ivan...

...was terribly glum when he picked me up for the airport run this morning (long weekends in the tropical north are not good news for taxi drivers apparently.)
By the time we arrived he was terribly (in a good way!) chatty and interesting as Ivan (Kiwi by birth) spent 30 years in Asia and part of that time was in Burma as an armourer.
He learned the language, became a Burmese citizen and has a property in Karin country where he returns twice a year and plans to retire.

This time last year I was in the now Myanmar (Burma) and it was fascinating to hear him talk about Rangoon, Mandalay,the Irrawaddy and many of the places we visited.
What a small world.