Blogs from Bagan, Mandalay Region, Burma, Asia
Monks and Pagodas and Temples, Oh Myanmar!
Published: May 3rd 2012Asia » Burma » Mandalay Region » Bagan
May 3rd 2012
Bagan Bagan was once the capital of a great civilization dating from 849 AD to 1287, when it was believed to have been destroyed by Kublai Khan’s Mongol army. At its height, it was a mighty city, as is evidenced by the THOUSANDS of archaeological sites still remaining. Over 2 000 temples dot the plains by the banks of the river Ayeyarwady. There is an old and new Bagan. Old Bagan is the former site of the village that moved to 2 miles south to the New Bagan in 1990. The government forced the villagers to relocate due to “treasure hunting” around the ruins during the 1988 street protests when the authourities attentions were distracted by the unrest. Between the two is Myinkaba, a village renowned for its lacquer ware tradition. The two towns are connected ... read more
Mandalay to Bagan - Boattrip (schnichla)
Published: April 12th 2012Asia » Burma » Mandalay Region » Bagan
March 20th 2012
So next chapter of travelling!!! Happy to get away from Hsipaw we went to Mandalay again, stayed one more night there just to recover - Mandalay was also not the cleanest city - to catch the local slow boat to Bagan. That was a nice experience, sitting on top of a quite big boat with all the locals together on the floor. The first time fresh air because we drove along the Iradawady river, a mighty stream in Burma. We passed bathing kids, farmers with oxcarts, loads of teakwoodtrading ships and loads of piles of teakwood along the river - and not to forget, lots of stupas everywhere - Burma, definetly the land of stupas!! My motto for the country - stop building stupas - plant trees!!! After 13 hours on the boat we arrived in ... read more
March 9th 2012
Friday 9 March 2012. Our early morning call from reception came at exactly 4.45 am. We showered, dressed and went to reception where our car was waiting. We were handed a plastic box of rather dubious looking fayre (our breakfast) by the hotel receptionist on the way out. The drive to the airport took 3 minutes. Yangon domestic terminal was modern, clean and air-conditioned. We checked in and were given little yellow stickers decorated with some kind of bird (Asian Wings Airways) and two boarding passes with seat numbers. The plane was on time but it was like going back in time once onboard. The air hostesses (sorry cabin crew) were beautifully turned out in shocking pink uniforms. We were given a free drink from the trolly, and later, a breakfast of pastries followed by a ... read more
February 19th 2012
The main objective of our visit to Myanmar is BAGAN. Of more than 4000 Pagodas, now remaining about 2000. The people are lovely, you always feel safe under any condition. Tourists are not allowed to drive motorbike and no motorbike driver takes tourist. You either take public bus ( there is none after 5PM) or bicycle or the best for us horse carts. We enjoyed the pagoda area two days and had the sun set at a pagoda near the river Ayayewaddy. The second day the sun set at the pagoda side. We also visitedMyin Ka Par village near Bagan to lacquerware works. The last day we went to Golf Resort and spent the whole day there swimming in their pool. Tomorrow we are leaving this impressive town for Thazi via Meiktila. The next day we ... read more
February 10th 2012
After what has seemed like months of successive, agonisingly long journeys which have taken us from A to B on our travels, we opted for the less scenic, but certainly more manageable six hour bus ride from Mandalay to the town of Nyuang U in Bagan. Originally, our plan was to taken the government owned and operated slow boat down the Ayeyarwaddy River to Nyuang U. However, in this instance we simply did not in any way desire the 5am start nor the fifteen hour travel time. I could have fabricated a falsehood at this juncture, painting ourselves as democracy demanding crusaders who would not allow a penny of our hard earned money to fall into the pockets of the tyrannical military Burmese government, thereby giving them the proverbial middle finger – but we all know ... read more
February 10th 2012
J'ai fait le chemin a renvers en retraversant les 3 montagnes et vallées sur le chemin en zig-zags serrés, j'ai dormi une nuit a Mandalay et j'ai visité le palais royal (assez décevant a l'intérieur, un tas de constructions en bois, rien de spectaculaire, c'est beau l'extérieur le carré entouré d'une fossé remplie d'eau, comme j'avais dis plus tôt). Le lendemain je suis partie pour Bagan. En Birmanie on a un petit déjeuner inclus partout mais quand on part tôt le matin, avant 7 h, on nous prépare une boite de breakfast et le bus vient nous chercher!!! Est-ce que ce n'est pas beau? Du vrai service! (dans la chambre on a toujours du savon, shampoing ET une brosse a dents avec une mini-dentifrice) La route de Mandalay a Bagan a commencé en beauté, sur une ... read more
February 3rd 2012
Once you have seen one temple, you’ve seen ‘em all right? WRONG. Bagan is famous for the ridiculous number of temples which dot the landscape in the most haphazard of ways. It’s almost as if a bloke with a bit of money came along, found a bit of land and built a pagoda, a huge temple or a stupa. A bit like Pokemon fads or even pogs (remember them? I was King of the pogs at school obliterating entire piles of them with my home made keeney) they come with a rush, one day one person has them and then before you know it, everyone is exchanging pokemon cards or fighting for them. Bagan reminds me of one of those fads, once one pagoda or stupa was built others decided to jump on the band ... read more
January 27th 2012
Leaving Mandalay, I opted for the slow ferry heading to Bagan. With a 5:30 am departure, it was only $10. The ride should have been between eleven and fifteen hours, though it slowly turned into seventeen hour cruise down river. Lined with Burmese families, they spread themselves across the floorboards laying on their mats. Families huddled together draped in their handmade blankets to stay warm. I wasn't expecting Myanmar to be this cold. Roosters crowed and the sun beganto rise as we slowly pulled out of the dock leaving Mandalay behind. As the morning progressed I could see the families were very interested in the handful of foreigners along for the ride. The people I met were kind and generous. Sure, some of them wanted to sell me blankets, and food, but how else would they ... read more
January 23rd 2012
Chan arrived this morning with a well running Town Ace! We weren't sure how much sleep he got but the vehicle sounded much better! We headed towards Bagan but first made a detour to Mt. Popa. Mt. Popa is an old volcano. We hiked up Popa Taung Kalat, a 2400 foot volcanic plug with a buddhist monastery and the home to 37 nats (spirits) on top: 777 steps and a lot of monkey scares later, we made it! After climbing back down Chan took us shopping for some fruit (4 papayas for 1000 kyat, or $1.25) and then we headed towards Bagan. Bagan is an OLD city. From the 9th to the 13th century is was the capital of the Kingdom of Pagan. During this time over 10 000 Buddhist monasteries, pagodas, and temples were built ... read more
January 10th 2012
Enjoying our last day in Bkk, Ed is watching the BCS championship game, (Go BAMA), and I post the final blog for this trip. Bagan was amazing with more than 4000 temples in @ 26 sq mile area. We spent 3 days exploring. The variety of temples in various stages of ages, most were originally built between 900-1200 AD. After Bagan we enjoyed 5 lovely days on a beach in S Thailand. Tomorrow at 6am we board the plane back to Boise. . It was a great trip!!... read more
