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Published: March 24th 2015
Bagan; The very reason we planted Myanmar firmly on our list of not to be missed. Tempted by the huge plain of temples that were clouded in a thick mist of dust this place oozed magic, adventure and culture and was a place we were childly excited about.
Arriving at the Bagan bus station at 4am with barely no sleep and then being harassed by taximen shouting $20 in your face was disorientating to say the least. After figuring out the distance to the town and pairing up with a French couple we managed to get the taxi ride to town for a total of $8 not before stopping at the toll to pay $20 each for the so called conservation fee. This is meant to go to the restoration of the sights, although it is widely understood that it is profited by the government.
We arrived at our guesthouse shortly after 4:30 and were delighted when we were told that our rooms may not be available until 9am onwards. Great, it was pitch black and everywhere was closed, we felt tired and dirty and in need of a shower. So what does one do?
We did what
most sane travellers do and hired an electric bike to explore the sites. Described as e-bikes we were under the impression that these were like normal bikes with a little less effort needed when peddling due to the electronic battery. However when we began our journey we found out that no peddling was required at all as these were more like mopeds than e-bikes. Great! First time using them and equipped with a useless map of the sights we set off into the darkness to find a temple to watch the sunrise. It took a bit of getting used to, especially on the dusty sandy roads which resulted in P falling over twice when stopping, along with some other clueless girl crashing into her. Luckily P escaped with only a bruise.
We arrived at the temple of our choice around 20 minutes later than planned due to no signage, an in-comprehendible map, a lot of confusion, the plan to take it slow and easy in an attempt to stay injury free and not forgetting we could not see anything in the dark. Like us, the Shwesando temple had many other like-minded travellers also seeking those sunset views. Being slightly
more crowded than we would have liked but situated well in the complex with many higher outer levels, we decided to stay put to enjoy the sunrise.
I cannot begin to describe how magical this experience was. Imagine, we could not see anything but were sat waiting for the sun to unearth views of the temples and show us what Bagan had to offer. When the sun eventually did begin to rise we were treated to the most amazing views of our surroundings. The views were purely magical; we felt like we were in a made up enchanted kingdom straight out of a storybook. Being so far from views at home or unlike anything we had seen before; this place was unreal. With a desert like red landscape, the town was dotted with green trees nestled between dusty brown bell topped stupas and temples as far as the eye could see. All engulfed within a sandy mist and the backdrop of the orange and red sunlit skies. This moment was magical, and after struggling to capture this moment with a worthy photograph we left to explore further. Not before congratulating ourselves on making this journey in the dark to
catch our first glimpse of Bagan during sunrise.
Afterwards we opted to visit other local temples including Bagan’s largest temple, the Dhammayangyi temple along with the north and south Guni temple. Bagan’s largest temple (the one mentioned above that we cannot pronounce) like many others was a dusty red brick square structure with many decorated doors and windows. In the main entrances sat huge sitting Buddha’s with many locals using this space to pray. Throughout the structure were many corridors with different side rooms or what once were exits bricked up. On the walls lay what appeared to be remnants of old wall paintings and decorations. After going round in circles we found what felt like a secret entrance to an upper floor as in a busy temple we were the only ones who appeared to have found it. In the most enclosed staircase that turned in places, with the most uneven steep broken steps this was enough to make us feel slightly claustrophobic and afraid of heights. However we successfully climbed them and were treated to amazing views framed by a small window. Next south Guni. This was another amazing temple, smaller in size with more intricately designed
towers and straight gradual staircases within, this led us to 2 upper levels also providing amazing views. We were blown away.
However as it was nearing midday we made the decision to go back to our guesthouse, check in, refuel a little before we head back out for sunset. All refreshed we checked out the Ananda temple that is described as the most beautiful temple (with many locals saying you have not visited Bagan if you have not seen the Ananda temple) along with some other smaller temples. Shortly afterwards however Chris had the most unfortunate luck as he got a flat tire on his e-bike. Not knowing nothing about bikes, he made it worse by pulling on the inner tube in an attempt to remove it so he could push the bike more easily along but in the process causing not one but 2 huge tears. Yikes. We thought that this was going to cost as we pulled it to a make shift garage who said they could not repair it. In the end we had to call the rental company to pick it up and they very kindly offered Chris an additional bike. Seemed a bit like
During our boat tour to local village
Chris likes this one as it makes him look a lot talleran upgrade too and we only paid 2000kyat/$2. Bonus, wasn't as bad as we thought after all. Phew!!!!
On the way to another temple to catch the sunset, a local stopped us and agreed to show us a more isolated temple to enjoy the views away from the crowds. Being taught from a young age not to get in cars with strangers, we questioned whether this guy had ulterior motives as he approached us but in the end we were not getting in a car (only going to a deserted temple) but trusted our instincts. He was just a friendly local trying to help some tourists out but also trying to make a few bob/money in the process with his amazing paintings. The quiet temple was just what we wanted and we were not disappointed with the temple, the sunset or our pictures. Hopefully our pictures say it all!!!
The following day our tiredness really hit hard so we decided to rest a little then take up a boat tour of the Ayrrewady river. Setting off at 1pm we got chatting easily with the other 4 in our group, consisting of 2 German women, one Austrian and a
woman from South Korea. First stop was a small cave under a temple which was very eerie in places but nothing special. Second stop, swimming on a beach....Err not quite what we expected: As the boat pulled to a stop and the boat driver stated shouted "Swimming" we all sat there in disbelief at the fact we were told to swim in the murky waters in front of us, was he crazy? Nope. Mouths sealed we all tiptoed in and kept our faces above water. In the end had some fun taking pictures and the dirty water didn't hurt at all (we hope).
Next stop a local village. This was a wonderful experience. Before we stepped off the boat we were encouraged not to offer the families money as in time they would come to expect it thus preventing the kids from going to school etc so instead giving them oranges as this is something they could not grow here. An interesting challenge of the village trip was to find the person in the photo that we were each given and then hand it to that villager. The photos were taken by previous tourists as a gesture to offer
the families something as they were not used to having photo's of themselves. At the same time we were encouraged to take photos of the people we met for future tourists. Chris had a middle aged woman, P a toddler. This allowed many wonderful moments engaging with locals. P's family invited her in and we both were treated to Chinese tea, nuts and bananas. We sat there for half an hour trying to communicate with the family about where we were from and the different traditions we had which caused many funny moments especially with the language barriers between us. However this was an amazing experience one we will not forget.
Final spot, a place we called sunset island. We spent half an hour or so in the fading sunlit skies as we enjoyed some local Mandalay beer and took some quirky photos with the group that we increasingly began to bond with.
The final day in Bagan was spent temple touring again. We agreed to hire pedal bikes this time, the cheaper and safer option with Annie the south Korean girl we met the day before. Starting at 9 we saw a mixture of bigger and small
Haduken
Think everybody ended up doing their own version after this temples and were blown away by the actual size of the place and the numerous designs, discussing what once was as we rode through.
By midday we were absolutely exhausted and instead of exploring more we spent an hour or so on the top of a secluded temple, taking in our surroundings and beautiful views. This was a lovely way to end our time in Bagan. Not before sampling some local food dishes at a restaurant. Sharing between us we ordered egg and prawn fried rice, an omelette, chicken with vermicelli noodles and sweet and sour vegetables. Delicious.
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denidax
Deni, Dax and Ella
Beautiful photos