Nyaung U - Bagan - Burma/Myanmar

May 23rd - 25th, 2016

We arrived on the overnight bus at a little after 3am at a bus station in the middle of nowhere. Our first thoughts were to gather our belongings and prepare to battle...it sometimes feels like this with the predatory taxi drivers who pounce upon you as you wearily step off the bus! As expected we were instantly approached and told that it was 8km to the town and that the standard rate was 10000mmk....the same amount we had paid for an hour's ride to the bus terminal in Yangon. Instead of arguing it I caught up with another drowsy couple and asked them what price they had been told, the same they said so we figured it best to share a taxi and each pay half...the other drivers didn't look happy. 10 minutes later, after paying the governmental entrance fee which had doubled since our guide book was written only 2 years ago, we arrived at our hostel and when the taxi driver tried to charge us double, saying that the price was for 2 people not for the taxi itself, I in no uncertain terms told him to get stuffed and paid him the 10000 already quoted. Apparently I deal with these situations quite well when I'm tired and grumpy and don't take any crap....if only I could be like that during the day we might not get ripped off so often but I can't help being the typical polite British tourist!

So after our little ordeal we were quite awake and as we were unable to check in (it was only 3.45am!) we instead hired an electric scooter for the day and set off to explore Bagan and to find a suitable temple/pagoda to climb to watch the sunrise. Riding along the quiet roads in the pre dawn stillness was wonderful and as I hadn't ridden a motorbike in several years, especially not with a pillion (Andy was on the back) I was glad of the time to get used to it again before there was any traffic or people to see me wobbling along!

We found ourselves at Shwesandaw Paya, one of the larger temples in Bagan with 5 terraces, reached by extremely steep steps, and a sharply tapered spire which was a prototype for many others both in Bagan and the rest of the country. We were by no means the only ones there and in fact it was so busy with other tourists that we could find no 'spot' on the topmost terrace and descended to the next level to watch as the dawn light slowly spread across the immeasurable plains below. Over 2000 temples, stupas and monasteries dot the vast arid lands between the Ayeyarwady River and the Shan hills, covering almost 70 square kilometres, it is a breathtaking sight to behold and one of the top 3 'must see' sights on our SE Asia itinerary. Why these thousands of structures were built, no one has been able to tell us but you can hardly imagine the days when they were new and in their glory several hundred years ago, now mostly crumbling and without the stucco on their exterior walls the exposed red brick gives a soft look that blends with the dry sandy earth that surrounds them. Our dawn was not quite as I had expected it, beautiful yes, peaceful, no...not only was there general chatter from the other tourists but you could hear music playing in one of the temples not far away and a sermon being broadcast seemingly by megaphone, shattering what I had imagined to be an almost spiritual awakening of the day. Nonetheless, I wouldn't have missed it for the world and once the sun was well and truly risen we decided it was time to start our exploration of this enormous site.

Our day was spent visiting random temples, complexes and stupas, with no pre-arranged plan we were free to drift along and stop wherever took our fancy, this approach sometimes yielding unexpected surprises such as completely deserted areas where you could take your time wandering around without being hassled, other times coming across rows of market stands selling everything from exquisite lacquerware to gaudy t-shirts with locals all trying to tempt you with offers of 'good price just for you'. So our day progressed, flitting from one place to another, investigating temples both small and large, crumbling and pristine all different in their own right, until our exhaustion called for a return to the hostel where we were able to check in and have a few hours rest.

We went out again on our little electric scooter, which had far more battery life than we had been led to believe, and headed to what we hoped would be a quieter spot than the morning's temple to watch the sunset. After trying a few places, we eventually found not quite solitude, but certainly peacefulness at a small temple which you access the heights via stairs within and a narrow walkway around the outside. Our sunset was picture perfect, a light dusting of clouds giving off wondrous reflected hues of red and gold matching the colours of the temples stretched out before us, the few other tourists were as mesmerised as we were and there was very little to disturb the tranquillity of the scene apart from one or two industrious locals who had also climbed up the temple to show off their wares. Sunset over and darkness creeping in, we were stalled in our descent by a guy selling paintings made from the sand of the river, we had seen many of these in passing but decided to humour him and have a closer look. Although beautifully done, with rich colours and fine detail, there wasn't anything that we wanted, more due to the fact that they were all unoriginal than for their quality. 95% of the paintings found here are copies, tracings from previous artworks which are then coloured in, kind of like a paint by numbers and as such, they didn't appeal to us. The few originals both in sand paint and watercolour that we've seen have been exquisite, but far too big for us to carry around and too expensive for our limited budget, we'll just have to make do with the hundreds of photo's we've taken instead!

The next day we had thought about taking a trip to far off Mount Popa, but it was very expensive to get there and really we didn't need to pay to see another temple with the vast numbers on our doorstep. The only other reason we could find for going there was the view across the plains, but as it is so far away I can't imagine you would see much especially through the haze of dust that flies around constantly in any small breeze. So instead we hired the scooter for another day and spent it pretty much the same as the previous, wandering about, stopping to look at various temples etc as our fancy dictated. Although we felt we had made a pretty good attempt already to see a variety of temples, we managed to keep finding more and more that varied slightly or significantly from the others and so had another enjoyable day. I have to admit, I equally enjoyed zipping about on the bike as I did exploring the sites and am considering whether we could hire them more often throughout the rest of our travels!

Just a quick note on the food we encountered here in Bagan as it has been particularly good...our first night we went to a vegetarian restaurant recommended by the owner of the hostel and were thoroughly delighted with the array of dishes we ordered, they had so much flavour, great textures and were so fresh we considered going back the next night. Instead we decided we wanted to try the curry they have over here and found a place off the main street where they did set meals for a ridiculously small amount of money, meaning we were able to order fresh fruit juices as well. Through slight miscommunication, we ended up with one 'set' between us but with a little extra rice, not that it mattered, there was so much food, the different dishes and side dishes just kept coming out! We enjoyed almost everything, the only exception being dried anchovies in tomato and chilli which we diligently tried, but could not begin to appreciate. The particular highlight for me was the lentils which were creamy and sweet and the chicken curry itself was rich and tasty. Besides our dinners, we also had breakfast included at our accommodation and this was by far the best we had encountered, with fresh fruit, omelette, toast and jam, as much tea or coffee as you could drink, fruit juice and each day a different traditional Burmese breakfast item, so samosas filled with pickled veg one day, then doughnut/churro type things (which tasted like Yorkshire pudding) with honey the next!