After a poor night sleep on an overnight bus, we arrived in Bagan at 4am instead of the anticipated 6 am (early arrival? This place is so strange, in a good way). Disoriented and disheveled, we were offered horse and buggy rides to guesthouses in town, but luckily two other tourists informed us that town was a mere 500 meters from the bus station. So we strapped on our packs and set off on the inevitable search for a place to rest our heads at night. After too much walking in un-Godly heat (fyi: profuse sweating at 5am is a red flag for unbearably hot afternoons) we decided to stay at Schwe-nadii Guesthouse. Rooms weren't ready, so to kill time guesthouse "staff" suggested we get ourselves a view of the sunrise via a seat on top of a particular temple we'd need a horse and buggy ride to get to. The price was unnecessarily high so we said we just wanted to stay close and suddenly there was a spectacular sunrise temple nearby. This was our introduction to the awesomely sassy Mao-Ba, who didn't work there but somehow ran the show and was always good for a deal.
Taking Mao-Ba up on his second, more reasonable suggestion, we went to a small, nearby temple for the sunrise. It was so small we couldn't find the stairway entrance, when a woman showed us the way to our first taste of climbing these ancient ruins. As I slowly ran my fingertips along the old, stone walls and hunched over to fit through the narrow, steep stairwells that led to the break of daylight, I felt alive. At the top, taken breath and all, I couldn't get over the vastness of it all; we were mi-nute beings amongst thousands of ruins reigning in on history dating back thousands of years. Additionally pleasing was that we were alone with the exception of one tranquil monk and a few of his dogs. At that moment, I felt more at peace than ever before.
This was the first of many awe-struck moments over the course of 2 days in Bagan. I was consistently taken away by stories told by the temples, leaving in me an invaluable appreciation and respect for its history, beliefs and those who built it. The only somewhat comparable world wonder that I have seen, and loved, was the beyond impressive Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Yet, Bagan was more special to me simply because I felt something more special....one of those gut intuitions that are inexplainable.
Afterwards, we visited Schwezagon Temple - large, in charge and made of gold, similar to Schwedagon Pagoda in Yangon however much less known and "important". Yet to me, Schwezagon was far more beautiful and provided a such serenity that its counterpart lacked. We were the only folks there, alongside some beautiful birds that made for some fantastic photography, another contrast to the busy Schwedagon. It kind of felt as though this temple was there solely for us...maybe that's why I liked it so much.
Once rooms were ready, naps were calling. We eventually got ourselves motivated to venture out in the afternoon and see some temples, via bike. For fuel, we hit up a tea house for Shan noodles and bean salad, staples I'd begun to get used to, where we scored some unexpected entertainment. We named him Whippersnapper, a 12 year old boy that was the typical young and adorable tea house server, but he was extra special. He would lean his arm on the table, bend over and get close. Then he'd look at you with his scrumcious smiling face, seemingly sweet, and after each item ordered he'd stand up straight, face in the air and scream out the order for the food preparer to get busy. Then he'd lean back on the table, smile and say "ok" as in, "what's next?". He had an efficient system and it was super cute to boot.
Full bellied and ready to go, we set out on day one of temple sighting and well, what a day. It was a never-ending plain of greying black and white temples and red-bricked ruins at every head swivel - simply spectacular. Excited for and impressed by each one, we stopped at most and amongst the favorites were ones we could climb. The best things in life must be earned, and I appreciate something that makes me work to experience its unique beauty. The first temple of the afternoon was also a little "shop" to a nice man selling paintings. I bought one I really liked but did so largely because I liked him. I thought the art was unique, but as the day went on I learned that many temples were host to sellers selling tourist stuff, many of them painters! Maybe not as unique as I thought, oh well!
Bagan is most known for sunsets over looking the temples, and based on what I've said I'm sure you can imagine that the best view is at the top. The first night we climbed Schwezadawn Temple (lots of Schwez-ie type words going on, I know), the most popular sunset location. An over ridden with tourists, yet pleasant spot, Paul enjoyed the sunset by photographing it and chatting with people he'd met previously on his travels (the world gets smaller and smaller) and Marj and I enjoyed it while chatting about how lucky we were. After an afternoon of biking and temple sighting we felt we had earned a dinner splurge and found ourselves eating Nepalese later that night at a place called Wonderful Tasty. And that it was.
Determined to check the big temples off our list, the second day we set out at 5am to beat the excruciating heat. After getting lost in the temples, Paul and I settled in at one of them just in time for sunrise, while Marj hung back to take her notes. Many of the temples look similar making it hard to distinguish between all of them. Paul was certain that the temple was one we had climbed the day before and I was certain it was not. I supported my opinion to the max, as we all should, and I ended up being wrong. This is not something I brag about, but just to give you an idea of how many there are and how impossible to see them all!
In preparation for a full day biking temple to temple, we parked in a tea house for a carby Burmese breakfast of fried dough and fried samosas. While we are on food, I'll share lunch as well. A lovely lady Marj and I met traveling in northern Thailand had recommended a vegetarian restaurant named, "Be kind to animals the moon".....I can't make these names up guys. We randomly stumbled upon it while my stomach was yelling sassy things at me to eat. Of course there was excitement at the realization that it was the place recommended by Jenny and once we settled down and ordered (FYI: the tomato curry was off the chain!) we saw a veggie restaurant across the street with a sign that read "Lonely Planet doesn't talk about us yet, but lovely people do, be kind to animals the sun" (the "sun" part, I may have made up). We felt so bad - if time permitted we would have liked to give them a fair chance, but not possible. If you ever get to Bagan, please check it out and let me know how it was!
Food diversion complete, now back to temples. Each temple's existence came with a unique story, often involving Kings. One provided us with a little story of our own, with goats instead. We originally thought the goats were friendly and looking for food, but soon learned that daddy goat simply didn't want us in there and expressed this by butting his horns into Paul, consistently, until we left. He even followed us to the temple "lobby" where we were waiting out a short rainfall, and butted Paul until we exited the temple completely. I think daddy goat may have been the King of our story!
Interested, while slightly uncomfortable, this led us to a local Burmese family living outside the temple who provided us shelter under a tree near their hut (they welcomed us into the hut, but it was so tiny I have no idea how we would've fit). What to do whilst hanging out in the rain with people you can't verbally communicate with? Pictures, lots of pictures. We thanked them for shoo-ing the goats away and carried on, once again getting slightly lost on the dirt turned mud roads, as we chased a sunset at Baludi Temple. This is not a well known temple which meant few tourists. Paul went on ahead, while Marj and I made it to a nearby temple that offered a great view and a "free" tour guide. The guide was a 13 year old girl who did give a great tour as we brick-climbed the outside of the ruins, barefoot. Brick by brick, she guided me up rather than a plummet to my death, and shared a bit of her life. She spoke great English, is number 1 in her class and aspires to be a doctor - she gives free tours and sells post cards for now, to help her family get by.
It was an active, fun-filled yet exhausting day and we were ready for bed - Marj didn't even make it out for dinner! We had learned by this point that while electricity in Burma exists, it comes and goes as it pleases, and well, it pleases to go often! It had been so hot since our arrival in Burma that we had splurged on rooms with A/C, but the splurges had proven unworthy when electricity went out constantly. An entire night with not even a fan equals schweaty mess - although I had a few nights like that during my service in Thailand, it never gets easier. But Schwena-dii knew how to entice people with A/C including a generator for night time emergencies....thank you Mao-Ba! We all slept very well that night :)
With an extra day in the area, we decided to spend it in Pakoku, a town about 30 km away which had been recommended by a cool German traveler, Max, whom we met in Yangon. We respected his travel style so trusted his opinion and it just happened to be the weekend of a religious festival. The actual holiday was the following day, leaving us to pre-celebrations. Similar to Thailand, there was a lot of food, markets of clothes and gadgets and a few sketchy looking rides, all surrounding a temple that was heavy on the glittery decor, full of people making merit.
We came aross a booth proudly supporting the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, an opposing party of the current government. I was both surprised and impressed with the boldness of this booth, as a few years ago the people manning it would have been arrested and held as political prisoners. It was a sign of change and a freedom of expression, something the Burmese have been denied for a long time. I bought a t-shirt of Aunty and as we left, one of the booth-manners scurried after us with a little extra something sporting the NLD logo. When I said I didn't want to buy anything else, he looked surprised and said he was giving it as a present. Nicest.people.ever.
While strolling along, Paul spotted a pirate ship ride and immediately exclaimed "we have to go on that!" I love rides, so I was all "yeah, let's do it". Right. So we get in and there is no security belt while six Burmese teenagers manually rocked the ship to get it swinging. Eventually a machine kicked in that made enough noise to wake up the dead but gave the guys a break to leisurely sit on the boats edge and flirt with the girls behind us. Across from us, sat a 2 year old on his moms lap and didn't blink an eye. All this while my stomach jumped around and I thought we were sure to fall out!
We spent the rest of the day checking out a monastery, temples and a market where fruit was weighed via an traditional scale. Back in Bagan, we had time to catch one more sunset at Baludi, easily the most gorgeous one I'd seen there. We had an easy night and were up early the next day to move on to the next destination, Kalaw. Sad to leave Bagan, I felt blessed for the opportunity to experience its beauty of many levels, and excited for the next adventure.
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