The sharper edge to traveling in Asia

Archive for the 'Burma (Myanmar)' Category

WoWasis book review: Jerry Hopkins’ ‘Romancing the East’

We’re old fashioned, those of us here at WoWasis. We like books that have left room to include a few blank pages at the end. Author Jerry Hopkins, one of the more prolific writers of the last few years, has written a compelling book that lacks those blank pages. It’s called Romancing the East: A […]

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WoWasis book review ‘Burmese Light’ photo essay by Hans Kemp & Tom Vater

Here at WoWasis, we’re always interested in books on photography focusing on Asian countries, but have gotten to the point where large format coffee table sized books are creating a storage problem in our library. Because of that, they never get read beyond the first opening. We welcomed, therefore, photographer Hans Kemp and writer Tom […]

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WoWasis book review: ‘The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Drug Trade’ by Alfred W. McCoy

The first edition of Alfred McCoy’s The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Drug Trade was written in 1972 and was updated in 1991 and 2013. It has an amazing longevity, and has been cited numerous times in other works. As a plethora of researchers have discovered, the book, although nearly 50 years old […]

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WoWasis book review: ‘Lacquerware Journeys’ Burmese Lacquerware by Than Htun (Dedaye)

    There has been a resurgence of interest in Burmese lacquer ware concomitant to the large numbers of travelers now visiting the country of Myanmar. Sylvia Fraser-Lu’s landmark book Burmese Lacquerware is in its second edition, but ordering it internationally is financially problematic, going for more than $100 USD on the internet, while available […]

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WoWasis book review: ‘Myanmar Buddha: The Image and Its History’ by Somkiart Lopetcharat

This very fine and comprehensive book on Burmese Buddha images is generally available only in Southeast Asia, so we here at WoWasis would advise putting it on your shopping list for your next trip. Somkiart Lopetcharat’s Myanmar Buddha: The Image and Its History (2007, ISBN 978-974-09-6065-2) carries a suggested retail price of $85 USD, and […]

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WoWasis book review: ‘Who Needs a Road? The Longest and Last Motor Journey Around the World’ by Harold Stephens and Albert Podell

Back in 1999, we here at WoWasis drove 4000 km through South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. We broke down in soft sand up to our axels in the bush with lions nearby, got an accidental fill-up of diesel 200 km from the nearest Kalahari town, and did it all while driving solo in a […]

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WoWasis book review: ‘Missing in Rangoon’ by Christopher G. Moore

Veteran Bangkok-based novelist Christopher G. Moore’s book, Missing in Rangoon (2013, ISBN 978-616-7503-17-2), is the latest in his detective Vincent Calvino series. We here at WoWasis loved the plot, and the book has passages with some of the best writing we’ve seen from this prolific novelist. The story is delicious. Calvino gets a missing person’s […]

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Dr Laura Agustín and Thai sex workers: Anti-trafficking Rescues are Our Biggest Problem

Perhaps the most controversial topic we write about here at WoWasis is the excesses of the NGOs and governmental bodies involved in policing the sex trade in Asia. $30,000 Pedophilia NGO scam: if allegations are true, who’s watching the Watchers?    NGO Pedophilia controversy heats up in Cambodia and Is it time for a website to archive […]

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5 travel tips from WoWasis on avoiding getting robbed overseas

Compared to most Western countries, we here at WoWasis feel Asia is pretty safe. Most travelers can go just about anywhere, any time, and not have to be constantly looking over their shoulders. Nevertheless, travelers not practicing basic security measures are leaving themselves open to the occasional theft. So here are some things to keep […]

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Leafsnap phone app allows you to identify trees instantaneously

Here at WoWasis, we’re often curious about what kind of tree we’re seeing in Asia, but don’t want to carry a tree guide (book or human) around with us. So now there’s a solution, that while focused on North American trees, will allow iPhone and iPad users to begin identifying Asian trees as well. It’s […]

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