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Published: March 29th 2006
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18th March 2006 - Bagan, Myanmar
The journey down the Ayerwaddy (Irrawaddy) River was truly magnificent. Departing Mandalay at sunrise, we were privy to the new day breaking over a land of exquisite stupas, shining gold and white in the new day light. Fishermen were out in their long boats, attending to their nets in the muddy waters of the Irrawaddy. It couldn't have been a site from 13th century but for the site of a semi-completed iron bridge across the river - the first signs of development we had seen in days.
There was as real mixture of passengers on the ferry; a package tour of French tourists, various independent travellers like us, and a smattering of first class travellers in very nice outfits. Despite this class of traveller I have to say that they had no idea how to use a boat toilet (yes, it has taken me nearly 5 weeks to actually mention the state of a toilet!!!). Compared to toilets in Thai railway stations and ferries, which were remarkably clean, I really was disappointed with the way Europeans left the toilet on this ferry. Anyway, the journey was lovely none-the-less and we arrived in Bagan
about 4pm. We clambered up a muddy bank to awaiting guesthouse touts. We had booked to stay at the New Park Hotel so we were met by a chappie from there who drove us into Nuang U. There are 3 parts to Bagan; Old Bagan, New Bagan and Nuang U. Old Bagan is the original city where many of the stupas are. However, a few years ago the surrounding village was bulldozed to make room for 5 star hotels, and all the village residents were relocated to "New Bagan" (being given just a week to move). The former is certainly not our scene, and although it would be nice to support the villagers who were "relocated" by the govt, Nuang U was more up our alley in terms of our needs - a cheap place to stay with a hot shower, and good food. The New Park satisfied the first need, with "Wonderful Tasty" around the corner providing great Nepalese curries after a hard day's cyclng.
We spent our first full day cycling round the many stupas and temples of Bagan. Some really are magnificent and these ones attract plenty of the package style tourists. It was more fun
happening upon a stupa and exploring it by ourselves. At one point, we found a stupa that we could walk up and look over the whole of Began. We were quite pleased with our discovery, and ear-marked it as one we would come back to for sunset. When we returned later, we saw that we were not the only ones with the same idea - there were another 8 or so people who had climbed up it too. However, we were still happy with our choice as we could see from our stupa another a mile or so away that had all the passengers or various tour buses heading up it!
One special wat (temple) we went to was, we think, called Saytano Paya. We walked around it but couldn't find a way in. That is until a young boy appeared and led us to an opening in the wall that we had to climb up to. Inside he showed us how the original stucco had clambered away during the 1975 earthquake. Small bats were now the main residents of the temple.
We have seen some really interesting sights on the Old Bagan Road whilst cycling from one
stupa to the next; a young lady carrying a suitcase on her head; an old lady guiding her blind husband by a long stick along the road; monks with alms chewing betel-nut. We had a bizarre visit to a stupa that was a bit off the beaten track. When we entered Steve heard someone shuffling inside. However, there was no-one to be seen. There were two sets of stairs leading up to the next level that opened to the outside. When we climbed the first set we almost collided with a huge wasps nest. So we backed away and tried the other set of stairs, only to have the same experience. So we left the stupa and as soon as we had done, the bell on the top stared to ring quite forcefully - very strange considering there wasn't any wind.......
Bagan is even hotter, dustier and drier than Mandalay. I have got quite a cough as a result so I'm drinking lots of the local lime juice with fresh ginger. By the end of the day we are caked in dry dust. We figure that on day one we have ridden nearly 30km (this is amazing for a
girl who has hardly sat on a bike since she was ten, and despite "dropping" the bike a couple of times, I think I've done pretty well!) so we feel pretty exhausted. We have one more day in Bagan before heading over to Inle Lake. We plan to get there by car - it's a 10 hour drive across rough terrain. Right now, that's not looking appealling. We have teamed up with an Italian called Gabrielle. We keep meeting him along the tracks so we asked if he was going to Inle Lake; of course he is, so we will share the cost of the car.
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