TRAVEL

Home & Away with Robert WalsheLiving

Etihad airways will increase capacity on its dublin to abu dhabi flights, deploying a Boeing 777-300ER on the route from 2 July 2013.the B777-300ER offers Etihad airways’ new Pearl Business Class product. It is config-ured to carry 412 passengers, with 28 seats in Pearl Busi-ness Class and 384 in Coral Economy Class. it will oper-ate on the six EY42 flights out of dublin, increasing ca-pacity on the route by 34 per cent. the increase will pro-vide an additional 900 seats each week compared to the current schedule, with an extra 36 in the award winning Pearl Business class and 864 in Coral Economy. an airbus a330-200 will continue to op-erate on the four EY48 flights from dublin. the airline has announced it will start flights to at least three new destina-tions in 2013, Washington dC in March, Sao Paulo in June, and ho Chi Minh City in Oc-tober. www.etihad.com

Holiday Hotspot – Yangon, MyanmarMyanmar’s capital Yangon

has begun opening its doors to visitors as the main gate-way to the country since elections in November 2010 put the military junta-backed Union Solidarity and devel-opment Party in power. the government is on a diplo-matic mission to change the regime’s brutal image – re-leasing hundreds of political prisoners, including vener-ated opposition politician, aung San Suu Kyi, who spent nearly 15 years under house arrest over the last two dec-ades. there is now a feeling of hope among Myanmar’s people, as western govern-ments lift sanctions and visitors flock to the coun-try. Yangon was founded by King alaungpaya on the site of a small town called dagon when he conquered lower Myanmar in 1755. he changed its name to Yangon, which means “End of Strife”.

alongside the 3,000 years of history represented in buildings around Yangon, you will find many things to see and do here. there are pagodas everywhere but few come close. to” Shwedagon “in scale or beauty. the best time to visit is at sunset when its gilded stupa is bathed in the fading rays of the sun and takes on a magical glow. the colossal “Chauk-htat-kyi Pagoda” is one of the largest Buddha images in Myanmar. the original image was built in 1907 built by Sir-Phoe tha. it was demolished in 1957 and rebuilt to the original structure, and completed in 1966. another must do is the Natural history Mu-seum with its notable col-lection of natural resources including flora and fauna, forest products, minerals and rocks. One of the more popular political attractions is a drive past aung San Suu Kyi’s house. hidden behind a long, wall topped with razor wire…and a large photo of her father, the assassinated ‘spiritual leader’ of modern Burma. if time permits visit Bogyoke aung San or Scott Market with 2,000 plus stalls selling artworks, jewellery, handicrafts and clothing to smelly fish for dinner! Yangon is also the culinary capital of Myanmar where you can expect international dining from Europe, india, thailand, China and Japan. Le Planteur run by Eric Ep-pisser one of Switzerland’s top Michelin-starred chefs & his hotelier wife Lucia is by far the finest eating es-tablishment in the country if not South East asia. they operate out of a pretty estate with a red brick mansion, and the tables are spread out all over a most picturesque garden complete with Bur-mese parasols and nouveau lanterns. My experience here was one of the most atmos-pheric and romantic dining settings i’ve enjoyed in years and the red mountain sau-

vignon blanc from inle Lake in Myanmar enhanced the flavours perfectly. Following hors d’oeuvres, as well as an amuse-bouche we had start-ers each to share: red tuna and salmon sashimi salad with ginger and lemon (silken and flavoursome); grilled as-paragus with orange (fresh and crisp); agnelotti with sun-dried tomatoes, olives and Myanmar fetta (clear, dynamic flavours); truffle filled ravioli and creamy truffle foam, pumpkin soup with coconut & red curry followed by chocolate fon-dant perfumed with ginger & tangerine white chocolate cappuccino. Le Planteur is very chic and full of expatri-ates and locals alike and the place to be seen. Club music played in the background while a couple of ducks roamed the grounds among the tables of diners. the transfer back to our Colonial hotel by vintage Morris Ox-ford was a giggle if not a little bumpy. www.leplanteur.net the Strand sits in downtown Yangon a stone’s throw from the irrawaddy River. . dating back to 1901, this hotel is a prime example of Myanmar’s heritage. there are eight su-perior suites and 23 deluxe duties, with 12-foot-high ceilings, grand red-carpeted staircase, large windows and separate seating areas.

On these floors, which are

Wi-Fi enabled, you find the smiling 24/7 butlers who wear traditional Burmese dress jackets and longyi sa-rongs. the Strand histori-cally was the crown jewel of the Sarkies Brothers, four remarkable armenians who presided over a minor hotel empire that included the Eastern & Oriental in Penang and Raffles in Singa-pore. Restored to its former glory, the Victorian-styled Strand combines the charms of the 1920s and 1930s with a modern-day feel. during the years that the English occupied the country, it was at here that the elite would meet- a place where gentle folk would enjoy good con-versation with a drink in hand. the main building is an atrium with two wings fo-cused on a lobby lounge with a black and white marble floor with teak inlay. Other floors are wood throughout. dining options include the Strand Grill, for formal din-ing with afternoon tea at the café a Yangon institution. a major city landmark, the hotel has welcomed Somer-set Maugham, George Orwell, Sir Noel Coward and Rudyard Kipling amongst its famous guests. Myanmar is a cash country and amer-ican dollars are preferred. Other currencies may not

be accepted. Only a very few hotels accept credit cards, and those that do charge a transaction fee of up to 10 per cent. the transaction fee at the Strand is 5 per cent.)

www.ghmhotels.com the ideal time to visit is during the dry season, which falls between November and May. Certain regions can be very wet during our summer months, but due to the size of the country it is possible to avoid these areas and still enjoy a worthwhile tour. One Stop travel & tours based in Yangon with branch offices at Mandalay, Bagan, inle, Nay-Pyi-taw offers a reliable and professional service and will organise your tours, hotels & domestic airline transfers which are next to impossible to organise independently. Once we arrived in Myan-mar, One Stop met us at the airport, helped exchange our US dollars into Kyats, con-firmed our ten day itinerary and remained in contact with us on several occasions dur-ing our trip to ensure that all was going to plan. due to My-anmar’s infrastructure it’s re-

ally important to engage the services of an agent and One Stop deliver on all counts. www.onestop-myanmar.com Etihad operates 10 flights a week from dublin and daily flights from Manchester and heathrow to abu dhabi and over 85 destinations includ-ing numerous daily con-nections to Bangkok and onwards to Yangon with its code share partner Bangkok airways. in business class to Bangkok expect award-winning fully flat beds in an innovative 1-2-1 layout – all seats have aisle access and are forward facing. Expect the services of a dedicated Food & Beverage Manager offering restaurant quality dining-on-demand, boutique wines, and a unique “kitchen anytime option “. Enjoy over 600 hours of on-demand en-tertainment on some of the largest personal screens in the sky – as well as MP3 player connectivity and uni-versal power sockets. For best fares visit www.etihad.com

Robert Walshe is a travel broadcaster with Q Radio Network and Travel Editor for River Media newspaper titles across the island of Ireland. www.robertw-alshe.com

Pet’s Corner... with Kathleen Murray

n Shwedagon Pagoda Yangon Myanmar.n The Strand Hotel Yangon Myanmar.

Grumpy old dogsdOGS go through changes in their lives just like us. they develop in a certain way at certain stages in their lives. When they are very young, life is all about leaning lessons and having lots of fun.

as they get older they will start to set-tle down a bit and become more know-ing about things.

they will have had many experiences and will not be as excited, or distracted by things that pups would be excited or distracted by.

When dogs reach middle age which is about six or seven-years old then many of them become less tolerant of unruly pups jumping on them, or children pull-

ing at them. they just want some order in their

lives. it is at this time that some of them growl at other dogs or maybe snap at children if left unsupervised. Some dogs live longer than others so middle age comes a little later for some.

the average age that a dog lives for is about 13. Some die younger and some live till they are 19 and older.

Small dogs tend to live longer than large dogs. it is always good to super-vise dogs in the presence of children no matter what age the dog is and, as dogs get older and more feeble they need to be supervised more, and protected from things that they would have taken

in their stride when they were younger. heart problems, arthritis and other medical complaints can cause dogs to appear grumpy.

this is because the dog is frail and needs to be handled in a gentle way. it can be painful for a dog to have a tod-dler fall on it or pull it around when it is not well. Very often, an owner doesn’t see the problem until something hap-pens.

Never take a dog for granted. it is an animal that is capable of anything given the right circumstances. Please watch out for signs of change in your dog as they age. Grumpy old dogs need a quiet and peaceful retirement.