{"id":6479,"date":"2018-05-11T19:32:45","date_gmt":"2018-05-12T02:32:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/?p=6479"},"modified":"2018-06-05T15:39:35","modified_gmt":"2018-06-05T22:39:35","slug":"myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/","title":{"rendered":"Myanmar, A Country of Contrasts: Pagodas, Culture and Controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"daily
Photograph by Fyllis Hockman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There is very little that can entice me to get up at 4 a.m. but how often do you get a chance to bathe a Buddha? And not just any Buddha but one that the actual real Buddha is said to have embraced himself. The statue at Maha Muni Pagoda in Mandalay, Myanmar is believed to be one of only five likenesses of Buddha created during his lifetime. And the daily cleansing ritual for the hundreds of pilgrims who attend is both literal and spiritual. One of the many unusual experiences embodied in Myths and Mountains\u2019 Myanmar Odyssey Tour.<\/p>\n

But the given that Myanmar is a beautiful and fascinating country that deserves to be visited and appreciated cannot be considered in a vacuum. The current bloodshed in the northern Rakhine Province where Muslim refugees are either being persecuted or are themselves Bangladesh terrorists, depending upon whom you ask, is part of the equation. I thoroughly understood the horror of the ethnic cleansing scenario about which I had been reading for almost a year but I wanted to know the perspective of the Burmese themselves. But more on that later.<\/p>\n

Starting our trip with a visit to Yangon\u2019s Shwedagon Pagoda is like beginning a trip to Switzerland<\/a> at the top of the Alps. There\u2019s only one way to go after that, no matter how beautiful the descent.\u00a0 Built in 525 B.C., the immense complex is overwhelming to navigate and disarming to reflect upon \u2014 except for the escalators. They were a surprise. Very prescient folks, I thought, 2600 years ago. I was at a loss for words \u2014\u00a0not a good place for a travel writer to be \u2014\u00a0to capture the mystique, magic and magnificence of the cosmically vast structure. We were invited to participate in the nightly candle lighting ceremony, said to promote longevity. We were first quite honored \u2014 until we realized that the expectation was that we would light all 1000 wicks. Fortunately, other visitors chose to participate in the process along the way. Otherwise, we would still be there\u2026<\/p>\n

\"candle
Photograph by Fyllis Hockman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The many shrines, pagodas, temples, stupas and monasteries that followed continued the sense of awe embodied in the attitudes of both the faithful and the infidels who visit there. And the amount and variety of offerings to ensure longevity, beauty, wisdom or health left me feeling guilty for arriving empty-handed. Golden pagodas as plentiful as the Golden Arches here, stupas on every street corner instead of Starbucks. Some pagodas are so lit up with gold-leaf engravings and flashing neon lights \u2014 sort of the sacred bordering on the sacrilegious \u2014 that I momentarily thought I might have been at a DisneyWorld Buddhaland exhibit. More guilt for such a blasphemous thought.<\/p>\n

\"Burmese
Photograph by Fyllis Hockman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A visit to Shan State, home to 34 minorities, all of whom have different cultures, language, foods and clothes, boasts a much more other-worldly and ethereal terrain than Yangon. If, as our guide Willy kept reminding us, Myanmar has been so \u201cisolated\u201d \u2014 always conveyed in a conspiratorial whisper \u2014 here the feeling is even more remote. Just the presence of so many water buffalo lets you know you\u2019re in another world. So stopping at a vineyard for a wine tasting seemed totally incongruous but still I overcome my initial surprise to happily indulge.<\/p>\n

\"winery
Photograph by Fyllis Hockman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"fisherman
Photograph by Fyllis Hockman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A visit to Inle Lake was more in keeping with the area. With its serpentine series of canals navigated by long, narrow boats, Inle is reminiscent of Venice<\/a> and its gondolas, with an equal amount of commerce \u2014 all of it \u2014 conducted on water. But even out-Venicing Venice, the houses, shops and schools are all on stilts \u2014 and there\u2019s a lack of floating gardens in the Italian city. The hill tribe villages as well are a far cry from Venice\u2019s cosmopolitan vibe. Not to mention that I\u2019ve never seen a gondolier steer his boat or catch a fish with one leg wrapped around an oar, an amazing feat for which the Inthas are famous. Okay, maybe a very different experience than Venice.<\/p>\n

If every pagoda, shrine and stupa you visit on the ground is impressive, imagine floating over 2200 of them in a hot air balloon. Such is the glorious adventure in Bagan.\u00a0 It\u2019s like watching over them all from heaven if only Buddha believed in heaven.\u00a0 Although, at this point, with my eyes glazing over at the mere mention of another pagoda, the thought of actually having to visit any of them once back on the ground made me want to stay in the balloon indefinitely, the champagne breakfast awaiting us upon landing notwithstanding.<\/p>\n

\"hot
Photo courtesy of Zzvet@DreamsTime. com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Alright, I\u2019ve put it off long enough. Time to discuss the elephant in the country \u2014 Rakhine Province. Over the last 10 years, Myanmar has been emerging from the Dark Ages to flirting with Democracy, with the election, despite military rule, of State Counselor Aung Sun Suu Kyi. \u00a0 Now with the crackdown on the Rohingya Muslims, the country is veering from the cusp of a tourism boom to being a pariah throughout world-wide media.<\/p>\n

Prior to the trip, we were, of course, immersed in the world-wide condemnation of the alleged military atrocities visited upon the Muslim population in Rakhine Province and the resultant censure of the country\u2019s first democratically-elected leader. But the many Burmese I spoke to, not surprisingly, have a very different take. In a very over-simplified form, the Rohingya Muslims \u2014 self-named and not recognized by the Burmese \u2014 are Bangladesh terrorists who want to take over Rakhine Province and make it their own state and they shot up multiple police stations and have terrorized the Myanmar populace \u2014 and the military are only acting in self-defense. In addition, Myanmar is a very poor country that cannot afford the education, medical care and housing of 700,000 illegal immigrants who provide no economic benefit \u2014 and they want them to all go back to Bangladesh where they belong and the U.N. and world stage have gotten the situation all wrong. I think Fake News is the term they used! Very hard to wrap one’s head around all the information, while also questioning just where all this information comes from.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, on the flip side, Aung San Suu Kyi is beloved and has done a lot for the country in two years. No controversy here \u2014 parks are now free to locals where before they were not; education as well; infrastructure changes are apparent; trains and buses have been modernized and made very affordable; corruption among the governing generals has been lessened; the economy has improved and religious constrains lifted. Nonetheless, she is powerless, we were told, against the military which is pretty much still in control. Clearly this is a country very much in transition.<\/p>\n

\"colorful
Photograph by Fyllis Hockman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

No matter which perspective you accept \u2014 although it\u2019s hard to rationalize the native assessment \u2014 the more important question for tourists is whether to visit or not, especially when safety is not an issue as is the case here. What is always true when dealing with a government whose policies you reject, is that it is never the politicians who suffer when tourism decreases \u2014 it is always the people: the tour guides, hotels, restaurants, vendors and shopkeepers. Myanmar has so much beauty and wonder and fascinating culture to offer that it is not only the country that will suffer if tourism declines but so too the many Americans who may choose not to experience this magical, mystical, memorable journey. Myths and Mountains operates tours and custom trips to a number of destinations in Asia and Southeast Asia.\u00a0 For more information, visit Myanmar Odyssey: Bagan, Inle, Monywa, Ngapali and Beyond<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is very little that can entice me to get up at 4 a.m. but how often do you get a chance to bathe a Buddha? And not just any Buddha but one that the actual real Buddha is said to have embraced himself. The statue at Maha Muni Pagoda in Mandalay, Myanmar is believed to be one of only five likenesses of Buddha created during his lifetime. And the daily cleansing ritual for the hundreds of pilgrims who attend is both literal and spiritual.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":6487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[1145,1138,1141,1142,1135,1137,1144,1143,1139,1140,1136],"class_list":["post-6479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-travel","tag-aung-san-suu-kyi","tag-bagan","tag-buddhism","tag-inle-lake","tag-myanmar","tag-pagodas","tag-rakhine-province","tag-rohingya-muslims","tag-shan-state","tag-temples","tag-yangon"],"yoast_head":"\nMyanmar, A Country of Contrasts: Pagodas, Culture and Controversy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Myanmar has so much beauty and wonder and fascinating culture to offer that it is not only the country that will suffer if tourism declines but so too the many Americans who may choose not to experience this magical, mystical, memorable journey.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Myanmar, A Country of Contrasts: Pagodas, Culture and Controversy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Myanmar has so much beauty and wonder and fascinating culture to offer that it is not only the country that will suffer if tourism declines but so too the many Americans who may choose not to experience this magical, mystical, memorable journey.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Traveling Archive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-05-12T02:32:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-06-05T22:39:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Pagoda.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"596\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fyllis Hockman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fyllis Hockman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Fyllis Hockman\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/#\/schema\/person\/89c63b57d453fa8e9c6d01a458225f90\"},\"headline\":\"Myanmar, A Country of Contrasts: Pagodas, Culture and Controversy\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-05-12T02:32:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-06-05T22:39:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/\"},\"wordCount\":1345,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Pagoda.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Aung San Suu Kyi\",\"Bagan\",\"Buddhism\",\"Inle Lake\",\"Myanmar\",\"pagodas\",\"Rakhine Province\",\"Rohingya Muslims\",\"Shan State\",\"temples\",\"Yangon\"],\"articleSection\":[\"World Travel\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/\",\"name\":\"Myanmar, A Country of Contrasts: Pagodas, Culture and Controversy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Pagoda.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-05-12T02:32:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-06-05T22:39:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/#\/schema\/person\/89c63b57d453fa8e9c6d01a458225f90\"},\"description\":\"Myanmar has so much beauty and wonder and fascinating culture to offer that it is not only the country that will suffer if tourism declines but so too the many Americans who may choose not to experience this magical, mystical, memorable journey.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Pagoda.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Pagoda.jpg\",\"width\":850,\"height\":596,\"caption\":\"Photo courtesy Fyllis Hockman\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Myanmar, A Country of Contrasts: Pagodas, Culture and Controversy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/\",\"name\":\"Traveling Archive\",\"description\":\"Traveling Adventures\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/#\/schema\/person\/89c63b57d453fa8e9c6d01a458225f90\",\"name\":\"Fyllis Hockman\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42c7c037f6c4a11c973e1cd866135d68477a4a97fbb069195be7e51029249ed9?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42c7c037f6c4a11c973e1cd866135d68477a4a97fbb069195be7e51029249ed9?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Fyllis Hockman\"},\"description\":\"Fyllis Hockman is a Washington, D.C.-based freelance travel writer. She writes regularly for Creators News Syndicate (formerly Copley News Service), and is a feature columnist for several online travel magazines. Ms. Hockman's travel stories also have appeared in the New York Post, Memphis Commercial Appeal, Providence Journal, Halifax Herald, Boston Herald, Gazette Newspapers, Asbury Park Press, New Hampshire Sunday News, Buffalo News and many other publications. She is the author of AAA Guidebook: A Photo Journey to Washington, D.C. and co-author of the Pelican Guide to Maryland. Ms. Hockman is a member of the Society of American Travel Writers and Travel Journalists Guild.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/author\/fyllis\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Myanmar, A Country of Contrasts: Pagodas, Culture and Controversy","description":"Myanmar has so much beauty and wonder and fascinating culture to offer that it is not only the country that will suffer if tourism declines but so too the many Americans who may choose not to experience this magical, mystical, memorable journey.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Myanmar, A Country of Contrasts: Pagodas, Culture and Controversy","og_description":"Myanmar has so much beauty and wonder and fascinating culture to offer that it is not only the country that will suffer if tourism declines but so too the many Americans who may choose not to experience this magical, mystical, memorable journey.","og_url":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/","og_site_name":"Traveling Archive","article_published_time":"2018-05-12T02:32:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-06-05T22:39:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":850,"height":596,"url":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Pagoda.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Fyllis Hockman","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fyllis Hockman","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/"},"author":{"name":"Fyllis Hockman","@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/#\/schema\/person\/89c63b57d453fa8e9c6d01a458225f90"},"headline":"Myanmar, A Country of Contrasts: Pagodas, Culture and Controversy","datePublished":"2018-05-12T02:32:45+00:00","dateModified":"2018-06-05T22:39:35+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/"},"wordCount":1345,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Pagoda.jpg","keywords":["Aung San Suu Kyi","Bagan","Buddhism","Inle Lake","Myanmar","pagodas","Rakhine Province","Rohingya Muslims","Shan State","temples","Yangon"],"articleSection":["World Travel"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/","url":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/","name":"Myanmar, A Country of Contrasts: Pagodas, Culture and Controversy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Pagoda.jpg","datePublished":"2018-05-12T02:32:45+00:00","dateModified":"2018-06-05T22:39:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/#\/schema\/person\/89c63b57d453fa8e9c6d01a458225f90"},"description":"Myanmar has so much beauty and wonder and fascinating culture to offer that it is not only the country that will suffer if tourism declines but so too the many Americans who may choose not to experience this magical, mystical, memorable journey.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Pagoda.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Pagoda.jpg","width":850,"height":596,"caption":"Photo courtesy Fyllis Hockman"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/myanmar-contrasts-culture-controversy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Myanmar, A Country of Contrasts: Pagodas, Culture and Controversy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/#website","url":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/","name":"Traveling Archive","description":"Traveling Adventures","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/#\/schema\/person\/89c63b57d453fa8e9c6d01a458225f90","name":"Fyllis Hockman","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42c7c037f6c4a11c973e1cd866135d68477a4a97fbb069195be7e51029249ed9?s=96&d=retro&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42c7c037f6c4a11c973e1cd866135d68477a4a97fbb069195be7e51029249ed9?s=96&d=retro&r=g","caption":"Fyllis Hockman"},"description":"Fyllis Hockman is a Washington, D.C.-based freelance travel writer. She writes regularly for Creators News Syndicate (formerly Copley News Service), and is a feature columnist for several online travel magazines. Ms. Hockman's travel stories also have appeared in the New York Post, Memphis Commercial Appeal, Providence Journal, Halifax Herald, Boston Herald, Gazette Newspapers, Asbury Park Press, New Hampshire Sunday News, Buffalo News and many other publications. She is the author of AAA Guidebook: A Photo Journey to Washington, D.C. and co-author of the Pelican Guide to Maryland. Ms. Hockman is a member of the Society of American Travel Writers and Travel Journalists Guild.","url":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/author\/fyllis\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6479"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6831,"href":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6479\/revisions\/6831"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}