Having a birthday abroad can be a tricky one. You conjure up images of exotic cockatils, being pampered and washing sand out of your hair in the evening but in reality it can be hard when you wake up and realise your friends and family aren’t there and you can’t giggle into an empty wine glass with your best friends. But I needn’t have worried because I was staying at The Hotel by the Red Canal in Mandalay for my recent birthday. After waking up in my delightful little room (with so many gorgeous finishing touches like the beautifully packaged bathroom amenities – earplugs were wrapped in rustic brown paper with a string bow around them!) I was in for a day of treats. As I padded downstairs for a delicious birthday breakfast I was greeted by one of the hotel’s smiling members of staff who handed me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and told me I had been booked in for a massage in the afternoon – a present from a wonderful colleague of mine who had contacted the hotel to arrange a surprise. Being hundreds of miles from home I was so touched. But the real treat came in […]