From the Editor: The best from myWanderlust this week

How far could you travel on a bottle of whisky and a carton of cigarettes?

6 mins

Ray-ray has been to Burma and reckons their immigration officials are the friendliest in the world. I know this because she wrote about it in Experiences this week.

I found Burmese immigration officers extremely friendly too when I visited, back in the day. But I always thought it was because I had something they wanted. To be precise, a bottle of Johnny Walker and a carton of 555 cigarettes.

Back then, it was common practice to fund your journey around Burma with your Duty Free allowance. Indeed, it became so widespread that the immigration official stamping you into the country was often the first to offer to buy it from you. Whisky and cigarettes were a more stable form of currency than the local Kyat.

Having said that, the proceeds from that one transaction funded my entire 7 day journey around the country and left me with a wad to blow at the Stand Hotel in Rangoon, the only place you had any chance of getting through a brick of grubby notes.

Elsewhere in Experiences, ZofiS recounts his visit to Cooper Pedy and his brush with Australian eccentricity, something everyone here at the Towers have to deal with every day. (Only yesterday I had to restrain my self from saying ‘That’s not a knife!’ when Mike in Design pulled out a scalpel.)

Roseattack captured the spirit of Halloween, recounting a visit to Albern Hafen in Austria to celebrate All Saints Day. (Tom in Production just started humming NeverEver. You can’t take these people anywhere!)

Speaking of all things spooky, Commander-in-Chief, Lyn Hughes, has hit the Forum to find out if you’ve had any ghostly encounters in your travels. I remember being woken up by scuttling noises one night in Indonesia, but it only turned out to be rats scurrying along the partitions that divided the rooms. Share your spooky stories here.

Liz Cleere has also thrown out a philosophical conundrum for us all to mull over. Should we visit the Middle East before it gets worse or wait for it to get better. What do you think?

Sarah Manuel is Just Back From the Khao Sok National Park in Thailand. She spent a night floating on the Cheow Lan Lake and reckons you should too.

Hmoat01, on the other hand, is just back from a Duke Special gig. Duke Special, or Peter Wilson, as his mum calls him, is from Northern Ireland. But Hmoat01 saw him in Brugg, Switzerland. Her advice? Couchsurf. It’ll save you money and give you a real insight into the Swiss. It’s not all chocolate and cheese, you know.

RachR is just back from Burma and recommends walking around and meeting the locals. Or, in the case of Inle Lake, paddle. Make sure you check out her photos too. They’re brilliant.

Ray-ray has posted some pics from Burma as well. Friendly officials not shown, but well worth checking out none-the-less. Pollyiew has uploaded a set of images from New York, pre-Sandy. And Dionisio79 has posted a collection of photos of Death Valley in Winter. Still looks pretty hot, if you ask me. Jamie Furlong, meanwhile, has gone all arty on us with a set of black and white images from Ahmedabad. They are of his usual high standard.

Well, that it from me. I’m off to harangue my insurance company. It's such a shame that Wanderlust Insurance doesn't cover motorcycles ….

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