NK Betelnut Hotel Bagan

... no money.&#8221; Announcing we were from Wales drew blank looks, while Scotland is universally recognised as being near England. The men of Bagan can be divided into three groups &#8211; ox driving farmers, donkey cart renting uncles and everyone else is an artist, although we never saw anyone paint a single image, and every painting looks exactly the same. <br><br>Hawkers aside, Bagan was absolutely magical. We cycled around on dirt paths, accompanied by ...

Si algun dia teniu ganes de veure pagodes, oblideu-vos de les que hi ha a Bangkok a Yangon o a la resta del sud-est asiatic (amb l'excepcio de Luang Prabang) i enfileu cap a Bagan, a on la febre constructora de pagodes que es va desenvolupar entre els segles X i XIII no te comparacio. Mira que a hores d'ara ja en tinc vistes unes quantes i no m'hauria de sorprendre gaire ja que hi ha poca cosa que es pugui dir, des del punt de vista arquitectonic, amb una pagoda. La forma es bastant ...

... were entranced by the stickers we gave them. During the one hour ride back to HeHo airport we saw farmers, labourers, construction workers, large trucks, bicycles and motorbikes (very few helmets). Our driver was a bit timid, but we survived the traffic and the winding roads. It took us five minutes to check in to our flight and go through security. We had to wait 1 1/2 hours for the flight. The plane was a bit older (they all have been), but it stayed in the air ...

... and then "nooo". One girl said "nooo" back. I was not impressed and reminded her that mocking me was not going to make me buy anything. They are also asking for Canadian pins because I gave one to one of the girls yesterday... Nan Paya was damaged by the earthquake. It is supported with steel posts. The carvings here are in the sandstone bricks. There are two figures with lotus flowers that look Hindu. They are ogre like, four-headed creatures with lotus flowers coming ...

... Empire impresses me with their vivid, colourful murals on the walls inside some temples and building of numerous temples across the plains of Bagan. Amongst the numerous temples, I'm most impressed with the murals of Ananda Ok Kyang that display such rich reds, greens and blues of intricate drawings portraying the everyday lives of Burmese, their mythical gods and Buddhism. It's a pity no picture-taking of the interior of the temple is ...

... etc) *f the c*l*nial days, Burmese f*r all they're w*rth, but their h**itage apparent the instant y*u n*tice green eyes *r an elevated n*se bridge *n a face *th**wise Asian. Aside fr*m the *bvi*us int**mixing that results fr*m cr*ss-b*rd** migrati*ns (and Burma, being b*rd**ed by five quite diff**ent nati*ns, is a natural melting p*t f*r migrants fr*m all), Burma is h*me t* a large numb** *f ethnic min*rity gr*ups- Shan, Kachin, Chin, Karen, M*n, Rakhaing, Kayah. With ...

... important as there are 5000 of them! Brenda and George's never-ending travel energy and penchant for creating full schedules originally had us visiting most of them but we cut it down (just kidding). Actually we visited a bunch of them, I'm guessing twenty including: (note this spelling is purely but partially phonetic and would bare no resemblance to what would be in a guidebook or what anyone knowledgeable would write): nat long john - one of the very oldest temples from the tenth ...

... 6) for half a day. I could not believe how few tourists were here. There are over 2500 temples in an area the size of Manhattan, one of the wonders of Asia, and one of the best sites we saw throughout our travels. We spotted maybe 25 tourists that first day. At half of the temples we were by ourselves, or with a local artist selling his sand paintings or sculptures. By this time, even with the low prices, Amy and I were sticking to a strict budget and ...

... survives on the pot-holed roads and regularly grinds to a halt in dusty dry ground when I try to push it through the dirt-paths to some of the more out-of-the-way temples. But this approach is worth it - at times it feels as though I'm the first person in a millennia to enter these pagodas, many appearing untouched, still decorated inside with the thousand-year-old wall-paintings depicting famous moments in the life of Buddha ...

Knowing we would be arriving late, Thi Ha had phoned ahead and reserved rooms at what turned out to be a lovely oasis called the Kaday Aung Hotel in New Bagan. At $20 per night, Thi Ha negotiated very well for us. The pool was lovely, although we never got a chance to try it. Dinner that first night featured a traditional puppet show. These cultural presentations seldom ring my bell, and this was typical. The breakfast buffet offered ...