Bagan, Myanmar

Bagan

Luke's favourite pagoda

Where to Bagan… After an overnight bus from Yangon we arrived in Bagan. In Myanmar everyone recommends to take JJ buses. We have heard that they are fantastic but also much more expensive than other VIP buses. Instead we took a bus through the company Bagan Min Thar for 15 AUD pp instead of 25 AUD pp with JJ's. In terms of comfort we were stoked. The chairs reclined down well, we were given free tooth brushes and water and unlike JJ's (who play loud Chinese throughout the night) our company did nothing of the sort. Once we arrived in Bagan (at 5am might I add), like usual, we were harassed by taxi drivers as soon as we got off the bus. Unfortunately the early morning didn't deter them like I was hoping. 

Once we made our way through the craziness we ended up finding a taxi driver to take us to our accomodation in New Bagan. We split this taxi with some friends we met from meditation, which cost 2 AUD pp. As usual taxis can charge what they like when you are coming from the bus station into a new town so these are generally the most expensive rides you will have in a town. On our way to accomodation foreigners have to pay the government 25 AUD per person to visit the pagodas which is valid for 3 days. After we said goodbye to the 50 AUD for the fee (equivalent to our daily budget over here) we arrived at SNS guest house and were able to check in immediately, which was a God send after such a long trip. It is a locally owned business and the family is so welcoming and accomodating. I can not recommend staying there enough. Also the breakfast is included and off the charts delicious. 

Pagoda in New Bagan with some clever photography..
I managed to miss the power lines and road directly behind

Once we settled into our room and did some much needed washing I had a four hour nap (guess I was tired after 10 days of 4am starts at the meditation course) whilst Luke went out and explored the local markets. Here you can get fruit, meat (majority ridden with maggots), but also watch many local woman making a variety of clothing apparel. When I finally woke up we went for a stroll around where we were staying in New Bagan, there are multiple pagodas spread throughout the town but probably the least spectacular as there are cars driving past, advertisements, and powerlines connected to them which takes away some of the old beauty of the place. We also visited another golden pagoda (they are everywhere in Myanmar). This was a different experience though with multiple Burmese teenagers coming up to us and wanting photos. They didn’t just want photos they had to be touching us. You can see in the photo of Luke the girls clinging to his arms and pulling his shirt. It was completely harmless and they were all smiles. 

Luke with his new girlfriends

The following day we hired an e-bike (an electric scooter). These are found all throughout Bagan and cost us 6 AUD to hire for the day. They get up to a speed of 45km/hr but it really wasn't necessary to go any faster. It was actually refreshing because it gave us more time to enjoy the sites and hear each other talk. 

Much needed bull bar on our scooter

Old Bagan is a very special place. There are pagodas everywhere you look. Some small and some huge. They are spread out throughout fields and are beautiful to see. It is nice unlike other tourist sites like the Colosseum in Rome or Angkor Wat in Cambodia because the pagodas are spread out you can easily enjoy a pagoda all to yourself without any other tourists. Unfortunately the rule of no climbing on the pagodas was put in place before we arrived in Bagan. Although, this is probably a good thing due to safety risks, and I guess it's important to maintain structures that are hundreds to thousands of years old. We did get multiple locals coming up to us trying to take us to some “secret” pagodas with "no police" that you can climb on but Luke and I being rule breakers abiders we said no. But for those who really want to climb on them there is definitely a way to do so.

Internal painting in pagoda below

Pagoda

Another pagoda

One of the more popular pagodas with markets around the outside

Riding on dirt roads from pagoda to pagoda was one of the highlights of our trip so far. It gave us such a sense of freedom and appreciation of history. If you go to Myanmar you have to go to Bagan. Our second favourite thing in Myanmar would have to be how much the locals sing, and if they see you they will smile and start singing louder, it's so innocent and enjoyable.

From Bagan we are off to Mandalay the second largest city in Myanmar.

With love,

Claire and Luke (Luke was watching the boats go by as I wrote this so he counts as a co-author too right?)

Fortunately (or unfortunately for Luke) there were no women washing themselves in the river at the time of taking this photo unlike every other time we sat here