I was really excited to finally arrive in Bagan. I knew that the following leg of our trip Bagan-Kalaw-Inle Lake would be the highlight of our time in Burma.
We arrived without any accommodation and got approached by one of the drivers at the landing stop. He drove us to one of the hotels, which was spacious and clean and we booked our room for the next three days.
It was already 5 o clock but we decided to rent some bikes and try to see the sunset on top of one of the Pagodas. We couldn’t find the right spot and just stopped at one of the 4000 ones. A lovely local girl helped us to find a good spot and we enjoyed the breathtaking view of the surrounding temples in the light of the slowly sinking sun. A beautiful start to our trip.
For the next days we had our bikes again and cycled from Pagoda to Pagoda in beautiful sunshine. The weather was hot and humid, but no reason for complains after rainy Mandalay.
We had a map and lonely planet ready, but it was just to hard trying to find the right Pagodas, so we just dropped that plan and stopped wherever we liked. It was a great day and we got some amazing views over the temples. Wer climbed some of the Pagodas and each time were amazed how they have build these temples thousands of years ago without any machinery.
We stayed in Nyaungshwe, the cheaper area and had some great Burmese food. After dinner we wanted to go to sleep, which unfortunately didn’t happen for me that night. As soon as I closed my eyes I heard loud praying over microphone outside. It went on for the whole night and even earplugs and music on top couldn’t overpower it.
The next day we found out that there was a Buddhist festival going on and there would be praying for the next three days 24 hours nonstop. Great!
Nevertheless, our trip through Bagan continued. We had a horse carriage booked which picked us up in the early morning to show us around Old Bagan. We felt like being in the past riding on a carriage trough this beautiful old landscape. Our transport was quit comfortable, but slow, but it was a nice experience to see it from a horse´s perspective and our guide´s English was all right. We chatted about Burmese life and he showed us some beautiful temples.
In the afternoon we slowly got bored. Of course, the Pagodas were still beautiful, but after 30 you start get the point of it.
Nevertheless we enjoyed another beautiful sunset over Bagan, a great end to our three-day stay.
For the next day we had our bus booked to Kalaw, a little mountain village famous for its three-day hike to Inle Lake. Even though Kalaw is just 200 kms away from Bagan it took us seven hours to arrive. At 4pm we were finally there and had just one mission: Getting a room and a spot on Sam´s Trekking Tour for the next day.
Breakfast in Sydney and Sunset in Rome 