3 Days of Travel and Almost 12 Hours Ahead

B. Mack - April 4th, 2008 - 6:am: 3 Days of Travel and Almost 12 Hours Ahead

Greetings from Burma, good people!

Its’ been 3 days of travel, starting out in Hong Kong where we spent a night at the Regal Hotel after a 15-hour (straight) flight which was mostly smooth all the way. It is a 12 hour difference in Hong Kong and we only got to see the bay coming in from the China Sea as we had to get a nights sleep to be ready for Tuesday’s double-flight trek to Bangkok and from there to Rangoon, Burma which is 11.5 hours difference in time from EST. It is hot here in Burma, and it was clearly felt when we took a walk last night in the 75% heat and the bug lotion I used made it steamier, mixed with salty sweat got in my eyes! I took care of that in about 5 minutes, then sat down for a cool drink that was satisfying!

This is South East Asia -

The world feels quite different. But I will not speak on differences until after my experience with the people which begins today.
But so far the food is GREAT!
First on today’s itinerary is a briefing at the American Center with the State Department followed by a meet and greet with some of the countries popular Hip-Hop artists. Hip-Hop is EXTREMELY popular here.  One our goals is to find out what they’re rapping about… No, that is not a state department request… that was the band’s curiosity kicking in as we heard of young artists who no longer speak or perform in public. Later tonight we will perform and I’ll let you know how that goes.
Oh yeah, and more pictures soon… I guess airport shots would not have been too bad!

Talk to you soon - Bruce