Oh Bagan!  I can say that Bagan has been one of the highlights of my trip! The place is not only beautiful but there is something ...

oh Bagan!!!

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Oh Bagan! 
I can say that Bagan has been one of the highlights of my trip!
The place is not only beautiful but there is something magical (and fun) about riding e-bikes (or e-bikeys as the kids outside the hostels call them) on dirt roads and see temples come out left and right. 


No pictures or words can describe the beauty of Bagan! 
After the first sunrise Kam and I decided to go back for some breakfast and then start exploring Bagan.


I didn't want to eat eggs and I insisted on traditional Burmese food, Kam compromised and agreed to the traditional breakfast. We walked to a street stall and sat down for breakfast!

Oh my! It was... not good! Not good at all! And this is coming from somebody who eats absolutely everything as long as it is vegetarian! The flavors were pungent and sour, and just weird. Both Kam and I looked at each other and kept eating the potatoes, which were the only edible things on the table (apart from the white rice.) We did our best at trying everything but we just couldn't take more than one bite! The waitress came and refilled the potatoes, then looked at us and grabbed another plate with not so edible food and we started saying "we are ok, no more, it's fine" but she didn't understand a word so she refilled the plate with the food we didn't like. At the end we each paid 1,500kyats ($1.15) for breakfast and felt horrible about not being able to eat the food!


With our tummys semi full we started our e-bikey adventure looking at temples.


They have pagodas for absolutely everything!

I think Myanmar is not really used to tourists yet so it is really funny to see how many locals are sneakily taking pictures of the foreigners. It made me laugh to see that when one local gets the courage to ask us for a picture, 50 other locals follow. Here’s a picture of our first group:


We then continued riding without direction and going on little streets or just following trails that seemed like it would lead us to temples.

There is some kind of magical feeling I got while riding, I couldn’t believe my eyes at the beauty of this place and couldn’t help but think about what it looked like hundreds of years ago when everything was intact. As always, I did not have a guide, and going through the temples without knowing the history about it and the meaning that a certain temple brings to the culture somehow make you feel a sense of disconnect from the place. I wish I knew what I was looking at.
All the local boys chasing tourists for pictures

Massive Buddhas everywhere!



The first day we “only” looked at temples for 3 hours and then went back to relax before going out for sunset. I think for me the first day was focused on trying no to die on my e-bike. I fell once and my e-bike ended up in the bushes once too. It was really funny because we had just gone up a pagoda and a couple was there too but they picked the horse carriage option and while I was battling with my e-bike they looked down at me and said “Are you ok? That’s exactly why we decided on the horse”… Smart people!




We ended up going through a super crazy market in order to get to one of the temples.

No need to go to the hardware store! You can find absolutely everything you need on the street market.




These temples are so big!!!






After checking in into my room at Ostello Bello I noticed that they had thanaka and I couldn't resist and asked one of the staff to teach me (and Zarina) how to apply it!



On our second day we decided to go on a free e-bike tour from ostello bello (which by the way is the MOST expensive hostel in all of South East Asia, selling beds in dorms for up to $39/night!) I think we were a little hesitant about the tour because it was advertised as a 7 hour tour and we just dreaded the idea of being in the super hot noon sun on an e-bike looking at temples. Also, from experience, I know that after 2-3 hours of temples I just want to go back to the hostel and relax and the thought of such long tour was not exactly appealing to me.

Anyway, the tour started and I could feel a cool vibe from the group. I absolutely loved seeing the 20 e-bikes going all in one row on the street. 


The guide also did a good job at explaining what we were looking at and I appreciated the info but I forgot it almost immediately… Oops!
The whole group at our first stop.
Lady selling some goods at the temple.

Super giant lying Buddha!


As you walk around the temples you find a lot of artist doing all kinds of painting. The most famous ones in Bagan were the ones made out of sand.


Kam being brave and going up the pagodas!
Group Shot!

So, in Bagan you walk without shoes at the temples but I found walking around the toilets without shoes very yucky! I kept mine on!

Lady weaving at one of the temples.

Zarina and Jayden
 
Traditional Burmese puppets sold at the temples.


 Bagan is so full of Buddhas and statues that at the end they all end up looking the same and you just walk by them. Sad, but true!




We visited a nice wooden monastery!

Just drying the robes!


Knick knacks at the temples.
The four amigos! haha

 I was so happy to have joined the tour, if I hadn't I would have missed out of many of the beautiful sights. The picture below was probably my favorite sneaky moment. The guide took us out of the main temple and we walked to a square looking building that had some very narrow and hidden stairs that brought us to the top and we could get a great view of the pagodas around us.




The tour ended by visiting a village. We stopped by a lacquer shop where the workers were making all the touristy knick knacks by hand.




Typical Bagan,,, Roads that cover you in dirt! 
And then we went to a local's house where they served us tea leaf salad, tea, and applied thanaka on some of us.
I didn't know it then but this is tea leaf salad! You are supposed to spoon all the ingredients together and have a bite!

More Thanaka for me, please!

Grandma smoking one of the traditional Burmese cigars!


Making thanaka!


At the end of the day I was really happy I went on the tour; I really enjoyed looking at the temples but I loved the fact that I had made many friends at the end of it. I feel like when you are a solo traveler finding good hearted and fun people to travel with or to spend a day with really makes a difference on your trip. At the end of the day I won’t remember the names of the temples or the history of Buddhism but I bet I will remember the fun times with Kam, admiring Joke’s ability to ride the e-bike with one hand while taking pictures and not dying, the funny faces of Remy, asking Zarina and Jayden to be my models for a picture, eating guacamole at lunch, when half of the tour stopped to make sure that Asia was ok when she fell off her bike… Life is all about the little things that make you smile and happy.
The last day in Bagan was hands down the most fun! Kam, Joke, Remy, and myself decided to go and just ride the e-bikes around with no agenda and just to have fun!


I am not the best at words and even less so at sharing my feelings (I know, super weird for a therapist who is surrounded by feelings!) but that day I felt my heart smiling, there was something magical about friends just having fun riding e-bikes in dusty streets in Bagan. The most fun part was when we decided to go on the last ride and we ended up going through a super crazy market! I think we were all smiling and in disbelief of how we got there and how we were able to actually go through it on our bikes… it was simply AWESOME!!!
haha, I stood behing another monk who was taking their picture! They don't look all that thrilled!




Kam, Remy, and Joke

Transportation in Bagan
All in all Bagan was way more than the expectations I had for it! It was just amazing!




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About Post Author

Hi! It's me... Andrea! In 2016 I decided to drop everything and take a year to enrich my life and travel around the world. It turns out the world is just too big for 12 months! Still on the road and sharing my experience as a solo female traveler around the globe!

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Hi! It's me... Andrea!

In this blog you can live vicariously through my journey around the world!

Please feel free to share tips or places to go!
Contact me: andreaheartstraveling@gmail.com