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Published: February 13th 2018
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We climbed to the top of this temples.
Amazing site from top of this temple of many others dotting the landscape When we arrived at our hotel, we weren't able to check in for a couple hours, so our taxi driver suggested he take us for a look around the town. He spoke fairly good English & was adept at promoting his service!! Bagan was like going back in time, main road was 'paved', the remainder were all sandy/dirt roads, leading to the many temples & villages dotting the landscape..........He suggested we take a balloon ride, said they were very popular in Bagan. We signed up with an Australian company, 'Baloons over Bagan', a first for both of us!
Our second day was, OH! WOW! There are over 3,000 temples spread over the Bagan plains, built between the 11th & 12th century. Despite the 2016 earthquake, which damaged several hundred temples, Bagan's majesty can't be diminished. Seeing the soaring centuries-old structures from a prime spot is dazzling! Marco Polo described Bagan as 'one of the finest sights in the world'. Each temple, pagoda (stupa) was totally amazing & it's impossible to find the words to describe the feeling of entering into these ancient, spiritual, buildings & seeing the huge Buddas & other saints, mostly all done in gold leaf with many
Figure in gold-leaf
Many of the temples had a figure in the 'four corners' of the temple locals praying in front of each one. Little history lesson: temples are structures one can walk through; Pagoda's are frequently referred to as, Stupas, are not open structures & cannot be entered. Our driver picked us up at 9:30 & dropped us off at 4 pm, I think we had seen as much as we could possibly see, with no lunch break, just snacks & lots of bottled water!
Up at 5 am for our much anticipated balloon ride, the early morning air was quite cool. We were picked up by the balloon company bus & delivered to the site. They had hot coffee, tea & biscuits for us & then we were divided into groups of 16 plus the pilot for each basket. We were given safety instructions & then the balloon was fired up & off we went into 'the wild blue yonder'! We ascended rather quickly & were warmed up by the fire leaping into the majestic, red, balloon! Balloons dotted the sky, some higher, some lower, different colors but, silently, cruising along & every now & again, the pilot would fire up & that made a loud, hissing, noise! We cruised for about one hour,
passing over several of the larger temples & then began our decent, which was very, very gradual. Our landing was a bit rough, as the wind picked up & carried the basket along. We were in our landing position, which was laying back, holding onto straps. It was not scary at all, but part of the adventure, plus our pilot had years of experience. The land crew were there, anticipating our landing & we were helped out of the basket & led to a lovely table of fresh fruit, croissants, juice & champagne! After much chatting with our balloon companions, we were back on the bus & taken to our respective hotels. This was my first balloon trip & I'd do another in a heart-beat!
While we began this day with 'over the top' balloon ride, we decided to end the day with a two hour horse & buggy ride. We had a couple stops to make, then asked our driver to take us to the river, which he did. Boats leave from Bagan to Mandalay, which we initially thought would be nice, but decided to go by bus, which was 10 hrs faster! The horse was strong &
the owner, interesting. A young man, he lived with his family & owned two horses plus a three month old colt, which he will eventually sell. He alternates his horses each day, so they get a day's rest. We clip clopped on paved roads & sandy, dirt roads, saw many more temples & villages than we hadn't seen before. It was very relaxing & it didn't take long to get use to the motion of the carriage, less so on the non-paved roads. Life in Bagan is very laid back, no big towns, only small villages; very few 'laundry' signs; no hair or nail salons; a very simplistic life & they all seem happy & content. I guarantee, if I came back in 10 yrs, the dirt/sandy roads would be gone; large hotels would replace the smaller, simpler ones; clothing stores would appear & lots of hair & nail salons would dot the towns. I feel blessed to have been here now, seen this simple life, uncomplicated people, friendly & honest, so it seems. Tomorrow we head to the Capitol, Mandalay, which I imagine to be slightly different.
Tonight, dinner at our hotel, which has been quite good each
night. Breakfast is included & it is the best! Nice assortment of Western/Eastern foods. Our bus doesn't leave until 10 am tomorrow, so we'll be able to lounge about a bit in the morning, which we'll both enjoy.
More photos if you scroll down.
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