Nanda & Nathan The Travellers: Bagan (Day 1)

June 10, 2014 ---- After spending two wonderful days in Mandalay, Nathan and I were ready for our next adventure in Bagan. We reserved a bus ticket through our hotel, and I was very pleased with it because it was a small van with less than 15 seats that do the door-to-door pick-up and drop-off service, so we didn't have to worry about getting a taxi to and from the bus station. It cost only 10,000 Kyat or US$10 each and took about 5-6 hours including the lunch stop.

In Bagan we stayed at Bagan Thande Hotel located right in Old Bagan where all the attractions are and next to the Irrawaddy River. The room was nice and clean, and the resort area was well-maintain and peaceful. There is an old teak house where King Edward VIII stayed in 1922, and it's now a hotel restaurant serving buffet breakfast and luxurious dinner with a puppet show or a live traditional music. The food is American price though.

After checking in and looking around our resort hotel, we still had many hours before the sun set, so we decided to rent two bicycles from the hotel and explore Old Bagan. There were two kinds of bikes for rent: regular and electric. A regular bike cost 8,000 Kyat per day and the electric one cost double the price, so we just got the regular ones.

Old Bagan is wonderful. There are thousands of pagodas built during the 11-14 centuries. Because we had only a few hours before it got dark, Nathan and I just biked to those pagodas that are close to the hotel, including Gawdaw Palin, Mimaluang Kyaung, Pahto-thamya, Ngakywenadaung, Nat Hlaung Kyaung, Thatbyinnyu Phaya, Shwegu Gyi Phaya, and Tharabar Gate.

Some pagodas you can get inside easily, but at some you have to find the key man to open the door for you, especially in the evening. Nathan and I found one amazing pagoda that had original beautiful wall paintings inside, but we needed a flashlight to be able to see those paintings because the pagoda had no windows. Everyone is required to take off his/her shoes and socks to walk inside the pagodas even though it can be really dirty with bats' and birds' feces on the floor. Well, be prepared for that!

At some pagodas you can climb up stair-steps to the top and get a good view of the Bagan plain, but make sure to take off your shoes and socks as well.

At dinner we had a fabulous time in our hotel restaurant. There was a puppet show that night, and we really enjoyed the meal.