To reach Bagan it required Chris and I to first go back to Mandalay. Unfortunately the bus times never seem to be in our favour and we found ourselves waiting on the corner of the main dusty road passing through Hsipaw at 5.20am. Thankfully the bus was pretty much on time and we embarked on a six hour bumpy windy journey to Mandalay.
Unlike last time, we actually arrived in Mandalay in the day light and therefore making it easier for us to haggle hard for a taxi to take us across the city. We returned to the same hotel as before, 'Royal Yadanarbon' as it was good value for money.
We dropped our bags and rented bicycles again as they are a cheap easy way of getting around the city. Our first priority was to purchase the boat ticket to Mandalay for the next day. We cycled our way along the bumpy uneven roads, trying not to breathe in too much dust, and found our way to the government boat head office. It was easy enough to purchase two tickets for the local boat to Bagan for the following day. It cost us $15 each and would take 15-17hours! However the tourist boat was a ridiculous $45, so we convinced ourselves that a day on a boat interacting with the locals would be an experience, it wasn't just about reaching Bagan, but enjoying the scenery and mingling with the locals.
Coincidently, just across the road was a highly rated family run eatery serving Shan food. We both ordered dry noodles dishes which differed in content and flavour but were both delicious. We both agreed that the food here was one of our favourite dishes during our time in Myanmar so far. The owner of 'Simplicity' was a well-travelled local man who was very pleasant to talk with and even gave us a parting gift, some metal chopsticks, which we had been trying to find for a long time now.
I was in need of a caffeine hit and had located a decent coffee shop nearby. We caught up with some 'admin' and ended up chilling there for a couple of hours. Before we knew it it was early evening so we cycled back to the hotel to freshen up before going out for dinner. We had been recommended a restaurant to visit but it was a couple of kilometres away. I wasn't feeling too great so wasn't keen to cycle, and a taxi was expensive. We decided to start walking in the right direction and see if we could find a trishaw or a motorbike taxi. Thankfully a motorbike taxi hunted us down and after some hard haggling we both squeezed onto the back of his motorbike and were taken to 'Aye Myit Thar'. I think the restaurant was a little shocked to see two westerners jump off the back of a motorbike taxi but they laughed, clearly finding it amusing. Aye Myit Thar served Myanmar food which is always a spread of small dishes. First you order a choice of meat curry and then you are served several small dishes of various vegetables in different sauces, lentil soup, dips, raw vegetables and of course plenty of rice. The food was good, very oily but that tends to go with the Myanmar food. However it was all served so quickly that we both felt pressured into eating quickly as well. We left feeling well and truly stuffed and just about managed to squeeze onto the back of another motorbike taxi back to hotel.
Another early morning wasn't going to hurt us....we were up and out by 5am. We had been organised and pre booked a taxi however he decided his bed was too good to get out of, leaving us a bit stranded. Luckily two guys from the hotel offered to take us on their motorbikes. It was a dark and cold ride to reach the boat, my eyes even started watering from the cold. We boarded the local boat along with a vast amount of cargo and a lot more tourists than we expected. There was a very strange set up on the boat, whereby the foreigners were all sat on small plastic deck chairs towards the front of the boat, facing out to the water, and the locals were all sat on the floor around the edges of the remaining space. One of our main reasons for taking the local boat was to be able to interact with the locals so we went and found a small spot on the floor amongst the locals. One kind lady offered us a mixture of empty rice sacks and plastic lining to sit on. We plonked ourselves down and set up camp for the day receiving several welcoming smiles. Both of us had worn our longyis to try and fit in a little more.
Soon after we set off the sun began to rise. Unintentionally we were sat on the side of the boat overlooking the sun rising above the Irrawaddy River. We purchased some rice and fried egg from the on-board caterer and enjoyed eating our breakfast with views over the rural riverside.
To our left was a family with three young children and grandma, who had extremely bad and red stained teeth from chewing too much betel nut. Opposite us was a couple of friends packaging and carrying out a stock check of longyis. The caterer also had her family with her, we thought perhaps they lived on the boat. Her young children were also providing entertainment running up and down the aisle, stuffing their breakfast into their mouths but managing to get most of it stuck to their faces or on the floor surrounding them.
It was a long day to say the least. I had a couple of snoozes, we both managed to write a lot of blog entries, and we snacked on various goodies being sold by hawkers at each stop. Passengers disembarked at their various stops and it was mainly the foreigners who seemed to be on from start to finish. We made a couple of long stops along the way in order for the cargo to be unloaded. At one point a large dining table, several chairs, and even a cabinet were thrown overboard for villagers to retrieve.
Sunset came and went and soon we were back wrapped up with our coats on. The last few hours really dragged, we had gotten past the point of enjoying the journey and just really wanted to be there.
Chris had called the hotel to arrange a collection but when we finally arrived in Nyaung U they were not there. Sixteen hours of travelling, what was another 10/15 minutes wait? Or so we were told. It actually turned out to be a half an hour wait and in that time we could have just jumped in a taxi and been there already. We eventually arrived at 'Shwe Poe Eain' in New Bagan just before 10pm. After a very long day travelling we were then not impressed to find we had been placed in a twin room. We plonked our bags down and hoped to find somewhere for a quick bite to eat. Thankfully there was a small restaurant able to cook us up some fried noodles before we went to bed.
After several early mornings in a row it was delightful to not have to set an alarm and wake up naturally. Although our body clocks were now set at a fairly early time so we were still up and at breakfast by 8am. Bagan comprises of Nyaung U, Old Bagan, and New Bagan, covering an area of 40sq mi. Taking 230 years to build a grand city of over 4,000 Buddhist temples, Bagan’s kings commissioned this empire back in 1287. However only 2,200 temples remain to explore, and this was not an area we were willing to tackle by foot. We decided to try out the e-bikes, since firstly they were something new for us, secondly we could cover a lot more ground versus cycling, and thirdly we had heard the terrain could be quite sandy in parts and the e-bikes can scoot through. We hired one each, I opted for the e-bike with peddles, whereas Chris opted for a slightly more powerful and bigger e-bike (similar to a moped). We decided, with three days to explore the temples that we would start with the main and most popular ones and take our time.
We took a sandy track off of the main road in order to find one of the most iconic temples, but we couldn't help stop to climb an un-named temple to catch a glimpse of the area from up above. It was incredible to be able to climb the ruins with no one else around, no barriers, no warning signs, just your own instinct. Although it was not particularly high, it was high enough to appreciate the scale of the area. We were both in awe. The Bagan area was like nowhere we had been before. It was magnificent, and straight away became the highlight of our trip to Myanmar. From this small temple we could see 'Shwesandaw', one of the most iconic temples in Bagan due to its height and ability to climb to the top. We purchased the $20 area pass (valid for five days from use) and climbed to the top of the temple. The views were astonishing. It really provided us an appreciation of the scale of the Bagan area. Temples as far as the eye could see and in all directions. Between the 11th and 13th centuries, over 10,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries were constructed in the Bagan plains alone. After recovering from the overwhelming beauty of Bagan, we were shown to a hidden sleeping Buddha. Unlike most of the other reclining Buddhas we have seen, this was in its ancient state and not painted gold with other colourful decorations. The ruins remained for visitors to observe up close. It was a wonderful find.
There are a few modern, renovated temples scattered around the area. 'Ananda' was a pristine glistening white temple, and 'Shwezigon' was an impressive large gold stupa. Whilst Chris was busy taking photos I offered to take a picture for a group of local tourists. The Myanmar race tend to be quite shy, but they latched onto my offer and were very quick to drag me over to the group and take more photos. Soon enough Chris was also ushered over and they began to take it in turns having their picture taken with the foreigners! Besides the intricate detail of the carvings on many of the temples, some, for example 'Gubyauk Gyi' and 'Sulamani', still display fascinating ancient wall paintings which depict scenes from the previous lives of Buddha.
Exploring temples in the midday heat is always exhausting, so having had a recommendation for a good burger, it seemed the right opportunity to try it out. Funnily enough the small restaurant was called 'Weatherspoons', owned by a Brit of course, didn’t serve the usual reheated processed junk, but actually presented us with a very good burger! Imported beef, homemade burger, crispy handmade chips, and even Heinz ketchup. Unquestionably it was washed down with a cold beer, and we had a second whim to go explore more temples!
Unintentionally, we ended up at a temple called 'Htilominio', which was nothing spectacular, but I noticed a young mother applying 'makeup' to her two small children. The 'makeup', known as 'thanaka' in Myanmar, is a cream made from thanaka wood from a Murraya tree. Myanmar women have been using this cream for over 2,000 years as a sun protection and other cosmetic reasons. They apply it in varying shapes and designs on their faces, but some coat their arms and legs as well. I watched as the young mother decorated her children's cheeks with the cream in the shape of leaves. I asked if she wouldn't mind applying some on my face as I was intrigued. It felt a little like applying face paint but once it had dried I soon forgot it was on my face.
What we didn't expect from the ancient temples of Bagan was to find hawkers and stalls set up surrounding the grounds, but I suppose the locals can earn a decent living from selling souvenirs and temple trousers. Especially as all the temples were clearly stating that knees should be covered. It is also normal practice to remove your shoes before entering a temple, and even this was strictly put in place for exploring the temple ruins. Compared to, for example, the temples of Ankor, where it is acceptable to wear your shoes when walking around the ruins, in Bagan it is extremely frowned upon if you forget to remove your shoes before entering any temple.
Just as we had decided to head back for the afternoon, we found a couple more temples to squeeze in en route. It is surprisingly hard to just scoot by some of them as they are extremely enticing. The e-bikes were great fun but mine had no suspension and a rock hard seat. Chris, being the gentleman he is, offered to swap for a little while, but as soon as we reached the next temple he took his key back! He did not appreciate the purple, hard seated, slow e-bike that I had chosen. I always get drawn in by the colour! By now it was nearly sunset, so we made our way back to Shwesandaw to climb to the top and watch the sunset. Unfortunately it seemed this was the most popular spot for watching sunset and each level was crowded with tourists all trying to get the best sunset picture. Bagan seems to be a very hazy area and sadly the sunset itself wasn't anything spectacular. But as usual as soon as the sun had disappeared behind the horizon the crowds cleared, leaving a handful of visitors to enjoy the tranquil setting as the sky slowly filled with hints of colour.
For dinner we ended up a few doors down from our hotel at a locally ran street restaurant serving traditional Myanmar food. It was fairly priced in comparison to many of the other restaurants around, and filled us up nicely. It had been one of our favourite days in Myanmar and we couldn't wait to wake up the next day to explore even more.
It was pure excitement that motivated us to wake up at 4.40am! We hopped on our e-bikes (I exchanged mine to the same as Chris’) and set off in the pitch black to find our own temple for sunrise. We decided to avoid Shwesandaw as we anticipated it would be crowded as it was for sunset. Instead we returned to the unnamed temple that was our first temple to explore. We used our iPhone torches to guide us up the precarious ruins and safely landed at the top ledge. We settled down and watched as Shwesandaw filled with visitors. We had succeeded in finding our own temple for the time being. Every time we saw lights from an e-bike we had our fingers crossed that they wouldn’t join us, but unfortunately we were out of luck and two European girls joined us on the unnamed temple. Thankfully it was just them, so to be two of four people on a temple to watch the sunrise wasn’t bad going. Finally at about 6am the sun rose and half an hour later the sky began to fill with hot air balloons. It was truly magical and a wonderful moment.
Once the balloons were out of sight we made our way back to the hotel for breakfast. But not before long we were back out on the e-bikes and hoping to explore some of the less popular temples. The added bonus to the e-bike I had changed to was that it had three power settings. Obviously we were told to use the slowest setting in order to save the battery, but it was a lot of fun using the ‘turbo’ to overtake Chris on the roads.
We ended up finding a lovely teak monastery, ‘Abeyadana’, where an elderly lady performed a prayer ritual for us. Then we really ended up off the beaten track, slipping and sliding all over the place. The track decided to come to an end but we knew from the map that there must be a way through. After battling our way through some shrubs we realised we had to cross a dried out river. Understandably Chris went first to see if it was doable, which it became apparent that it was. I was not convinced so let Chris take my wheels across whilst I filmed it on the GoPro! Of course he managed to safely ride both bikes over in one piece and we set off again. The challenging journey all became worth it when we found a small temple which we climbed to the top of with no one else in sight. We explored a few other temples which we were able to climb, but soon we started being fussy about which temples were worth stopping off for.
For lunch we stopped by a highly rated vegetarian restaurant (yes Chris actually agreed to go here!). It was bustling with tourists and rightly so as the food was very good. However the portions were pretty small and the price was above our usual food spend. From lunch we headed back to the hotel to make use of the swimming pool, an extremely rare treat for us. Unfortunately the layout of the pool area meant that it wasn’t in the sun and the pool itself was freezing cold. Chris bravely dived in but it took me a lot of peer pressure and the threat of being dragged in by Chris to get me in the water. A quick dip was enough for us both and we took to the sun beds to relax. 
It had been a cloudy day and there was barely any blue sky to be seen by late afternoon, so we decided to skip on going out for sunset. Instead we had an early dinner at a popular restaurant down the road called ‘The Black Rose’. The food was very average and we were served an avocado salad that looked like Tilly’s or Darcey’s sick! We questioned exactly what it was they had served us and rightly so they did not charge us for the puke.
The tremendous sunrise was enough to convince us to wake up again for another sunrise. However with our previous experience we knew that it was not necessary to wake up quite so early. At 5.30am we set off on our e-bikes and this time it was serious off road sandy tracks, in the pitch black, to try to find our way to ‘Pyathada’. The challenge definitely woke us up! Luckily, after just one or two wrong turns, we arrived to the monastery and found our way to the top. We were not alone, but there was only a handful of others there. Pyathada had a large flat square rooftop which was perfect for watching the sunrise. Fortunately it was a beautifully clear morning so the sunrise was spectacular. Even more fortunately, as the balloons began to fill the sky they gradually glided closer and closer to Pyathada providing us with a sensational setting. This moment was everything we had imagined from a sunrise over Bagan, it was perfect. Both of us had a huge smile on our faces and I even got goose bumps. A young Myanmar couple were having their wedding photos taken as well. They got extremely lucky.
We watched as each and every balloon found its landing spot before we made our way back to the hotel for breakfast. This sunrise had been one to remember.
Bagan is also known for its lacquer ware and I won’t ever turn down an opportunity to go shopping! We visited a recommended lacquer ware workshop. The owner, who had inherited the shop through family, was keen to show us around the workshop and take us through the different stages of the process. It was nice to learn about the process in order to appreciate why the real lacquerware costs so much. Although we had a look around his shop, it was all way out of our price range.
We carried on pootling around on the e-bikes, stopping by temples, pagodas, and monasteries that caught our eye. We had read about there being something hidden in a small ordination hall known as ‘Upali Thein’, and being curious and not wanting to miss out, we had to stop off. The key keeper opened up the locked gate into the hall and revealed walls inscribed with fascinating ancient stories.
Continuing along the main road through Bagan, we ended up in Nyaung U at ‘Leo’ for lunch. We both tucked into a Myanmar curry and shared a refreshing beer before scooting back to the hotel for an afternoon by the pool.
With a wonderfully clear sky and with it being our final night in Bagan we of course had to go and watch the sunset. We had found the perfect temple to climb, with fantastic views of many other temples dotted around, and it was much quieter than Shwesandaw. It was a lovely end to our time in Bagan, such a beautiful and magical place.
For the third morning in a row we were awake to watch the sunrise. But unfortunately this time we were not climbing up a temple to see the sunrise, but at 5am we were on a small pickup truck heading to the bus terminal. From here we found our seats on a bus heading towards Nay Pyi Daw, the capital city of Myanmar.