Temples, Sand and Sea- Myanmar (Burma)
/Have you ever laid eyes on a place and thought, I must go there. This was my first thought when I came across a photo of the city of Old Bagan. It appeared to be untouched by civilization and just the type of adventure I wanted to end an epic year.
Getting there from the UK was half the adventure. It took 36 hours door to door, across 4 airports and half a dozen times zones. The feeling when I landed in Yangon was exhaustion and excitement. I met up with some incredible ladies, who months before agreed to jump on the trip with me. A few Facebook communications and the trip was booked. I will admit that planning the trip at first seemed overwhelming, not much has been written about it and finding trustworthy blogs with updated information was hard. That was until I came across this site: http://www.go-myanmar.com/ that offered the largest amount of accurate content and information.
Picking the right destinations for the 10 days was another battle. I wanted culture, sunshine, beaches and relaxation. Choosing Yangon, Bagan and Ngapali were indeed the right choices.
Spending around 1 full day in Yangon we stayed at the Hotel Esperado, which overlooked Kandawgyi Park and the Shwedagon Pagoda. The hotel was just a short walk to the Royal Barge and Shwedagon Pagoda. Shwedagon Pagoda is a great place to watch the sunset as the building seems to magically glow at dusk. Traffic was absolutely manic when we left Shwedagon Pagoda, so we ended up missing Old Town and the historic area. We used our time wisely and booked a few hours into the spa that evening. Feeling relaxed we went to bed for our early morning flight.
Coming into Yangon, I entered a 5 star airport, newly built and shiny. Leaving for Bagan from the domestic terminal was an entirely different experience. You enter the small building to the west of the international terminal. There were no fancy signs and the check in process was so relaxed. Handed over our passports and given simple boarding passes and our colored stickers placed on our lapels. These stickers are crucial into ensuring you make your flight. Once through security and into the waiting hall, we realized it was not as 5 star as next door. A small toilet area and café is all the airport had to offer. Thank goodness the hotel packed us a boxed breakfast, as this was a just what I needed in the morning chaos. About 15 minutes before our departure staff shuttled us outside where a plane had just landed, allowing some of the passengers to disembark. We jumped in our seats on the tiny propeller plane and we were off. I slept most of the flight as jetlag was getting the best of me. By the time I woke up we were coming into Bagan. If you are sitting on the left hand side of the plane, you will get to the see the incredible view of all the temples amongst the trees. This view was even more spectacular than I could have ever imagined.
On arrival into Nyaung U airport you will buy the Bagan Zone Pass that provides access to archaeological zone. The cost was 25,000 Kwat, it was about $20. Having done a lot of research I found that while many hotels in Old Bagan were closer to the famous temples, the hotels in New Bagan offered some of the best views for balloon watching. Having chosen B&B Hotel Manisanda, as the other travels raved that it offered the best views for sunrise over the temples. As you can see their reviews did not disappoint. There are a few ways to get around Bagan, and you can chose a taxi, ebike or horse cart. There are only two main roads running through the area, so it is hard to get lost even with no sense of direction like myself. The ebikes really allow you to get to some of the more remote temples.
Spending three days in the Bagan area was more than enough, as it allowed us to taken in the sites without feeling rushed. There is day trips to Mt. Popa and while it was a long card ride, it was a change of scenery from Bagan. You can set up a taxi to this for about $40 from one of the taxi shops off the main road where you can rent ebikes. Get one of the free maps and explore as many of the temples as you can. Many of them you can enter and get some great views of the whole area. Some of the temples caretakers expect a small tip to allow you to view from the top. I brought quite a few dollar bills for this, as it was suggested by another blogger. I have to admit we did not try many restaurants as the first trip to The Moon 2, we were hooked and kept returning.
