Hotel Class One Bagan

... there was a lot of sandy dust beside and on the road, and as the minibus was lacking air conditioning and it was freaking hot right after the bus had driven down from the hilly Shan states area, so the windows and the door had to be kept open and the dust just came inside the bus all the time, occasionally making it difficult to breath. After the bus ride for example my hair and small backpack had changed their colour to ...

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This particular Paya is unlike any of the others in the region, it has an off centre entrance and a flat top, this makes it excellent for catching sunset views, word's can't explain and you'll have to wait til I get some pictures up, truly awe inspiring stuff!

That night saw us heading back to A Little Bit of Bagan for dinner.

Our breakfast was toast, fruit bread (really good, very moist), eggs, sausage (more like hotdogs), grilled tomato, jam and honey. Today Naked lady is wearing white see-through pants.... Sigh! We packed and Bill went to the pool to enjoy his new cigar and a beer. I did a short upper body workout and had a nice long shower (in the lovely outdoor shower). Chan Chan and the driver met us at noon. We drove throught the floating gardens. We could see tomatoes, rice, gourds ...

... by the teenagers. We bought a small owl for 2000 Kyat plus a pin (then she wanted one for her sister, it never ends), a bowl for 7000 Kyat plus a pin and a larger owl from the girl who did our laundry for 2000 Kyat. Since she did not want a pin, I gave it to the other girl for her sister. We did not buy from everyone and one girl was bitterly disappointed. We had another huge spread of meat and veggies/relish for lunch at Golden ...

... yellow and red. The later paintings around the 13th century also have blue and green. Our guide also explained that Hindu figures appear in the older temples (around 11th century) as there is some influence before Theravada Buddhism was widely practiced (and still is today). If you are a good Buddhist and are pure of mind, when the next Buddha arrives you will be able to go to heaven at that time. Buddha only arrives once every 5,000 years... He also explained that ...

... Bike was my way of transport on temples. Bagan was flourishing for several centuries about a thousand years ago. It is considered the first Burmese empire. Over 4000 payas (religious monuments), mostly temples and pagodas, were built that time. Approximately a half of them are still preserved. A destructive earthquake in 1975 did its part. Therefore in some buildings you can now see brick patches as a result of reconstruction. Apart from that wealthy people keep ...

... to anyone. This keeps them from expecting something all the time. The company helps the village by constructing schools and clinics. On the second day we visited a pottery village. This is all they do here and they seem to have done fairly well at it.Although they don't expect anything from us, the children had made little birds of clay and pressed them into our hands. What a treat!

... the main street *n the third fl**r, wh**e *ur r**m was l*cated. N*t bad f*r $11/night. That v**y day, aft** a much needed nap right aft** breakfast that put us *ut til 1 in the aft**n**n, we rented s*me ancient bicycles, a la Burma, and decided t* ride *ut *n the main r*ad leading *v** t* Old Bagan, and get l*st am*ng whatev** temples we happened t* c*me acr*ss. Bagan seemed utt**ly dev*id *f t*urists, s* empty that *ur guesth*use, which sh*uld've been the m*st p*pular am ...

... waving swords at each other . The whole thing had a sort of unreal and dreamlike (or perhaps nightmarish) quality to it, which is its intention as it is a "nat ceremony, during ng this ceremony the actors will act out the 37 nats in order to appease them and bring good luck. It's somewhat hard to tell which one is which, as it's the same guy jumping around. The one that stood out was the local and unofficial kitchen nat which is apparently known for chewing with its mouth open ...

... girl at the entrance, who was about 9 years old had had her face painted with really elaborate Thannaka. Thannaka is the traditional facepaint that Burmese females of all ages tend to daub their faces with. You notice though that souveneir vendors and others in the tourist trade tend to get their prettiest young daughters decked out in very elaborate patterns usually in the shape of flowers to try and suck tourists in to buy their goods. After the temple it was back to the ...