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Published: April 7th 2018
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After a two night stay in Ngwe Saung, we took the bus back to Yangon to get a night bus to Bagan. I book the bus in advance with
JJ EXPRESS, according to what I heard this is the best and comfortable bus in Myanmar, but the price is not very cheap comparing to any buses in Southeast Asia - 19 USD for a one way ticket. To make a reservation I contacted them through Facebook in messenger, they hold our tickets till we get there. A few days before our trip they sent me a message of our seat number (no advance payment is required) we collect the ticket at the bus station in Yangon and pay over there. The bus departed in Yangon at 21:00 pm.
We arrived in Bagan at 6:00 am the morning, the trip takes about 9 hour with three stops on the way. Bagan is very popular city but I'm surprised how small the bus terminal, my first impression when getting off the bus "where are we? looks like we're in a deserted city. Taxi drivers are like a leech they sticked behind your back asking where are you going?, but we
ignored them. We walked to the street hoping to find a taxi, but I see we're like in the middle of nowhere and I haven't seen taxi running on the street except those taxis driving out of bus terminal. There was a guy following us and never give up till I saw the taxi prices on the signboard and clearly stated the rates - Nyaung U 5000, New Bagan 7000, Old Bagan 8000 Kyats, our hotel is situated in New Bagan. Thus, we a good idea of how much we pay.
Our hotel is not far from bus terminal we could walk if we have no luggage, and if you know exactly where to go, the taxi might be good, besides is not that expensive. On our way to the hotel about three kilometers from the terminal we've stopped to a gate, there was a guy collecting the money of 25.000 kyat for passes. The pass is mandatory, this is a sort of entrance ticket in Bagan which gives you the freedom of exploring the ruins -- the Bagan pass is valid for a couple of days.
We arrive early in our hotel, check
- in time at
Hotel Yadanarbon is 12 pm but with a small charged of 5000 kyat we can go to our room with breakfast included. This hotel has a small swimming pool, e-bikes for rent and a restaurant. An e-bike, is like a scooter but it runs on electric - this is a popular transportation around Bagan. The temples in Bagan are spreading out all over the city, walking is impossible. Bicycle is another option getting around but not for me especially when the temperature is over 40 degree. Anyway, we found an e-bike next door whis is slightly cheaper than the one in our hotel, price for one day is 6000 kyat, so we keep the bike for two days.
We have two night stay in Bagan, more than enough to see the temples around. Apparently, some of these temples are damaged during the earthquake, so during our visit in 2017 most of the temples are in renovation. There are so much temples in Bagan from smallest to biggest temples, but we have a limited time, so we only visiting the popular ones. On our last day we went to Nyaung-U, a hippie town and
the backpackers area in Bagan. On the way we stopped at
Nan Myint Tower Bagan - entrance fee of 7000 kyat it maybe not worthwhile for the price but we wanted to go on top (viewing point) and also to have a little bit cool feeling, inside the temperature is much fresher.
Afterwards, we continue to the center in Nyaung-U, is a town with different atmosphere than where we staying (new Bagan). Nyaung-U is like Yangon full of pubs, shops, hostels and guesthouses. This is apparently a cheaper place to stay in Bagan, there are enough choices of accommodation. There are beautiful temple complex in Nyaung-U, so these really are worth checking out. Thereafter, we drove back to our hotel, it was a very long drive and the heat is horrible, we were lucky to have a pool in the hotel and we can cool off in the water for a while. And later in the afternoon going to see the sunset.
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