Itinerary summary :
Day 1
Arrival at Yangon - Botataung - Shwe Dagon Temple
Day 2
Departure for Bagan - Explore nearby temples - Lacquerware Workshop tour - Sunset at Loka Nanda - Dinner at Si Thu Restaurant
Day 3
Horsecart tour around Bagan temples - Soe Min Gyi - Myin Kaba Village - Ananda Temple - Star Beam Bistro - That Bin Nyu Temple - Htilominlo Temple - Shwe Zigon Paya - Kyan Sit Thar Umin (Temple Cave) - Sulamani Temple - Dhamma Yangyi Temple - LakaouShaung
Day 4
Departure for Heho - Visit local villages
Day 5
Boat tour at Lake Inle
Day 6
Departure back to Yangon
Note : This post is filled with pictures!
Rise and shine in this quaint little town with breakfast all prepared is the best feeling ever! At about 830am, the horsecarts arrived to pick us up. Our tour guides for the day is Ko Soe and his brother, Ko Chan. They speak understandable English and they're very friendly. The picture on the right shows the view that greeted us as we make our way to the few of the thousands of temples in Bagan - perfect blue, green and brown combination. The condition of the dirt road and the traffic flow in Bagan is the raison d'etre for these horsecarts.
One thing we learned from our horsecart ride is that it may be a little bumpy and the back seat may feel like you're going to fall off the cart when the dirt road condition is quite bad. If you're wearing sandals without strap or they're pretty loose, a good idea to hook them around the cart. That will ensure that you'll not lose them by the end of the trip. Along the way, you'll see many fellow cart riders on the road as well.
This is one of the many less prominent temples that we passed by.
In countries like Singapore and Malaysia, you tend to get warning not to use your phone while driving. I guess it's the same in Bagan but my tour guide seems very adept at multitasking!
On the way to our first temple stop, which is Soe Min Gyi, we met some of the local ladies carrying things on their head. This reminds me of Bali.
At one of the smaller altars outside Soe Min Gyi, you'll find these early centuries Buddha statues, carvings and paintings.
I find the complex has some resemblance with Angkor Wat and yet quite distinct in its own way. We climbed up the top of the building in the second picture. It is quite steep but it's an easy feat for the local boy in the 3rd picture. At the top, there is a small opening which you can enter and it in, there's another Buddha statue.
It is not uncommon to find these souvenir vendors at the more popular temples. Usually, they sell lacquerware but some sell common souvenirs like magnets, key chains, t-shirts, sand art and even the tamarind flakes.
Surrounding the temples are smaller temple buildings. I asked the tour guide as to why the structure is as such. His reply was, "these big temples are built by the kings at the time. Bagan has 54 kings and each will build their own. The bigger the better. Their ministers, wives, sons and officials will then build the smaller ones around the big complex as gifts to the king". I'm not too sure how true this is because I've not verified this piece of information but I thought that the explanation is pretty interesting.
I wonder if the period I was there earlier this month was the bird migration period. I saw many different types of birds in Bagan and they're really pretty because they always fly in a school.
The first picture is the sight as we were about to make our way to that little small opening at the top of the temple to enter the little opening. The left picture shows some sign of degradation around the complex.
While we were there, there was this little boy who was there. I think he must be the vendor's kids. They seem to know the map of the place very well, going around at ease.
This is the second temple which is just next to the first one. We walked our way there before heading back to our horse cart to head to the Myin Kaba village.
This is one of the long-necked ladies we met at the village. She was weaving some scarf for sale. The next picture is how the village looks like. You can see another National League for Democracy banner on the left of the photo.
The houses in Myanmar are either made of wood or woven using bamboo. It's really a great handiwork where they weave everything from walls to windows and doors.
There were some villagers who were weaving outside their house when we were there. The second picture shows the bamboo that will be used to make the roof and also to weave the other parts of the house.
At Ananda Temple, you'll see a number of souvenir vendors on your way into the temple complex. I saw these two urns with moss all over it (no, it's not for sale). Somehow, these urns captivated my attention. This temple is said to be one of the finest amongst the surviving Bagan temples.
Next to it is a monastery. I'm not entirely sure why it's called a monastery because I didn't see any monk in there but there are also a lot of wall paintings in it. There is a guard in this temple to protect the inner most sanctuary. The walls are also fenced to avoid people from touching the walls.
On our way to the next destination, we saw these huge urns drying by the road.
At That Bin Nyu temple, there is a notice to foreigners about the allowed items that they should be buying from the souvenir vendors.
You'll see these sand art artists all over the place trying to sell you a piece of their art. Usually they depict the back of a monk or a picture of a Buddha.
Some of the artwork laid on the floor waiting for visitors to buy.
to be continued...
to be continued...
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