Thursday, 6th September 2012
There's so much of the world I've not yet seen (and, sadly, probably never will) that I tend to visit a place once and not go back. Russia is one exception. I went by boat from Moscow to St. Petersburg in 2011 (see posts Trip to Russia) and then returned in 2012 on my way back from Mongolia (see posts Trans-Siberian).
But The Union of Myanmar, formerly Burma, is an outstanding exception. In 2008 I made my fifth Round the World Trip and included Burma in the itinerary (see posts RTW5). Burma and the Burmese People made a big impression on me and, in 2011, I made my fifth visit (see posts Trip to Burma). Now, I'm en route to Burma on my sixth visit.
I left home mid-morning on Thurday 6th September by road to Birmingham Airport to catch the Emirates afternoon flight to Dubai. There's a very decent Emirates Lounge at Birmingham now, so I was able to enjoy a three-course hot buffet lunch before I'd even left the ground. The aircraft was a Boeing 777-300ER which has an excellent 'on-demand' entertainment system. As we took off from Runway 15, I was able to monitor the front-facing camera on my seat-back video screen. During the flight, they served a comprehensive dinner and I watched 'Men In Black 3' (quite cleverly plotted but, I thought, lacking the charm of MIB1 and MIB2). Later I watched Ridley Scott's 'Alien' Prequel called 'Prometheus' (interesting but, as you would expect, not for the squeamish).
Friday, 7th September 2012
I write this in the Emirates Business Centre in Dubai Airport at half past one (night time) local time. My connecting flight is the 02:20 hours EK384 to Bangkok, where I should have another wait before taking Friday's 14:20 hours PG703 to Yangon. All being well, I'll be met at the airport and transferred to one of my favourite hotels, the Strand for one night before the adventure continues. I'll tell you more when I'm able.
When I started to leave the Emirates Lounge to find the departure gate, the guy manning the entrance said it would be a shorter walk to leave by the Middle Entrance (the lounge at Dubai is, I think, the largest I've seen and has three entrances). He was right - just outside the Lounge there was a business class check-in for my flight. Since there was no other check-in at this level, it started to dawn on me that I was about to have my second A380 flight. A group of us were directed to a lift which had separate floors marked for 'A380 Business and First' and 'A380 Economy'. The lift seemed reluctant to move at all and, when it did, it would only take us to the ground floor where economy passengers were boarding the lifts to go up one floor to 'Economy'. We alerted Emirates' staff to the problem and, eventually, we were invited to go to the 'Economy' level and walk up the stairs inside the aircraft. I found it quite amusing.
Although the individual staggered cubicles are quite interesting (and give everybody an aisle seat), I still find the cabin too big for my comfort. The bed wouldn't lie flat, either, but the On-Demand audio and video worked. I watched Pixar's 'Brave', another film and managed a little sleep during the six-hour leg to Bangkok. There was a hot breakfast, for those who wanted it.
By the time we were stopped and the Air Bridges attached at Bangkok, there was only an hour and a bit to wait for my Air Bangkok flight to Yangon.
We boarded the A319 on time but some problem with the cargo delayed take-off just over half an hour. They served a reasonable hot meal on the short flight to Yangon (a little over an hour in the air).
We made the customary 'straight in' approach to Yangon and I was soon in the terminal. Not only was I one of the first to pass through Immigration where the female staff quickly processed my entry but my one 'Checked Bag' was about number six onto the carousel. Customs were friendly and quick and my guide, Min, was waiting for me in the Arrivals Hall. Although traffic was heavy on the road into the city centre, I was quite comfortable in the 'SUV' provided so I started to relax. There was the usual welcome from the 'Strand' staff. I'm in room 104 (again) for one night and my guide is picking me up at 6.30 a.m. tomorrow.
[Additions on 8-Sep-2012, 26-Sep-2012]
