Myanmar – 2016

(July 6 – July 21)

July 11, 2016 Monday

Arriving around 6am in Bagan from the 10 hour bus ride was a great relief. Looking out the window though you can see all the taxi drivers waiting. It was around 6-7am. My thoughts were a little discombobulated since the bus ride was so long and it was so early. But I picked a driver and went with them. After he said the price, it wasn’t bad at all. I didn’t even need to haggle. It took about 30 minutes to get from the bus terminal to my hotel. But about half way in, we stopped at a small building along the side of the road. He told me it was 25,000 Kyat for a tourist (about $20-25). Now I wasn’t even sure if I had that amount of money but I’m glad I did. At first I thought I was getting gypped. The little small building along the side of the road didn’t look super official. What I did learn was this was an archeological entrance fee. It would be required to have on hand when exploring the temples. (Oddly only 1-2 places required showing it.) Now this might seem steep in price to some people, but really it’s not in the big scheme of things. Seeing the ancient Bagan temples would be amazing and a tourist fee to help maintain and keep the temples intact was well worth it.

Mingalazedi

Gu Byauk Gyi

Myazedi

This is where I met an artist who gave me a a small sample of his work. I ended up sitting down and learning a lesson on sand painting. How each color is a different sand from Bagan. I ended up buying one of his sand paintings about the lucky seven headed elephant and his water color painting of the sunset of Bagan. I didn’t have enough money on me so we agreed he would meet me at my hotel and I would pay him there. I’m glad he trusted me taking the art work with me and that I would give him money later.

Dirt Road

When I went back for lunch at the hotel, I rented a bike for half a day ($5) before heading out to Gawdaw Palin. I would do this for the rest of the time venturing out to see the temples this week. It was just easier and there really wasn’t a reason why I wasn’t riding. They offered electric bikes too but I just rented a regular bike and felt really good peddling from temple to temple with my own will and energy. It felt like a real adventure and really freeing.

Gawdaw Palin

Kyan Ma Ba

Thatbyinnyu Temple (12th century)

The tallest in Bagan (201 ft / 61 m).

Ananda Temple (1105 AD)

Sunset from Law Ka Ou Shaung