Here some news about our trip in Myanmar since we left Inle Lake. We went to the famous Bagan and tried to calm down our expectations because we saw/heard too much good things about it. We took a night bus and it was so much better compared to the others! (we managed to sleep for real during our trip 🙂).
We arrived at 3h30 in the morning … 30 minutes walking to reach our hotel but we have been stopped to pay the "white" fees… Anyway, we were glad that the hotel accepted us very early 🙂.
Sunrise, Temples, and That Electric Scooter
We used our early arrival to rent a scooter (awful electric one …) to see the sunrise. Lucky or unlucky us we saw air balloons, but it was the last day of the season. So, a bit frustrated that we cannot experiment balloons in Myanmar. We were ready to pay 300$ per person! Anyway, the sunrise and the landscape were a really nice and welcoming in Bagan.
Getting Lost Among the Temples
We continued to get ourselves lost in the nature and temples the following days. We were very frustrated that almost all temples rooftops are closed, which was not the case a few months back. Just because an American girl died by doing a selfie. WTF!? (Another version that they were closed after the 2016 earthquake when a lot of temples became unstable…). There are still rooftops open among hundreds. We found our way in for a beautiful sunset alone and another one for the sunrise but with many other tourists (doing selfies…).
Buddhist New Year Water Festival in Mandalay
After leaving dusty and very hot Bagan we went to Mandalay to celebrate Buddhist new year! We participated in local water festival so much that Augustina's phone needed some serious repair… It's a real celebration. Restaurants, shops and all the public places are closed for a week and everybody throws water everywhere! They really enjoyed throwing water on foreigners 🙂 This celebration also has a very nice meaning — to wash all the bad things of the last year and to start New Year fresh and with a clean karma.
Mandalay Beyond the Festival
To feel the spirit of these days, check out some photos in the album!
April 10–17, 2018