Thande Bagan

... day we rented bikes and went riding everywhere and just got lost in the endless landscape of temples, mountains and farmland. Bagan is a must see for anyone thinking of going to Myanmar. Also to anyone planning on going there spend as little time as possible in Yangon. I plan on going back and doing some trekking in Northern Myanmar some day. <br> <br>So now it's back to work...but not ...

So we arrived in Bagan completely wiped out after the bus journey from hell and we checked in, showered and fell into bed for a refreshing, clean, comfortable, peaceful and cool sleep. The intermittent air-con, thank god, was working at that time of the morning. That after noon we rented bikes - expensive at 500 Kyat each (50c American) and cycled to a few of the surrounding temples. Every few yards we passed ...

... killed someone by hitting their face. I don't think I like that very much. I like the way that Jesus was forgiving and healed the sick... It was getting late and we asked if we could be taken to Naung U instead of the hotel. We are going to try to meet Sarah and Catherine at 6:30. The driver's other brother brought us a fresh horse and cart, so ours could have the evening off. We went to New Park and no one was there, but the manager directed us to our rooms, so we ...

... she was swaying back and forth the entire time. She showed me the video, it was ridiculous! We met some folks from different parts of the world: Florence and Jerome from Dijon, France, they are on a vacation; Ronald and Khun (from above) are from Holland, Ronald has been a student in Bangkok; Sarah from England has been traveling for 16 months; Celestine is from France; Catherine from Ottawa/Victoria who had been teaching in New Zealand! ((Sorry if ...

... pri*r t* c*ming h**e, I was a little w*rried ab*ut the 16-18 h*ur bus trip t* Bagan. All the w*rrying was t* be f*r naught, h*wev**, as *ur sm**th, air-c*nned bus (which we didn't end up needing, aft** all, f*r the c*nsid**able dip the temp**atures t**k at s*me unkn*wn p*int in between Yang*n and Bagan) pulled int* the bus stati*n at Nyaung U at 7 am, p**fectly *n time, and with*ut a single breakd*wn. We had a feeling we'd still g*tten had *n the ticket prices, having paid 18 ...

... home of the original most famous 37 nat statues gathered by one of the ancient kings in a clever attempt at converting nat worshipers to Buddhists that seems to have worked here as this country is very Buddhist (although they still like their nats - we even gave some cigarette offerings to two big ass nats). As mentioned before, with some 5000 recorded temples, this place is really amazing. Between the four of us we've been to most of the major ruins in the world and in terms of ...

Ah.....we finally made it to Bagan. And the first thing I noticed was it was just as hot and dusty here as it was in Pakokku. Damn! We mostly puttered about on our arrival day as it was really hot and we hadn't slept that much the night before. We were feeling pretty lucky though as the electricity worked for most of the day which meant we had air-con for a change. (The government really is sporadic as to when it allows electricity to flow) Day two we tootled about the town a bit ...

What a place - one of our highlights of the Burma leg. Most travellers come here by boat from Mandalay, but given the very few tourists around, its pretty infrequent. So, we thought we'd mix it up a bit and go by.....local bus. Shocking road, but ...

... 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 ...