SURE SEEMED LIKE HEAVEN TO ME

City Centre Yangon / Rangoon
North Dagon terminal
Layover at North Dagon
up to 13 of these beauties in sight at this time
Another good spot out to the north of Rangoon

nearly finished editing all the films, hope to have more Youtube stuff soon.

Found that most abuse on Youtube is from North East of England clips, this it turns out comes from UK army personnel in Afghanistan, little more I can say on that one.

This years trip planning is going well, Syria in October, S Poland W Ukraine Kaliningrad in June, South America Chile, Argentina and Brazil in April, Fiji New Zealand December, also visits to Malta and Nice.

A CALCUTTA FAMILY WITH DAVE

After a hard afternoon truck hunting my new found taxi driver friend invited me back to meet the family at Howrah , across the river from Calcutta. We sent them copies of all the photos and some of us and our own home.

SOME AMAZING INDIAN TRUCKS AT HOWRAH

never been chased out of so many places since Barnsley bus station, well my taxi driver friend understood what I wanted and we set off from Howrah station near Calcutta in search of the truck yards, we found plenty, some great footage coming up meanwhile these should be a taster of delights to come.

Wet weather at home plus my cold and cough is hanging on but almost better thank goodness.

Tonight editing the second Thailand film then still have ferries, trucks and Burmese buses to go. Must remember to get Ian Allan adverts done as well, it never stops

CHRISTMAS IN CALCUTTA OBEROI LUXURY THANK GOODNESS

View from our Oberoi Calcutta window left to interior courtyard, pool etc to right of scene.
Our room over Christmas
The Oberoi bar, no Guinness though
Christmas night dinner poolside, four course Indian, yummy
Superb food at the Oberoi, not a tummy problem throughout the trip

SO THAT WAS CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY WAS HAVING FUN

Christmas Eve at the Westin in Dhaka, we were the first customers on the first night at the Italian restaurant and bar which opened that night.
A drink to the new bar
only 8 diners so service was spot on
The waiters were teaching me a few words of Bangla each night
The food was spot on

CALCUTTA TRAMS HOW LONG CAN THEY SURVIVE

Boxing day in Calcutta, near the Oberoi hotel on Esplanade and the tram terminus, all the routes o the S West through the Maidan have been abandoned but still a lot of variety with hardly two trams alike but the net work much reduced and frequency on some routes spartan. Passengers generally thin on the ground despite the photo above, easy enough to do shots riding in the open doorway, one compartment is 1st class the other second with tickets to match.

Yesterday we managed to complete the Derbyshire shots with visits to Buxton and Bakewell, also collected some mill ground flour nearby, no processed food at No17 !

Editing goes well, now on second part of Calcutta trams, hope to get more on Youtube this morning

TRUCKS AND END GAMES BANGLADESH

We had fun collecting tickets for a friend at the huge bus station on the fringes of the city, it was served by double deckers, I nearly ruined a pair of trousers riding in the cab on top of the engine
This was also the start of the haulage and factories, mainly brick yards and aggregate at this point
The colourful trucks are just a taster of the gems to come in Calcutta and Burma

Dusk comes early but I kept shooting as much as I could, the bridge across the river was a good vantage point near the bus station and brick yards

Today we are in Derbyshire finishing shots at Buxton to complete a programme from last year with Chesterfield Bakewell and Buxton.
Two Bangladesh DVDs ready and first Youtube posting done

MESSING ABOUT ON THE RIVER

still in Dhaka Bangladesh, so friendly the people, I decided to hire one of the small boats and take a close look at the ferries.
The water was lets say less than life supportive, if you fell in I dread to think what your survival would be, got my shoes muddy but boat lad washed them in the yes gulp river water.
ok so this is what its about, the worlds last scheduled paddle steamers, the Rockets, just 4 left in operation.
They come in all shapes and sizes
Thankfully one arrived while i was bobbing about on the river, really lucky break and super timing, the video will look great.

The first DVDs are rolling off the line so keep a watch on Youtube for excerpts.
Weather here is horrible, wet, cold, dark,damp.

GETTING ON WITH THE EDITING

at the Dhaka city centre terminus again but after the public holiday although next day was Christmas
They may look a mess but only 6 years old they were assembled locally in 2002, they run on two routes and were very regular, don't go to the same terminus as the oldies
Battling through the traffic
Out in the N West suburbs but relatively infrequent services, next to fire training school for military, wouldn't want to have to rely on their equipment, similar technology to the buses Also in the leafy suburbs on route back to the city centre

I'm busy editing tonight before trip to Three Greyhounds.
I've confirmed the Poland Ukraine Kaliningrad trip in June
now working on South American trip in April

Starting advertising in Classic Commercial magazine from March

BANGLADESH DHAKA DOUBLE DECKERS

so much to go through so here we go, we flew out on Qatar, not much legroom but service, food etc fine, reasonably swift turnround and on to Dhaka capital of Bangladesh, not many visitors in the country,armed guards on the hotel, the Westin was central, friendly, staff fine, food good and we were there at opening of bar and Italian restaurant. Soon got to grips with the city centre, the old deckers have a central turnaround point with little space, an old chap was on anti piss duty . Had fun trying to find tickets for my friend Martin, there aren't any on the local buses , you just hand over a rather grotty little note.
Bangladesh Road transport Corporation, not the most modern or best maintained fleet,. most folk used the mini buses hence these were never full and looked pretty decrepit.
Not really sure why red blue and yellow buses, perhaps a job lot of paint, it took ages to turn each bus round, thumping on the rear , screaming for more passengers.
Very friendly crews, everyone wanted their photos taking.
It was all a bit of a squeeze at the terminus, one of the regular Ashok Leylands like those of Mumbai.

continued tomorrow

SAFELY BACK HOME FOLKS PICS TO COME SOON

Yes we arrived back yesterday evening, a bit jet lagged still but a very successful trip and we look forward to sharing our adventures over the coming week or so,
double deckers in Dhaka
The last of Calcutta's trams?
Modern Thailand
Burma 65 year old veterans on the go

drop in tomorrow , meanwhile a very Happy New Year to everyone out there