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Published: November 11th 2014
October 19, 2014
After 2+ busy days of constant motion in Mandalay it was off to stop number two: Bagan...famous for its fields of temples, was really looking forward to diving in and exploring them...
Decided on taking the "fast" slow boat from Mandalay as our means of transportation, this would mean a relaxed 9 hour journey down the Ayeyarwady River (there is also a "slow" slow boat, spoke to an Austrian couple who had taken it and it was apparently 13 hours...yikes...). After the two bustling days in Mandalay this was just what the doctor ordered; a nice leisurely cruise with nothing to do but watch the river, countryside and world float by...fantastic...
There were only about sixteen of us on the boat, which was great because that meant plenty of seating and you could move about the boat without constantly bumping into folks...they served us a small breakfast and a yummy lunch, had beer (yay!) and all in all was just a nice way to travel, highly recommend it...
About four o'clock we were approaching the jetty at Bagan, and getting our first glimpse of some of the temples looking down at us
The Fast Slow Boat to Bagan
...great day on the water...from the cliff tops...very cool! After negotiating with some taxi drivers we were off to Nyaung U, one of three areas in Bagan and what seemed like had the most to offer in hotels and especially restaurant options...again no reservations so after checking out three different spots we settled into the Yar Khin Thar hotel (less than fancy rooms but clean, biggest bonus was the beautiful pool that had just been built months earlier-and not mentioned in the guide books-which came in VERY handy after a day of temple hopping in the oppressive heat!). It was also perfectly located at the end of a street known as "Restaurant Row", again handy for all sorts of restaurants/cuisines, as well as shops and scooter rentals...
Relaxed the first night and the following day arranged a couple of EBikes to explore the temples on our own...lots of fun, they were these electric scooters that took a little bit to get used to (and I ride motorcycles) but after a temple or two we were pros...
The temples, what to say, it's hard to convey the enormity of the site and the sheer amount of temples crammed in, absolutely fantastic...had a lot
of fun bopping around on our own, stopping at whatever temple struck our fancy, getting lost and discovering other temples etc., loved it! There are two main roads in Bagan, so we decided to do the northernmost one this day, as well as the walled portion of Bagan known as Old Bagan...
Brilliant day; it was hotter than hell but the ebikes provided some breeze as we zipped from temple to temple...no idea how many we saw, but each one had its own uniqueness to it, some you could climb, some were in great shape while others crumbling, an amazing variety...after some lunch and a couple more temples we were done for the day, and in desperate need of shade...and oh yeah the pool! Ahhhhhhh....
Decided we would do the sunset temple thing the first night, so after some down time it was back on the bikes and off to...I don't remember the name, it was situated on the north road and had a sun marking on the map meaning a great sunset site, and it was...the most famous sunset spot is Shwesandaw Paya I believe, but we figured it would be crowded so opted for a secondary
The Wild One?
rockin' the ebike...not quite Brando but close...
(KC) one...still great views of the sunset, and only a dozen or so folks so plenty of room for us all...
Arranged a taxi to take us around the second day, wanted to check out the southern plains which were a bit further out of town...again fantastic, saw another whack of temples of all shapes and sizes, and I have to admit it was nice having some air con to cool down between sites...there is this awful eye-sore of an observation tower that the government built a few years ago, complete with restaurants and $10 admission charge, was pleasantly surprised we were steered away from it by our taxi driver...I'm sure the views would have been good, but you can climb enough of the temples to achieve the same thing...and man it sticks out like a sore thumb on the plain...gah...
By early afternoon we were again templed out, so back to the ranch to relax and cool down...wandered out to restaurant row and the Lovely K mentioned something about a burger she had read about in the LP, and while a burger had not crossed my mind to that point it now rocketed to "need a burger" status...so
settled in to Weather Spoon's, home of this so-called burger...holy moly it was awesome, I could not believe it...we come from the land of hamburgers (North America), and I have to say it may be the best one I have ever had...so if you need a break from fried curry and chicken, do it....
Finished off the day with a wonderful meal at La Terrasse, an Italian joint on the roof of our hotel...the Lovely K's birthday had been a couple of days before, and as I was a little curried out (and frankly love pasta) so we decided to celebrate here, mainly because there was wine! Excellent fresh pasta, great service/atmosphere and had a nice chat with the general manager Michel...so again if you're looking to mix it up a bit this place is fantastic...
Back and forth on whether we should stay an extra day in Bagan, but in the end decided it was time to move on, next stop Inle Lake...
(Some photos copyright of Karen C., denoted by (KC)...used with kind permission)
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Bagan
We enjoyed our time in Bagan but got sensory overload on all the temples. What a fantastic shot. Keep them coming.