Bagan (14 April - 16 April)

During the recent term break, Vivian and I decided to do some travelling and so off we went on a 3 day, 2 night holiday in Bagan. We took a 8-hour train ride there and I managed to catch the sunrise from the carriage… Simply gorgeous! The train ride was nothing luxurious. Think cardboard thin cushion and non-reclining seat and a sauna-like carriage. At least the seat was rather spacious and there was no bad smell looming around.

When we were in Bagan, it was still the Thingyan (Water Festival). So we had plenty of splashes from the fun-loving Burmese. There was not a day when we were dry. It’s really quite a disgusting feeling to be wearing wet jeans and t-shirt the whole day. But at least our wet attire kept us cool in the heated plains of Bagan where temperatures can go as high as above 40°C. It’s almost like a desert there and we saw cacti growing almost everywhere. Bagan is amazing! I cannot stop raving about the place. What Ang Khor Wat is to Cambodia is what Bagan is to Myanmar. I took plenty of photos (over 400 shots I believe) during the short trip there! But I tell you, the photos really don’t do the place justice! You really got to see for yourself the magnificent sight of thousands of pagodas popping out from all over this small land area! What’s that Chinese saying “百闻不如一见”。How true! Bagan is also an excellent place for sun-chasers like me. The atmosphere and feeling to be able to witness the sun setting amidst the old pagodas and ruins is simply great! To tell the truth, even though the pagodas in Bagan was a splendid sight, after a while, it all started to look the same! In total, we visited about 15 pagodas during the 2 days. At one point of time, we were so saturated that we wanted to tell our guide not to bring us to any more pagodas! We were starting not to be able to tell one apart from the other! So it was a good thing when we took a side trip up to Mount Popa. Another amazing place! Must go! Mount Popa has a cluster of monasteries and pagodas perched right on top of it and has a certain air of mystery about it. From far, it was like looking at a colourful fairy tale castle! We hired a horse-cart while in Bagan. Thanks to my long legs, I was able to get onto the cart effortlessly. It was not very expensive and it turned out to be good value for money as our horse-cart driver, Min Min, could speak good English and was able to act as tour guide cum photographer for us! We wouldn’t have known the history of the pagodas if we had gone around on our own. His horse, Jasmine, was quite strong, outrunning the other horse-carts most of the time. But I would rather like to think of it as we, the passengers weighing a feather to her! Hah! To round up the trip, we took a ferry back to Mandalay along the Ayeyawarddy river. I've got to complain about the unfair treatment to foreigners again! We paid US$16 while a local only needed to pay about US$3!!! Unfair!!! That aside, the 12-hour ride was enjoyable. I saw many small villages by the river bank and I think to myself how hard life must be for these people. The land is dry and barren, the sun is scorching hot and the only source of food seems to be from the river. I wonder if there are really many fishes in there. But I think on the whole, the people lead quite a carefree life….. children splashing around by the river, women doing their laundry, men fishing from their boats …..