#9 Burma: the land of smiles – chapter three: Bagan / Burma: mosolyok foldje – harmadik fejezet: Bagan (Burma)

English version:

After a nice and relaxing time in Hsipaw, I started my journey to Bagan. The night bus ride cost 18k kyat and was supposed to take 9 hours. In reality it took 15 as there was a big traffic jam on the mountains. To use some Dynatrace jargon, the root cause of the issue was that in the curves only 1 big vehicle can turn at once. And there was kms long queue of trucks and buses so it took 4 hours to get through that few km section. I sat next to an old and very friendly bloke who was very interested in second series of House Of Cards what I was watching on my laptop next to him. I gave him a clementine and we became bros for a life.

So instead of 4am we finally arrived in Bagan at 11am. After a little arm wresting with the taxi dude on the price, I got to my motel: the Wut Mhon Thit. It was a very simple place, with excellent management and crew. I loved my short stay there.

My temporary home was 6kms from Old Bagan so I rented an e-bike. As it suggests it’s a nice little scooter with electric engine. Max speed is 40km/h but it was totally fine. I enjoyed riding it in the sunny and very hot Bagan. Temperature was around 35 and dry, very dry. Not only the temperature but the landscape was also total different from Hsipaw and Pyin Oo Lwin: more flat and full of palm trees.

I asked a guy who also rented out scooters at the entrance of a very posh resort where I can find a good restaurant for lunch. He pointed me in the right direction and I ate a nice noodle there among mainly locals. Then jumped on my bike and was looking for good spots to take photos of this ancient town: Old Bagan.

Bagan is the cradle of Myanmar. It used to be the capital of the kingdom which merged all surrounding places into the country now we know as Myanmar. The city is the main attraction in Myanmar because of its architectural wonders. There were thousands of temples, pagodas and monasteries built here and most of them are still standing,

So while I was looking for the perfect spot, I bumped into the same guy who helped me with the restaurant. This time he was also on his bike and was about to go home after work. I learned his name: Aki, he lives in New Bagan and also that he is an artist. He offered his help to take me to a place where I can make my long-awaited shot. So we got on the bike and went to a pagoda, climbed up and spent a good half an hour there. To go up was a real Indiana Jones experience. Once we finished I was amazed by his paintings.

The next day I moved to a hostel: the Golden Crown hostel which was a pile of shit. Same reason the previous motel was good, this was not. The management was only interested in counting their cash but did not care about the guests at all. Only with a wide and fake smile until you paid. After that they lost interest. But it was ok for 2 days, however I don’t recommend the place, avoid it! The only good thing was that I met 2 nice Japanese guys and 2 nice young ladies from the Netherlands: Vera & Kirsten. The girls have been traveling together in South East Asia for a while.

The big attraction came in the next morning. The thing which brings nearly 3 million tourists to this beautiful country: watching the sunrise from the top of a pagoda in Bagan. I jumped on my bike at 5am to get a good spot. Aki gave me a good tip to hunt for the sunbeams of the rising sun from the top of the Kyan Ma Ba temple. I was right to go there early as by the time the sun started to rise, there were 30 people there. But I was in pole-position.

The sunrise was breathtaking and burned into my memory forever. When the sun comes a little bit out, air balloons start ascending as well to make the view of hundreds of pagodas even more spectacular.

That was my way to finish 2017, because that was the morning of the 31st December. It was a good way to say good by to last year and to the amazing Myanmar.

On 1st Jan we went for a breakfast with Vera and Kirsten to – apparently – the best bakery in Bagan. We had a great time and I put on 2kgs in 30 mins by eating 3 huge pancakes with choco-sirup and chocolate ice cream. First sin on day one in 2018. This is gonna be the year of crime, I hope I will not get arrested before the end of the year.

See you later Myanmar…

“So far” facts – English version:

# of travel buddies: 3
# of travel buddies murdered: 0
best meal: Thai cashew chicken curry
best dessert: coconut rice
worst meal: some brown soup with cooked pork, blaaaaaa
# of flights: 1
# of trains: 5
# of taxies: 6
# of buses: 1
# of shared taxies: 1
# of motor-taxies: 2
# of waterfalls: 4
# of snakes: 0
# of big spiders: 0
# polar bears: 0
# yetis: 0
# of dives: 0
# of sharks: 0
# of manta rays: 0
# of whale sharks: 0
# of dolphins: 0

Magyar verzio:

A kellemes hsipawi idotoltesem utan, megkezdtem utam Bagan fele. Az ejszakai busz jarat 18 ezer kyatba fajt es 9 oraig kellett volna tartania. A valosagban ez 15 oraig tartott, mert a hegyekben hatalmas torlodas alakult ki. A szuk keresztmetszet a szerpentinek voltak, ahol egy kanyarban egyszerre csak 1 nagy jarmu tud elfordulni. Es kmekben merheto sorban alltak kamionok es buszok mindket iranybol igy 4 oraba telt, amig atevickeltunk azon a par km-es szakaszon. Egy idos es nagyon baratsagos arc mellett ultem, aki nagy erdeklodest mutatott a laptopomon vibralo House Of Cards masodik evada irant. Kapott tolem egy kis mandarint igy orok baratsagot kotottunk.

Szoval hajnali 4 helyett vegul 11-re ertunk Baganba. Egy kis ar-szkander utan a taxis formaval, megerkeztem a motelembe: a the Wut Mhon Thit-be. Egy egyszeru motel, fantasztikus menedzsmenttel es szemelyzettel. Imadtam azt a 1.5 napot, amit it toltottem, a segitokeszseguk miatt.

Atmeneti otthonom 6 km-re volt Old Bagantol, ezert bereltem egy e-bike-ot. Ez egy robogo villanymotorral, 40 km/h max sebesseggel ami boven eleg volt Baganba. Ez a sebesseg tokeletes volt a 35 fok koruli szaraz hosegben. Nem csak a homerseklet, de a tajkep is elutott Hsipaw-tol es Pyin Oo Lwin-tol: sokkal laposabb es tele palmafakkal.

Megkerdeztem egy sracot, aki egy luxus hotel bejaratanal adott berbe robogokat, hogy hol ebedelhetnek a kozelben. O kedvesen utbaigazitott es egy jo adag tesztaval lettem koverebb, amit helyiek tarsasagaban fogyasztottam el. Kaja utan robogora pattantam hogy egy jo foto helyet talaljak az osi Old Bagan varosreszben.

Bagan Myanmar bolcsoje. Az osidokben ez volt a fovarosa annak a kiralysagnak, amely egyesitette a videket, amelyet ma Myanmarkent ismerunk. Bagan a fo attrakcio Myanmarban, epiteszeti csodai miatt. Az osidokben kozel 9 ezer templom, pagoda es kolostor epult itt es nagy reszuk meg mindig all.

Szoval amig en a tokeletes foto-helyet kerestem, osszefutottam a sraccal, aki segitett ettermet talalni. Ez uttal o is robogoval volt es epp haza indult volna munka utan. Akinak hivjak, Uj Baganban lakik es muvesz. Felajanlotta, hogy elvisz egy jo helyre, ahol remek kepeket keszithetek. Rovid robogozas utan bementunk egy pagoda belsejebe, majd felmasztunk a felso reszre. A feljutas igazi Indiana Jones elmeny volt. A csodas panorama utan, megmutatta a festmenyeit.

A kovetkezo nap atkoltoztem egy hostelba: a Golden Crown-ba, ami egy halom szar. Ugyanazert, amiert az elozo motel jo volt, ez nem. A vezetoseget egyetlen dolog erdekelte: hogy a cash-t szamolgassak folyamatosan, a vendegek nem szamitottak. Szeles mumosoly fogadott addig, amig ki nem fizetted a szobat vagy, amit eppen kertel, utana elvesztettek erdeklodesuket. 2 napra ok volt, de senkinek nem javaslom, hogy ott szalljon meg. Rengeteg mas hely van a kornyeken. A pozitiv a helyben az volt, hogy megismertem nehany jo arcot: 2 japan sracot es 2 holland lanyt: Verat & Kirstent. A lanyok egy ideje egyutt utaznak Del-Kelet Azsiaban.

A nagy guritas masnap reggel kovetkezett. A latnivalo, ami kozel 3 millio turistat vonz ebbe a gyonyoru orszagba: a napfelkelte egy pagoda tetejerol Baganban. Aki tanacsolta, hogy a Kyan Ma ba templom tetejerol vadasszak a felkelo nap sugaraira.

Jol tettem, hogy koran odamentem, mert mire a napfelkelte elkezdodott, 30 ember gyult ossze a templom tetejen. Nekem viszont pole-poziciom volt.

A napfelkelte nagyon szep volt, a szinei orokre a memoriamba egtek. Amikor a nap egy picit elobujik, holegballonok kezdenek emelkedni, hogy meg elkepesztobbe tegyek a tobb szaz pagodaval ekesitett panoramat.

En igy bucsuztattam a 2017-es evet, mert az a reggel December 31-en volt. Az evvel egyetemben a csodalatos Myanmarnak is bucsut intettem.

Januar elsejen Veraval es Kirstennel reggeliztem Bagan legjobb peksegeben, ahol fel ora alatt felszedtem 2 kilot. 3 oriasi meretu palacsintat ettem csoki ontettel es 3 gomboc csokifagyival. Az elso bun, rogton 2018 elso napjan. Ez a bun eve lesz, remelem nem tartoztat le a TEK az ev vege elott.

Viszlat Myanmar…