion dating from the 1920s, The Governor’s Residence was once home to the ruler of Burma’s southern states.

The hotel is very close to some of the best Yangon’s cultural hot points – the golden pagodas, the fascinating National Museum and amazing Bogyoke Market, offering local handicrafts, gems and antiques.

On the other side of the city you could experience a wealth of enticing enjoynments – trips on board the Road To Mandalay river cruise ship, pristine Ngapali Beach and unique Lake Inle.It is an trmendous Orient-Express hotel provides you fan-cooled verandas and teak armchairs.You could have your dinner outside in the garden in the balmy evening air by lantern-light, as tropical fragrances scent the breeze.

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.

The Mergui Archipelago offers uninhabited islands with white sandy beaches, spectacular dive sites, sheltered bays with fabulous coral gardens and a huge variety of marine life. Several expeditions have been undertaken to survey the undersea ecosystems and biodiversity. The islands and surrounding seas are alive with huge diversity of wildlife, flora and fauna. Parrots, hornbills, sea eagles Brahming kites and herons fill the skies. On land, the animal population includes monkeys, wild cattle, elephants, deer, wild pigs, crocodiles, tigers and rhinoceros.

These two rocks are called Meoto Iwa, situated just off the coast of Mie, Japan. The rocks are meant to signify marriage. The larger one is male and the smaller one female. The rope which connects the rocks weights over a ton and is changed during the year due to various ceremonies.

This rock is called Kjeragbolten, situated between the walls of a mountain crevice in Norway. The rock is often spot by tourists for a crafty photograph while attempting not to look down at the 3000ft. I’m very surprised of the sheep in the picture.

This rock has the shape of a bugger and also is a member of the Brimham Rocks family in North Yorkshire, 50 acres of strange rock formations visited regularly by members of the public.

The picture displays Kyaiktiyo Pagoda rock situated in Burma. According to locals the rock was  placed on the cliff edge by spirits and the Pagoda resting on top apparently contains a hair belonging to the Buddha.

This impressive Mushroom Rock is situated in the North Atlantic Ocean and also the most isolated part of the British Isles. Numerous landings have been made on the rock and various disputes have arisen over its ownership, a matter which is still unresolved.

I couldn’t find much information about this attractive rock, but I was really glad when I found it. All I know is that the rock is named Piedra del Penol and you have to pay to get to the top and that the stairway that sits in the rock’s crevice must have been an absolute ball-ache to construct.

Burma is a large country in mainland Southeast Asia. The country is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southwest, Bangladesh on the west and India on the northwest.

There is a wide range of indigenous cultures exist in Burma, the large number of the culture is primarily Buddhist and Bamar. Bamar culture has been brought by the neighbouring countries. This is manifested in its language, cuisine, music, dance and theatre. The arts, particularly literature, have historically been influenced by the local form of Theravada Buddhism.

In a traditional village, the temple is the centre of cultural life. Monks are supported by the lay people. A novitiation ceremony called shinbyu is the most important coming of age events for a boy when he enters the monastery for a short period of time. All boys of Buddhist family need to be a novice before the age of twenty and to be a monk after the age of twenty. It is compulsory for all boys of Buddhism.

British colonial also influenced the culture of Burma. Burma’s educational system is modelled of the United Kingdom. Colonial architectural influences are most evident in major cities such as Yangon.

The educational system of Burma is operated by the government Ministry of Education. There are 101 universities, 12 institutes, 9 degree colleges and 24 colleges in Burma, a total of 146 higher education institutions. There are 10 Technical Training Schools, 23 nursing training schools, 1 sport academy and 20 midwifery schools.There are 2047 Basic Education High Schools, 2605 Basic Education Middle Schools, 29944 Basic Education Primary Schools and 5952 Post Primary Schools. 1692 multimedia classrooms exist within this system.

The first coil (weighing about one kg) is usually worn when the girl is five or six years old. Some girls are coiled at the age of two. The second coil is added when the girl is about eight years old and the third is put when she reaches the age of 12. Year after year, new rings are added, until by the time of mirage, their necks are 25 centimeters long. Once fastened, the rings are for life, to remove the full coil of brass would cause the collapse or even fracture of the woman’s neck. Girls who have stronger necks wear more than four coils (weighing about 5 kg) by the time they are 15. But most girls start showing signs of damage to the neck in their teens. The neck muscles weaken and are unable to support the weight of the head. This makes the girls even more dependent on the coils. In the past, removal of the brass rings was a punishment for adultery. The punishment was, that since the neck muscles had severely weakened, by years of not supporting the neck, the woman must spend the rest of her life, holding her head with both hands or lying down.
It is a myth, that the brass rings have elongate the neck of the wearer. Any orthopedic surgeon will tell you that: lengthening the neck would lead to paralysis or even death.
The women are able to carry out a somewhat ordinary life: they can marry and have children, and they are able to weave, sew and do light work. Although these days, they spend most of their time, making money, by posing as circus freaks for the tourists visiting the hill tribes in Northern Thailand.
The origin of the ring-wearing ritual in the Padaung hill tribes remain unclear. Palong hill tribe mythology says that the mother of all Palong’s was half woman, half dragon, with a long, beautiful neck, and that their unique custom is a tribute to their mother-dragon.
Visitors to their villages are amazed by the neck rings worn by the women of the tribe. The neck rings of a woman are, in fact, a single brass coil placed around the neck. The length of the coil and the added weight presses the clavicle and the rib cage, resulting in the appearance of a very long neck. In fact, the neck does not elongate, this is impossible.
Nowadays, the small refugee village of the long necked Paduang hill tribe, is completely geared towards visitors and tourists and is seemingly on every tour agency’s day-trip list. The Long-necked Paduang have become the most popular tourist attraction of all the hill tribes in Thailand. Tourists pay boatmen about 500 Baht (US $1= Baht 42) to reach these villages, called camps, run by tour operators. Access to camps is from Huay Puu Kaeng, an area controlled by tour operators. Guides take tourists around camps where Padung women are on display. Each woman receives 500 Baht each month for wearing the coils all the time.

The Thailand Government is working very hard to keep these woman a touristic attraction but with civilization already knocking on their door, it is a good idea to visit them before like most of the other eccentrics cultures it gives itself up to Hamburger and Coke…..

While much of the pagoda’s beauty derives from the complex geometry of its shape and surrounding structures, equally mesmerizing is its golden glow. The lower stupa is plated with 8,688 solid gold bars, an upper part with another 13,153. The tip of the stupa, far too high for the human eye to discern in any detail, is set with 5448 diamonds, 2317 rubies, sapphires, and other gems, 1065 golden bells and, at the very top, a single 76-carat diamond. Surrounding the pagoda are a plentitude of smaller shrines housing pre-Buddhist spirits called Nats, miracle working images, and even a wish granting stone. The entire temple complex radiates a palpable sense of beauty and serenity.

The perimeter of the base of the Pagoda is 1,420 fee and its height 326 feet above the platform. The base is surrounded by 64 small pagodas with four larger, one in the center of each side. There also are 4 sphinxes, one at each corner with 6 leogryphs, 3 on each side of them. Projecting beyond the base of the Pagoda, one on the center of each side are Tazaungs in which are images of the Buddha and where offerings are made.

There are also figures of elephants crouching and men kneeling, and pedestals for offerings all around the base. In front of the 72 shrines surrounding the base of the Pagoda, you will find in several places images of lions, serpents, ogres, yogis, spirits, or Wathundari (Recording Secretary Angel).

On the wall below the first terrace of the Pagoda at the WSW and WNW corners, you will see embossed figures. The former represents King Okkalapa who first built the Pagoda. The latter is a pair of figures; the one above represents Sakka who assisted in foundation of the Pagoda, and the one below, Me Lamu, consort of Sakka and mother of Okkalapa.

In order to make the gilding stand the weather, the Trustees after the year 1900, decided to cover the bulbous spire, called the plantain bud with gold plates, each plate measuring 1 foot square and weighing 5 ticals of gold (0.18 pound). Subscriptions were called for and the work commenced in 1903, when the whole plantain bud was covered. It is on record that 4 such gold plates were donated by the late King George, V (then Prince of Wales) and Queen Mary when they visited Myanmar in 1906.

Open from 4am-10pm everyday.

Admission Fees – US$5.

The ruins of Bagan cover an area of 16 square miles. The majority of its buildings were built in the 1000s to 1200s, during the time Bagan was the capital of the First Burmese Empire.

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. In 1057, King Anawrahta conquered the Mon capital of Thaton, and brought back the Tripitaka Pali scriptures, Buddhist monks and craftsmen and all of these were made good use of in order to transform Bagan into a religious and cultural centre. After his own conversion to Theravada Buddhism, Anawrahta sent a Sangha mission to Sri Lanka, and by the help of the Sangha, he successfully converted his country. Bagan then became the sole centre of religious studies, and the university in Bagan attracted students from as far as the Khmer kingdoms. In 1287, the kingdom fell to the Mongols, after refusing to pay tribute to Kublai Khan. The city was sacked, and many religious relics were stolen.

Bagan Buddhist Temples and Pagodas include:

* Ananda Temple. This temple was completed in 1091 A.D. by King Kyanzittha. It is modeled after the legendary Nandamula cave in the Himalaya mountains. Soaring to 51 meters, it received its golden gilding in 1990 in commemeration of the 900th anniversary of its construction. Contained within the temple are four great statues of the Buddhas of the four ages. Kakusandha faces north, Konagamana faces east, Kassapa faces south, and Guatama, the most recent Buddha, faces west.

* Gawdawpalin, built in the 12th century by King Narapatisithu, the 60 meter temple was badly damaged in a 1975 earthquake but has been completely reconstructed.

* Dhammayangyi, the largest temple in Bagan, it was built by King Narathu who reigned from 1167 to 1170.

* Shwesandaw, built in 1057 by King Anawahta, the stupa enshrines hairs of the Buddha. It is sometimes called the Ganesh Temple after the elephant headed Hindu god whose images once stood at corners of each of the five terraces.

* Mahabodhi, this temple is an exact, though smaller, replica of the famous Bodhi temple in Bodh Gaya, India (where the Buddha attained enlightenment beneath the Bodhi tree). It was built during the reign of King Nantaungmya (1210-1234) and is completely covered with niches containing seated Buddha figures.

* Shwezigon, this pagoda was built as the most important reliquary shrine in Bagan. Begun by King Anawrahta and completed by King Kyanzittha in 1089, it contains several bones and hairs of the Buddha. Pilgrims from throughout Burma journey to Shwezigon each year for a great festival during the Burmese month of Nadaw, which falls in the November-December period. This festival is hugely popular because elements of pre-Buddhist Nat worship (Nats are pagan anamistic spirits) were combined with Buddhist themes in the pagoda’s construction. Shwezigon is thus a center of pilgrimage for both the archaic shamanic culture of Burma and the newer religion of Buddhism.