Emerald Lake Hotel Bagan

... tourists and souvenir sellers, my Bagan was at its best when I just cycled somewhere far from the paved main roads and was completely alone and surrounded by these 800-1000 years old temples. It was so silent and peaceful there! The most popular temples by the way can be visited on the afternoon, when it’s so hot that the tourist groups are hiding somewhere. The problem is only that in Burma you have to take your ...

... at a temple that we've now learnt is called the 'McDonals Temple' because everyone goes there.<br><br>Afterwards we got dinner at a really cool restauraunt called Pyi Wa which has a 1000 year old pagoda as a neighbour and tried some Mandalay Beer which isn't quite as good as Myanmar Beer. Over dinner we met two Kiwi English Teachers that have taken a year off and have been travelling since January. One is sitting beside me right now as I write this blog! :D<br><br><br>

... until after noon. So I had to wait 4 hours patiently reading my book at the lobby. The bus taking me to Pakokku is absolutely decrepit, without A/C despite the appalling noon heat, and it is full with people and rice sacks, but I think that for the couple of hours that might take the journey it will not be completely unpleasant. The journey ends up becoming a 5-hours odyssey where we have two flat tires, we stop every half an ...

... the internet, but it was not working. The server in Yangon must be down. We went to Aroma II (Indian restaurant) for dinner. Their policy is "No good, no pay". Celestine was there to settle her tab from last night and she recommended paneer (cheese) and chicken. The chicken had no skin and no bone (very unusual). Bill had mouton. The wind kicked up a bit and we are hoping the sky clears (it did not). On our ride home I turned too soon and ...

... the hard sell. He had lowered his price from $40 to $15 because he has not sold anything for weeks (we paid no more than $8/2 the next day). Nanda Pyiri Nya (Nandamannya Pahto) dates to the mid-13th century. It is small and has beautiful frescos and a destroyed seated Buddha image. It is famous for the "Temptation of Mara" painting. Young females are trying to tempt Buddha during his meditation while on his way to enlightenment. Also at this site there is a monastery ...

... Some have great paintings dating from thousands of years ago, some have huge (5storeys) statues of Buddha. We end up seeing at least 12 temples and finish the day watching the sunset over the mountains on one of the taller temples. The Temples here are just as good as Angkor in Cambodia. Bagan is in a beautiful setting and it is definitely one of the highlights of my trip to Myanmar. We return to the village for dinner and beer.

As is*lated as Burma is and has been fr*m the *utside w*rld f*r the bett** (m*st gl*bally and techn*l*gically pr*gressive) part *f the past century, v**y few c*untries really d* require m*re pre-reading than h**e. Ov** the past week I s*mewhat quickly fished thr*ugh a th*r*ughly appr*achable, brisk, yet surprisingly c*mprehensive hist*ry *f Burma, a p**s*nal and hist*rical narrative that shed th*ught-pr*v*king light *n Burma's current p*siti*n in t*day's w*rld, and the decisi*ns ...

Bagan was a 2 day pagoda marathon. After this we never want to see another pagoda again. It was another long drive from Mandalay on bad roads. We took the short route and had to cross 3 sand streams along the way. We stopped at Mt. Popa for an hour just before Bagan. Bagan is a sea of pagodas and is very beautiful. Unfortunately, many of the pagodas ...

... the driver. The outside usually had all sorts of wreaths and incense for further protection. Judging from the roads, we could use all the help we could get We traveled on the main highway through the country. A pot-holed, two-lane, mess that was not wide enough for two large vehicles to pass each other without one moving slightly off to the right. Each public vehicle had to have a person on the left as a watcher. Why? Because the Burmese are the only ...

... built. Sadly it was only open 6 years before the British blew 2 of its spans in 1942 in the face of the advancing Japanese and it was over a decade before it was repaired. Now its been supplanted by a new Chinese built bridge which handles most of the traffic, but its still an impressive piece of early twentieth century construction when seen from half a mile downriver. Sadly it was now too late in the day to visit any of the old royal capitals of Burma which litter this area ...