Chicken Curry&Chapati Communication: Bagan (Burma)

As magical as Bagan was, it was also filled with the most amount of street kids compared to Yangoon and Inle Lake. So that was a little conflicting, because it got hard to sometimes enjoy the place and let loose, when we'd talk to these boys and girls and hear about their stories of how they want to continue schooling or get into the university. It was absolutely saddening knowing that we didn't bring anything to give to them (they really wanted to trade something for our sweaters) in return for some art they painted which looked really amazing by the way. We had no more money left to spend (we were on a budget too!) so that was the only alternative. But these kids were all over Bagan, and not only kids, but almost every other sales person by the street tries to haggle and pester you into getting something. It wasn't TOTALLY unfamiliar though, so eventually we got used to it.

How to get there: So we took the "Bagan Express" bus from Inle Lake to Bagan. Only this bus goes to Bagan from there. And it's nothing you would imagine an express bus being. It broke down once, and we stopped to pick up people quite a number of times but i think what made up for all of that was that we were travelling in the day (also for 12 hours) so we could look out the window and see interesting sceneries. The trip from Inle Lake costed us 12000 kyats per person. You wont get it cheaper than the other shops. Maybe more expensive. But that should be the price, because we were there apparently at a peak time.

Gah! The toilets were horrendous! It was much much
much cleaner peeing outside, which is what i did most
of the time!

The Sky as we left Inle Lake on that cold cold morning! This was Kalaw where we saw ICE on the ground! And we survived with our not made for winter clothing!

Rest Stop! In the middle of nowhere! Time to pea.

The Bagan Express! It broke down and the driver know exactly whats wrong .

We sat on top of the bus for about 5 to 10 minutes with the
Russian gang of tourists! They were fun and always had
vodka ready to pour! Then the guards at the entrance to Bagan
said we had to come down! =C

Getting around Bagan: It works for everything: bicycles! We rented two bicycles for 4500 kyats. That was for three days because we were cycling around as soon as we reached Bagan. We went into Old Bagan (where the amazing temples are) only on Day 2 and Day 3. We rented in from the hotel we were staying at. You can cycle EVERYWHERE with a bicycle! the old temples are just by the sides of the road, so its easy to stop by every single one of them while ur cycling! The map we had helped a lot in locating a few big ones, that was a must see! And we also had a lot of help from two girls that just randomly followed us around on their bicycle without us asking, and showed us around. On the last day, they tried to sell us some postcards. But they were awesome company! And it helps to ask anyone you can, about temples around you, because its easy to get them all mixed up. They have beautiful names though. And each temple, pagoda has a family that looks after it. So they will take you around the pagoda and temple and tell you about its history and significance. That was truly awesome! All of them sell loads of stuff in front of the pagoda, like lacquer wares and paintings and clothes. So feel free to buy something if you want, for the service they've just offered you. Everyone we met at every pagoda was really nice though. It was an absolute joy talking to them about the pagoda, what they've done for it and about their lives!

There was a procession on the streets of Bagan,
with cows decorated and kids on each cow and
lots more walking, dressed up very fancily.

Look 360 degrees around Old Bagan, and this is the view!

We loved climbing up the outside walls of the temples,some
get you quite high up to get awesome views!

A view of a temple from another temple quite
close by, this kinda views helped us planning
our journey from one temple to another

These HUGE golden buddhas were in every ,
almost every temple!The bigger the temple, the bigger
the buddha! And a few parts of the buddha was made
with gold flakes on them. And not one statue has been
disfigured, or chipped off.

More wall paintings, these were just so
amazing! So well preserved
and ALL OVER the WALLS!

Original wall paintings in some of the temples
still so well preserved.

These were original statues of buddhas made from stone, very well preserved. But gated so no one could touch and destroy it.

Preservation process in progress. They were employed
and paid for by the UN. The government had no
part in almost any of the preservation efforts.

Where to stay: We got a reasonable price for the inn we were at. Our bus was filled with tourists, and the bus just stopped at that inn, so rooms were being taken up as we were deliberating on the price! We took our room for 12USD a night, we stayed there for two nights. It was quite nice, the inn. And the compound was nicer! They had a swing in the front, a cute dogs, that all looked alike in Bagan! They were like bigger versions of shih tzus, and there were all strays! The dog in the hotel, was really smart and would jump on you when you gestured like you had a treat. All the dogs looked like they needed a bath though. But yay! doggies anyway.

Food: Food is good in Bagan! There's a lot of places to choose from, mostly around Nyaung-U, where all the hotels are mostly situated. And a few on the way from there to Old Bagan. And there's a lot of vegetarian places! So that was awesome. I was mostly vegetarian for the whole 10 days that I was in Myanmar just because it was absolutely delicious and very varied the dishes and the uses of veges in their food! Oh and its cheaper! The food places in New Bagan (Nyaung-U) is very close by the hotel, so we jsut walked around and looked at the menu and prices and then decided. We only wanted to eat at places that offered "Myanmar food". On average for two persons, we spent on average 9000 kyats for lunch and dinner. Hmm i guess it was a little pricey here. But that's also because all the restaurants, came with fancy lamps and decorated table and chairs and an ambiance! Its quite hard to find road side food in Bagan. Breakfast is provided by the hotel. Breakfast was toasted bread (w always asked for more but the most they gave us was about 3 slices extra!) and eggs (a choice of scrambled, omelette and bulls eye) they were all very good, but then again i think you can NEVER go wrong with eggs.

This was a mid range place in Old Bagan, recommended in the Lonely Planet
Guide. That's tanaka on my face!

I have to NOT recommend a place in Bagan though, although it was recommended in the Lonely Planet's Guide to Myanmar. It was called Golden Myanmar -- a buffet with about 20 different dishes for each of you for 3000 kyats per person. I have never ate so little at a buffet in my life! There were curries and vegetables , but almost ALL if not ALL were soooo sour! Like absolutely sour and bitter! So i only ate the rice, and one or two vege that was not sour or bitter. I soon discovered from eating at another rest stop (we crossed the road to eat in a family's small hut restaurant) on the way back from Bagan to Yangoon. They were very grateful because the bus stopped at the bigger popular rest stop restaurant just opposite their shop and i think they dont get as many customers as they would like. Anyway we ordered one plate of rice, with some curries and vegetable and it was also sour, the curry at least! So i think the curries in Myanmar when they have meat in it, are usually sour! Just the way its cooked there maybe. But this family was really nice, we met his wife who was pregnant and resting and his daughter. He was very hospitable and we had a nice conversation about Bagan and his little shop!

And i think that's the most important thing for any place, to make it a nice holiday or vacation. The people. And I've truly not met a more friendly hospitable down to earth crowd that i did in Myanmar! It was absolutely amazing and nice talking and getting to know all of them. And I even got two email addresses of two english teachers that were "lurking" around one pagoda to talk to tourists to improve their english. That reminds me, I'm going to email them right after this!<

The two girls that followed us
around to each temple.They were really
like our guides! And postcards she was
selling.We kept bumping
into them, having stalkers never felt so good!

These girls were selling some stuff in one of the temples
and were so amused that we had tanaka on our faces that
they commented on it as soon as we parked our bicycles.

The old lady that smoked and kept asking us to pay her when
we took her photo. She encouraged us to take her photo!

We were never hustled as much as we
were at this place! We didn't want to
get anything else,but had to just
because they were so good at
making you feel like a monster
if you didn't.

These boys and their sister were playing
in one the temples. They grew up in
the temple and wanted
us to take a photo of them!

This cute couple was in Inle Lake!
Isn't that cutest baby and the cutest
old man EVER?

Monks that come down to the temples in their robes,and a pot for
left over food or anything else that is willing to give. They just stand
still in the corners of the temples, and people put in food or money.
These kid monks were hiphop influenced apparently! But had to pose
in secrecy, before an older monk saw them and had a talk with them.

The kind lady in one of the temple applying some tanaka on
our faces. Burmese people wear them all the time, like powder
to protect their fair skin from the harshness of the sun.

Baby with face full of tanaka! Yumyum!

All in all, Myanmar was an amazing experience! To see these three places, 10 days is the optimal length of stay i would say. We had enough time to recuperate from the bus rides to enjoy the places! I hope a revolution is not far away, looking at the middle east and all the amazing revolutions that are happening there! The people there deserve as many opportunities they can get and to be free !

Burmese kyats. The notes there looked like they've
absolutely been to hell and back. Just shows how much the same
money has been used again and again. Pretty sure the printing
of money has stopped. You only see nice notes if you have
1000 kyats onwards.