From Singapore, we flew to Yangon (Myanmar) and caught the overnight bus to Bagan. When we landed in Yangon, (I) Devon went to get some cash while Brandon grabbed the luggage. I knew the exchange rate was a bit extreme, but didn’t know exactly what it was. So when taking money out I chose the 2nd smallest amount! I went back to Brandon and said, “I have no idea how much money I just took out, but we now have this.”
It ended up being 200,000 kyats in 5,000 kyats increments. This was only around $140, but I felt like I was ready to roll with the rich and famous (of Myanmar). Anyway, the overnight bus wasn’t too terrible and we arrived in Bagan around 5AM. We found a group going to the same area as us and haggled with the taxi as a group. This was very frustrating because they kept changing the cost in ways that didn’t make sense as more people joined. Everyone was a bit annoyed but eventually we worked it out — changing cars twice before finally hitting the road. On the way, we hit a “mandatory” checkpoint where we were each charged a 25,000 kyats fee to enter the archaeological site. We thought we were being had, especially at the crack of dawn, but we bought them so we could move on. Turns out that they were technically required so at least we were not scammed.
We got to our hostel – Ostello Bello – in time to sign up for the 8AM tour to Mt. Popa. (Truth: We had no idea what Mt. Popa was, but it sounded cool and we couldn’t check in for a few hours anyway.) So we hopped in another vehicle and drove an hour or so to Mt. Popa.
Most holy sites in Myanmar require you to remove your shoes to enter, so we did. But this place has tons of monkey walking around, so you have to watch where you step. (There are people standing at various points throughout the site holding mops and brooms, asking for “donations for cleaning.” Only 2 of the 25 were actually cleaning anything though, so…we donated to them. It was a nice place, but the view from afar is much more impressive.
After lunch, and a nice nap, we hopped on a sunset cruise with a few people from our hostel. It was a beautiful way to see the sunset over the water. We spent the night playing cards with some friends-an Aussie and an American- we met on the boat. These two guys were full of energy, and may or may not have made a bet with us on a card game that required the losers (ahem – Brandon) to sing Grease’s Summer Lovin’ to the hostel common area. (Very poor video does exist but won’t be posted here.)
The next day we had a very early start – but it was worth it! We took a sunrise hot air balloon ride. From that view we could see all of the 2,000+ Pagodas and it was just amazing. There are no words to truly describe it so here are some pictures.
Plus, we made it back in time to join an e-bike tour of the city. I (Devon) almost caused a wreck within about 10 seconds of getting on the scooter, but from then on I managed to not to cause too many problems. We drove around to a few stupas and small villages around Bagan. The two of us sang a Bagan version of Hotel California (since we were driving in desert-y areas with wind in our hair of course) and found ourselves very amusing. The guide Christopher was fun and funny! He had us try some of the local palm wine, taught us how to tie longyis, and climb palm trees.
That night we were catching another overnight bus (we did a lot of that in Myanmar) to Inle Lake. The hotel called the bus company for us around 4:30 for a 7:30 pickup. (The bus left at 8:30.) Pickups for other busses came by and everyone told us “Coming soon. Coming soon.” You can probably guess where this is going. They never showed up. At 8:15 we finally asked the hotel to call them again along with the 2 other people that were about to miss that bus. They claimed no one ever called and requested a pickup, but we could take a cab and they would hold the bus for us. Luckily they did, but anyone who knows how I feel about being on time knows I was sweating it out. All in all a great few days in Bagan!
Brandon & Devon (BaD) Journey 