Bagan, Myanmar | Part 3

We didn’t dare risk leaving Bagan, finding another safe clinic to administer my second vaccine in our next destination wasn’t appealing, so we spent the next few days simply exploring this beautiful city. Bagan is magical. A place we urge anyone we meet to visit as soon as possible. We’ve already decided we can’t go back, as much as we would love to, because it will so quickly change with the growing tourism (that is, if it is continued to be allowed…). It will still be incredible, but not the same as the mostly quaint little city we love with non-jaded locals still interested in genuine interactions with guests of their country. I'd hate for it to lose that magic spark it has in my head.

Look at that face!! He pushed hard to get us to buy his post cards (hand drawn!!!). We say no to everyone; if we didn't, we'd say yes to everyone. We walk away feeling so sad, but we always wish them good luck and keep them in our thoughts, hoping they find plenty of customers to buy their goodies.

We rented bikes one afternoon and cruised around the city, negotiating with the owner to let us return them the following afternoon, keeping them overnight with us. We had our usual dinner at our usual joint, some more amazing sweet coconut pastries for dessert, and headed to bed quite early in preparation for the following day.

We woke up well before Mr. Sun. Before the first of the roosters even shouted his “GOOD MORNING,” and got bundled up to brace the chilled desert morning. We quietly crept to the courtyard to mount our bikes, and were let out of the gate by a nice security guard. We turned to where we left our bikes the night before, ready for another peddling adventure.

“Where are the bikes?”

They were gone. Not only had we begged and convinced the bike owner to give us a deal, we convinced him they would be fine with us overnight, and now the bikes were gone. Since he rented bikes out of a shop neighboring our hostel, we poked around his place hoping they just grabbed the bikes after we went in for bed. After much confusion and a trip around back to the dark alley for who knows why, we discovered the bikes were indeed tucked away with their owner, and they gave us 2 new bikes that were easier to access then the ones we previously used. We clarified for the fiftieth time that we had already paid, and through choppy English, we were on our way to watch the sunrise.

We hit the road and made it 2 wheel rotations before Will’s bike chain popped off the track. An old man with a cane came over to shine his walking light at us to help. Many locals rise early for walking before the sun comes up. He laughed a bit at our struggle, and after a few failed attempts, we mostly were able to get the chain to stay.

About an hour behind our desired departure, we finally left our street, pedaling to a spot our lost friends Shakira and Tony recommended we watch the sunrise. We peddled fast and settled on a temple close to the road, ditched our bikes, and climbed to the top. A little homestead was in view, chickens and dogs running about, the overnight haze lifting from the yard, garbage burning off a grey pillow of smoke, a man doing yardwork and a woman departing with a woven basket. It was a beautiful scene, and we waited for the sun to warm the crisp, cool air.

It was a pretty sunrise, but I wasn’t quite sure why Shakira had been raging about it. I was fighting disappointment and reminding myself to be grateful to see another sunrise, the fact that I am able to experience it is beauty enough, when I saw a little bobble in the corner of my eye. The hot air balloons were rising over the horizon, huge and majestic. Balloon after balloon floated higher into the sky. I started counting 1…2…8…9…15… I couldn’t even keep track there were so many. And as slowly as they putted up into the sky, they started to float right towards us.

We clearly happened upon the perfect temple to experience one of the neatest things I have seen since the Great Wall. These gigantic balloons bounced right over our heads, dipping so low the pointy temple steeple could have popped a few. Onlookers hung over baskets, waving and shouting “MINGALABA,” the Bermese ‘hello’ as we waved and smiled back. Tears streamed down my face as I took in this site. It’s nothing I’ve ever seen before. I hope to be so lucky to see something this mesmerizing again one day.

I left the temple so full of joy and contentment. I cannot believe I even questioned the Bagan sunrise. It is immacualate.

To make a great morning even better, we found a new local restaurant on our way home with wonderful coffee and pastries. We took our time and drank plenty of coffee to warm up our bones and wake up our sleepy eyes.

We rode to the clinic, explained that I needed another shot, got immunized, paid the $62, and were done within 45 minutes. I wish every clinic visit was this easy…

I found a blanket I loved the day I was bit, so we went back and wandered through the market, hoping to find it again and bargain for a good price. We went to three vendors to compare prices, all varying greatly, but I made a connection with a sweet, timid woman who wanted 3000 Kyat, about $3, so although her price was matched by another shop owner, I preferred the kinder of the two and meandered back to her stall to buy my blanket. It was my first ‘big’ purchase of the trip! I have it tucked safely at the bottom of my pack. It’s not too heavy, and I love it enough not to care. The bright, graphic stripes caught my eye immediately, and I love the hand stitched Myanmar tag that I can’t even read. It’s charming, cuddly, and commemorates the insanity that was our time in Bagan.

We got back to our place just in time to return the bikes. As we dropped them off, the man we rented from approached.

“Hello! I was wondering where the other bikes are you rented yesterday.”

Will and I looked at each other, jaws dropped and wide-eyed. We understood the 4am conversation to be “I have the bikes in here, but they are hard to access, so just take these instead,” when really, the kid must have been saying, “I don’t speak any English and I am afraid to make you mad. I will just give you bikes.” Uh oh…

“Oh, well we parked them here last night and they were gone this morning. The kid we talked to earlier explained the bikes were locked up so he gave us new ones.”

“Well I don’t have those bikes…”

Oh great. Bagan was turning out to be the biggest nightmare ever. Now we would need to pay for new bikes, too?!

The security guard from the morning sauntered up, pointing to the side of the courtyard. Our bikes!! Someone must have moved them inside before the gate was locked the night before. He must not have noticed them when he let us out in the morning.

“Here they are!” we cheerily said, rolling the bikes over to return them, hiding behind the English-barrier like we knew where they were all along and it had just been a miscommunication.

We left both sets of bikes and hurried to our room, extremely grateful we didn’t owe him 2 new bikes.

Shots completed, rabies avoided, and incredible sunset witnessed, we felt it was very ready to move on from Bagan. We packed up and waited for our shuttle to the night bus, embarking on a 10 hour ride to another little city in norhtern Myanmar.

From Bagan, with Love,

Sara + Will