Myanmar Treasure Resort Bagan

... am staying here for a couple of days). Even if it is a must-see in Myanmar, it is possible to ride alone with the occasional meeting with the flock of goats or the touts that assault you in each and every pagoda and try to sell you anything. It is the only place so far where it is possible to see a critical mass of tourists coming together, but even that, it only happens in one pagoda an at sunset where everybody gathers at the same spot to get the best views of the falling sun.

... Temples, they are all gone. After the Temple was constructed, there was an echo. In order to fix this they had to carve out niches. They contain the story of the life of the Buddha or Buddha images. Our guide also told us that Buddhists never apologize (Buddha did not). Where you are in this life (rich or poor, man or woman, healthy or ill/crippled) is because of what you did in your previous life - you get what you deserve. If you have a disfigured face, it is because ...

... have spelled names incorrectly)) We were able to find a lot from our new friends: places to go, places to spend more or less time, food to try, ice to trust (not Myanmar, but is OK in Thailand. I am going to have an iced tea as soon as we return to Bangkok!). Sarah and Catherine both loved Laos and agree that we should spend more time there. I think we are definitely going to try to do that. We stopped for the first time at 10:30. People were lined ...

... paths as well so we had to ride in and then back out again. Pavla decided to ride through some thorn bushes so she ended up with a flat tire. There were plenty of people who were willing to help us out. Later in the day, Jessica's chain broke. About six people stopped what they were doing to help us out. They tried to fix it and then when they couldn't, they took us to the bike shop down the road ...

... and had exchanged t* rec*unt, and w**e alm*st finished, when we w**e pr*dded d*wnstairs int* the "c**l**" fan equipped *ffice, t* finish *ur c*unting in m*re c*mf*rt. Jesse was n*t happy with this, but we w**e practically pushed d*wn the stairs and int* their "*ffice" t* rec*unt, and I th*ught, hell... it gives us a chance t* th*r*ughly rec*unt the m*ney in saf** c*nfines. S* the c*unt started all *v** again. I watched as a deal** c*unted *ut the kyat in tens, and handed it ...

... 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 ...

i'm in Mandalay, the reason people come here is to visit the small towns outside the city where you can enter some monasteries... as you can see on the pics there are many monks living here, the city is full of monks, they are very friendly, they approached me a few times to have a small talk or to take a pic with me:-) tomorrow i'm off to Bagan...

... was an issue in direct sunlight. We also dressed modestly, as one would in a European cathedral. Interiors were seldom elaborately decorated in Bagan's ancient structures, but a few of the Buddha images were impressive. Outside one of the temples, a group of young local men were engaged in a pick-up exhibition of the ancient national sport called "Chinlone". This means "cane ball" after the only piece of equipment needed.. The play ...