Blogs from Bagan, Mandalay Region, Burma, Asia - page 10

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

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

Arriving anywhere at 4 in the morning is unlikely to appeal to most people, but add in the fact that the only form of transportation available is straight out of Steptoe & Son and even I was having some doubts. With our bags safely loaded onto the back of our trusty steed the second disadvantage of arriving in the middle of the night dawned on me, namely the impossibility of getting your bearings in a new town, particularly one lacking in street lights. Still, with our alternatives limited to walking around with a woefully inefficient torch, the horse and cart seemed like a good idea. It turns out that this is also the best way of visiting the sights of Bagan, as many of the roads are at least 75% sand, at least that is what ... read more

Bagan is all about the temples. Apparently there are over 4000 temples in the area - the oldest ones date back to the 9th century. The best way to explore the temples is to either hire a bicycle or a horse cart. We were happy that we took the time to do both. The horse carts were fun, and the drivers were quite knowledgeable. The bicycle rentals were a little bit hit and miss and unfortunately, Jordan’s bike ended up with a flat tire one morning. It’s interesting to note how dry it is here compared with what we saw further south. Often we’d see threatening clouds, but didn’t really get much rain. When it did rain, we were thankful for some relief from the heat as it is hotter here than anywhere else we’ve been ... read more

Bagan can be described as a place where time has stood still and life continues in much the same way as it has done for centuries, as people ebb and flow languidly in Bagan's mystical and timeless setting. Huddled around the main road was a small town where people are making errands from their nearby village, on foot, on motorbike or by traditional horse and cart. It really set back the date as we saw people sitting in small carriages holding baskets of shopping as a horse trots and pulls the people along a dusty road. The real awe-inspiring scenes are in the surrounding areas of the town. There are hundreds of ancient temples of many designs scattered across the land. After climbing some of the taller temples, we were granted the spectacular views where we ... read more