Cruising into Bagan

After a fairly exhausting first half of the week, I could think of no better way to spend my fifth day in Myanmar than by riding a slow steamer down the Irawaddy River from Mandalay to Bagan.





The boat departed from Mandalay pier on a cold and drizzly October morning. Within minutes Mandalay was behind us, and the boat was slowly chugging through the muddy, brown waters past rural villages and green hills dotted with hundreds of golden pagodas. The small onboard bar offered toast with jam for breakfast, and free-flowing hot tea throughout the day. The first half of the cruise was cold and rainy, so the passengers relaxed on the two indoor decks on comfortable padded seats. After not too long though, the rain slacked off a bit, and I ventured out onto the upper decks to better watch the countryside roll past. This part of Myanmar was incredibly rural. During the entire voyage, I think we passed only two bridges spanning the great river.

Though it was still cold and windy, the rain eventually passed, and the crew began setting up comfortable rattan deck chairs. Many of the passengers stayed inside, working on their laptops, reading, or napping. One group of excited Australian ladies were playing an exciting game of cards. I preferred to be outside though. After that cramped and horrendously uncomfortable night train, the slow, smooth ride of the leisurely boat and the cool wind in my face was a welcome change. I've always said that rail was my favorite way to travel, but now I think I quite like boats!

We docked in Bagan in the late afternoon. It was a far cry from the bustling city of Yangon, or even the quiet town Mandalay. Bagan is really just a small village. What makes it special, though, are the thousands of ancient temples built just meters from one another all over the area. It's impossible to look out across Bagan and not see at least a dozen of these ancient ruins; the entire region is now a protected historical area.



Though each of these stone pagodas is different, they all looked quite similar, due to being built very rapidly in a relatively short period of time (something like 3000 temples in 200 years). I'm not sure there is anyone who knows the name of every one. The main temples attract hundreds of tourists and visitors each year, but some of the smaller, quieter ones stand semi-forgotten in the fields of Bagan.



You can hire a taxi, but by far the most iconic and fun way to get around the dirt streets of Bagan is by horse cart. We hired a driver named Mr. Bobo and his horse, Nanda.

Some of the caretakers at the smaller pagodas even let you clime up to the top for stunning views of the surrounding countryside. Most of these pagodas are manned by a warden, usually a young local person with access to the key. They will guide you around with a flashlight and offer you a tour in exchange for buying a souvenir from their shop.



I don't remember the names of the dozen or so temples that we visited that day, although Mr. Bobo told me them. By far though, my favorite was the first one that we visited. The caretaker, a young local artist, gave a fascinating tour with lots of historical detail. He told us how during the Second World War, the local Burmese people hid from the invading Japanese army inside these temples, and that the inside murals had been blackened from the soot of their cooking fires. At the end of the tour, I bought a sand painting from him. He gave me a good deal, because I was the first customer in several days, due to the rain, and he even showed me how he makes the paintings. First, he cuts a tree to collect the sap, which he paints into the design he wants, before sprinkling the canvas with sand. He does three or four layers of this.

After a delicious local lunch of sweet chicken curry, Pinky and I explored New Bagan Town on foot for a while. That afternoon, by some miracle, the sun finally broke through the clouds that had covered the sky for the entire week. For the first time since arriving in Myanmar, we actually had a sunny day! It quickly began to get a little bit hot.

Optimistic about the weather, we were determined to see a sunset. The Burmese sunsets are famous, and we had planned to see one in each of our destinations (Shwedagon Pagoda, Mandalay Hill...) but due to the heavy rain all week, we had missed every one. As the sky cleared, we searched through our guidebook for information about the best riverfront restaurants, and decided to eat at the Green Elephant.

Unfortunately, the Green Elephant has two branches, and we went to the wrong one, in town and far from the river. The sun was starting to fall in the sky, but the waiters at the restaurant offered to give us a lift on their motorbikes to their other riverside location, and we made it just in time!



The sunset was stunning; one of the most beautiful I have ever seen! There was a small white sand beach on the banks of the Irawaddy just out front of the restaurant, and we sat and watched the crimson sun sink below the purple mountains on the other side of the river.

The next day, it was time to go home. We flew a small turboprop plane into Yangon in the morning, and spent the day visiting the National Museum and browsing at the market. We couldn't buy anything though- we had budgeted perfectly, and ended up at the airport with 1000 kyat to spare (about $1).

I'm so glad that I got the chance to return to Myanmar. Already, the country has begun to transform since my first visit. While I was there, the country was preparing for its first "free" election in a quarter century (or something like that). It seem very likely that the NLD party of Aung San Suu Kyi will win, although the true results of the election remain to be seen. At the time of writing, it seems that her party has indeed won, but has yet to take power. Only time will tell how the ruling military junta will handle a change in government, but I am optimistic about the future of this beautiful, golden land.