Saigon by night

vue du centre ville, a proximite du fameux Night Club "Apocalypse Now"

Myanmar/Burma : to go or not to go?

Myanmar is the name of the land, Burma ("Bamar") is the name of the main ethnical group. This country is a harsh dictatorship since 1962, and there s no end in sight. The use of e-mail is forbidden, foreign press is censored, the National League for Democracy, which won 80% of the vote in the last election (there were 20% fraud) is banned.

The people are very welcoming to foreigners, and a lot of them, including military officers, criticize their government. In the countryside, the people I ve met, look quite happy and not really concerned by political problems, but in the cities, the situation is tense. A bomb exploded in the main Yangoon market when I was there. The Karen, the Shan, the Chin, and the Kayin ethnical groups are all fighting on the borders for more autonomy (they do a lot of drug and arms trafficking - that s why all the border areas are closed to foreigners).

The central part of the country is densely populated, mostly along the Irrawady River. Unlike, the Mekong which flows in 6 states, the Irrawady has its source and delta in only one country : Myanmar. It s a beautiful and powerful river that can be navigated downstream on 3 different boats (see picture) from Mandalay to Bagan, from Bagan to Piay, and from Piay to the Sea in approximately One Week. Have a good trip.

Burma : a military state, without a state; a passenger ferry on the Irrawady, sailing near Mandalay, Mingun pagoda is the biggest brick building in the word - it was spectacularly destroyed by an earthquake, a trishaw is a mix of India rickshaw with Indochina cyclo, the Inle Lake floating market, a betel shop in Kalaw - betel is the local addiction in Myanmar/Burma, the tallest Bagan pagoda amid 2400 other ones, a buddha underground painting in Bagan

a vietnamese artist exposes his views on his country at the french cultural center in Hanoi

Mekong river descent and Vietnam coast

trekking au Tibet

des idees de trekking au Tibet sur ce site:
http://www.journeysintl.com/destinations/asia/tibet/544

While trekking in Tibet, I learned that, not only Bramaputra and Indus, the 2 mythical rivers of South Asia flow from Tibet, but that also the Mekong river, Indochina landmark river, came also from the top of the world!

I decided to do the trip all along from its source to the sea.As the route from Yunnan to Tibet is closed to foreigners by chinese authorities, with some friends, we decided to start at the border of Yunan and Tibet, near Deqin. We hiked to Taizi Monastery built near the glacier of Mingyong, which is one of the main affluent of the Mekong.Then the route follows the river through the rice paddies of Yunan, through empty Laos and its capital Vientiane; through Cambodia, then Vietnam, the end of the route being Cantho, near Saigon (HCMC).

Don t miss on this route the following Highlights: - the old city of Lijiang in Yunan, China, - Luang Prabang, the sleepy capital of the former kingdom of Laos, - the island of Si Phan Don, between Laos and Cambodia, situated on the Mekong FALLS and - Phu Quoc island in Vietnam.

Tan Vien mountain, near Hanoi, the perfect day trek, this mountain is famous in the chinese style paintings for its wave-like shape

The beach of the Mekong, another good point for Si Phan Don, I ve never seen the famous Mekong dolphin, but hey sometimes come to this beach too!

Dali in Yunan, the chinese food is not always good!

Lijiang in Yunan : on old chinese city rebuilt from scratch, now has a kind of disneyland feeling, but it s a nice place!

The tiger leaping gorge in Yunan, a great place for trekking!

the start : Taizi Monastery built near the glacier of Mingyong, which is one of the main affluent of the Mekong (Yunan, China)

The Mekong River in Luang Prabang, the former capital of the kingdom of Laos

PolPot killing fields (Choeng Ek, Cambodia) : no comment

Farmers bringing rice to the market along the Ho Chi Mih trail in Central Highlands (as during the war, they use a bicycle to carry the load, but don't ride it)

Phu Quoc island in South Vietnam is the niocman capital of the world

Some temples near Angkor Wat are still engulfed in the jungle!

The Bayon, next to Angkor Wat, it was the biggest city on earth, and its king was very proud (its stone face could see in the 4 directions North East South West)

french engineers built a complex system to bring the boats up the Mekong falls, the railways are now out of order (Si Phan Don)