Aureum Palace Hotel - Resort Bagan

... one major difference I've noted with Bagan vendors over Angkor vendors is that if you don't want their stuff they'll generally stop pushing you and just want to chat or practice their English.<br><br>I feel like Balloons over Bagan are doing quite a bit for the local community in terms of employment and helping locals out with medical needs.<br><br>After the bus had whisked us back to Nyaung U we had a quick nap before setting off to have some ...

After getting high 45 deg in Mandalay we finally reached the desert!! so hooooot... The way to visit the hundreds of payas (some from 12th century) was to wake up at 5am, take a bike and visit til 9am, take a breakfast, a nap, wake up for internet and food, nap again, go to the pool of local hotel, then on the bike again from 5 to 8pm. They say the place is a bit like Angkor.. will see, but it is amazing.

... liked the lady here, she was not following us around and did not give us the hard sell. Sein Nyet Ama and Nyima (Seinnyet Nyima Paya &amp; Seinnyet Ama Pahto) is a stupa and shrine that were believed to be built by Queen Seinnyet in the 11th century, but the architecture indicates that it would have been built 2 centuries later. I did not go in (did I mention that you have to take off your socks and shoes at each Temple and the ground is ...

... and had to pay the next day! Bill and I went to sleep around 10:30, it felt really late. I woke up during the night (I did not sleep well, it was a bit cold) and had to pee. Bill would not wake up, so I had to go off into the dark on my own! It was scary!!! We woke up at 5:00 and cast off at 6:00 am. I was joking at the beginning that we were on The Love Boat, but it turned out to be the SS Minnow! The 3 (15) hour tour has gone off the rails. LOL!

... This boat is a couple of steps up from our first one but still of the old colonial style. There was plenty of time to lounge and watch the countryside go by. Each day we visited a village. This day was a village not often visited by tourists so we had lots of attention by the locals. This boat company seems to have a wish to help local communities. We were advised not to give ...

... lett**s "CB" are hard t* exchange in India) and the demands *f the middleman wh*'d br*ught us *v** th**e t* kindly leave behind s*me "gifts", we left the *ffice being warned n*t t* tell any*ne *f this "illegal *p**ati*n" and feeling th*r*ughly shady and suspici*us. F*r all *ur uneasiness, h*wev**, we'd b*th watched as the m*ney was c*unted *ut, and had c*unted what was handed *v** t* us *urselves as well. Unease dissipated thr*ugh*ut a delici*us lunch *f chicken biryani and ...

... correctly read our wanderlust preferences we did it as a day trip. On the way there we stopped at a toddy palm sugar plantation where they make sugar and wine by climbing up palm trees and taking the sap. They showed us the whole process and then made us a bunch of gifts of palm leaves while we drank tea. They must not get much business as they were absolutely thrilled by our meager presence and us buying a few baskets of incredibly sweet candy called jaggery that is basically like ...

... on the plains of Bagan, or on top of one of the many temples, including Canadian James and a nice Chinese girl called Pei-Ying from Beijing. Would be nice to see her again later this year in China, but this depends on het not being in Holland (!), as she works for the Chinese branch of Dutch chemical concern DSM, and me heading towards China after the 1st of May. And Bagan WAS a highlight. On the first day I ...

I got a flight this morning from Bagan to Mandalay, it was only about an hour so I got to Mandalay by lunch time. I was going to take the daily ferry from Bagan to Mandalay up the Irrawaddy which leaves at 7.00am but I was told it had been cancelled because of lack of tourists since the democracy demonstrations last year, so another flight it was. I got a taxi from the airport to a budget hotel called the ET Hotel. It was pretty unremarkable and I quickly dumped my stuff and as I ...

... that Burma is the global centre for this craft, and the Bagan region is the country's main producer. Lacquerware starts from coils of bamboo with several layers of polished and decorated black varnish. The tree which supplies the varnish is native to the region, and it has been produced in this area for two centuries. Formal schools were established in the 1920's to support the industry. Thi Ha drove us into town to the workshops and ...