I think if you want to see the pics you have to go onto the pics bit on the website! Also, boredom alert! This is longer than my usual blogs and no funnies, it was such lovely place I'm just waffling really. All I can say is if you get the opportunity to go, go! Not the easiest place to get in and out of, but so worth it!

So firstly thank you so much to everyone who came to our Summer Solstice wedding and everyone who sent wishes. It was such a special weekend and then such a whirlwind, Monday lunchtime we were on the train with our backpacks all packed and off to the airport and by 5pm on Tues afternoon we were in the Lebua hotel in Bangkok (where Hangover 2 was filmed, hee hee) looking out out from the rooftop bar and an amazing meal at the highest al fresco restaurant in the world (or that's how they're billing it anyway). Then up first thing and a flight from a different airport to Mandalay in Myanmar (formerly Burma). Everything has been wonderful so far, but two things now occur. No 1, I am the most useless person ever when it comes to hanging on to keys and phones and have actually lost my phone earlier in the week, yes less than seven days ago. No 2, this is our first experience of an airport quite this basic with no English speaking staff.
So we already knew we needed to pay cash for our flight at the airport as they don't take card, but there are about 5 flights on the board, right up until the last flight of the day......and ours is not there!!! so I go to double check the details on my phone......and that sudden sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when I realise I have left my phone in the pocket of my seat....on the plane! Arghhhhh! So I start running around the airport like a woman possessed and no one understands a word I'm saying. I'm doing charades to complete strangers and phonecall actions and plane actions, I kid you not! Then a man with the bulgiest eyes I ever saw, he must have had something wrong with him poor guy, but they were really bulgy. He was lovely and kind of understood me and took me back through airport security to an Air Asia woman. She wanted our seat number but we had changed seats and didn't know our new number, plus the flight had already left on it's return to Bangkok, but she took the details of our hotel in Bagan and promised to see what she could do. Goodbye phone! She also told me that for some bizarre reason Air Mandalay flights are not displayed on the board but there was one in four hours time and I had to go through the back entrance of departures to the office and pay cash, but just me, not Ian. I finally found it and was ushered into a hot sticky room with about five women who were writing tickets by hand. So they wrote out our tickets, I handed over American dollars and the deal was done!!
We then fell asleep (not in the office, ha ha) only to be woken up but the Air Asia women, the Bangkok flight had landed, they had found my phone, yay!!! And they were going to put it on the plane the next day, transfer it to an Air Mandalay flight and taxi it to my hotel! amazing! This is my new 'best customer service' ever story. (Taken over from Sue when she was at Pizza Hut, sorry sue) I couldn't believe it! Then we caught our flight and arrived in Bagan!!

BAGAN
This place is truly magical and amazing. I have never experienced anything like it. Bagan is the name of the plains upon which are built thousands of temples and stupas. There are well over 2000 of them and our hotel is in a little oasis looking out at all these temples. The temples of Bagan were built between the 11th and 13th century when Bagan was the seat of the Myanmar dynasty. They are Buddhist temples and actually even after British rule which lasted from 1824 to 1948, 89% of People are Buddhist. I am reading George Orwells Burmese days and Imperialism was a bit s*** to say the least! Also, I'm glad the missionaries didn't succeed too well as from what I can see, the Myanmar people in Bagan at least, are a deeply respectful, gentle people and have a great love for their history and their religion. Why should they turn to Christianity!
But moving on, we had two days of temple viewing and the first day was by horse and cart. Our guide was called Sonar, his horse was Mimi and he said to mention if anyone goes to Bagan he is cart 132! But 132 he may be, we only saw one other cart and infact maybe 20 other tourists. I am actually writing this from Yangon, the former capital and we have still not seen a single person from the UK. It's out of season though, the season runs from nov to March, this time of year is very hot, but seriously, you get Bagan to yourself!! We saw old Bagan by horse and cart. These temples are 11th century and are in varying degrees of disrepair, some having been eroded over time and some completely ruined in the 1975 earthquake. Some in almost pristeen condition. Some people say there were as many as 10,000 temples but now only....only 2 to 3 thousand remain.
The only way I can describe our day was a temple safari! It was such an experience and also seeing the lives of the people of Bagan, some of the poorest people in South East Asia.
Very humbling.

Day 2 after seeing the sun set over the Bagan plain last night (oh yes, by the way, while we were up the viewing tower, a rep from air mandalay turned up at the top, he actually sought me out to personally give me......my phone back. Yay!!!!!)we got up at 5am to see the sun rise over the temples and stupas and it was equally magnificent. Then we hired bikes! We wanted push bikes but they said 'no, too hot, too hot, you have electric bike!'. The electric bikes were fab and we went round a different part of Bagan nearer the hotel. These temples are 13th century and have the most amazing intricate paintings over every inch of the interior, depicting the history of the Myanmar dynasty. There are also stone carvings and the Buddhas are painted rather than gold. Some temples had guides but we decided to do a little off roading.it was hilarious, these little electric bikes zipping around the dusty plains, through sand and dried up river beds. It's quite eerie, coming across a temple in the searing heat, completely alone, not a soul in sight for hours at a time. We would take off our shoes and creep in and Buddhas painted eyes are upon you as you sneak around and climb the little steps to the top of the temple and look out in awe at more of the same literally all around you.

So tonight is the overnight bus to Yangon, we were meant to be catching the overnight train but it is 'always very late, very very late' and it had in fact broken down, so it was the overnight bus company called JJ, Joyous Journey express!! Their strap line is, The Way, The Truth, The Life! Ha ha. Better be a good journey!

We are so sad to leave, it is one of the most amazing places I have ever visited. Weird though how easy you get used to somewhere and almost become blasé about it, but I know I will probably never get the chance to return to this place and if I do it may be more touristy and ruined. So we look around one last time and as we jump in the back of a truck with about 10 other people, crammed in off to catch the bus, we look around one last time and I think I will probably miss this place for the rest of my life!

Next stop Chiang Mai!