Some people like to go to Ireland in the summer and complain how much it rains, despite commenting on how green it is.
Some people go to New York City, and marvel at how many skyscrapers there are, and yet don't seem to be bothered in the least.
In Bagan, you go there to specially see the 3000 temples and pagodas, and hope the 2999th one is just as exciting as the first one. So, if you don't like them, it's simple; don't go in the first place.
Luckily, the heat sort of stayed away, and I felt strong pretty much the entire day. It was around 32C or so [as prayed for] and despite the heat, we were very, very, very lucky compared to most other times of the year. A few weeks ago on a G adventures tour, it was 48 C. So, it's all relative !!
A number of times we went to certain areas to climb, and get a load of the view. Other times, we just entered them for the temple itself. It is slowly getting tougher and tougher to get excited about seeing yet ANOTHER massive statue of the Buddha, but I suppose it beats marking exams. So, it's all relative !!
After 10 specific stops, most of us were pretty beat up, thank goodness I felted stronger than most, but that's more of a byproduct of having lots of rest back in Mandalay. The water supply was more than enough, and luckily I felt normal the entire day. There's not much more to say, some of the temples look identical, some almost look like cathedrals from far away. The pictures will say more than I could ever type, but the fact it had rained here certainly made the greens and the other colours much more vibrant than usual.
Everyone climbed up one last temple for the sunset, a large group were they're before us, and it was ok as sunsets go, but the breeze was another welcome friend. The biggest feeling was that we had a wonderful day in a dreamworld, during the low season when tourists weren't crawling everywhere around us all day long, and the heat cooperated.
The Holy Trinity of traveling Myanmar .... good times, less people, and no sunstroke. To cap it off, we had dinner at a local families house. Our tour leader knows of a family, and each time he is in town, the group eats there. Nice touch, even if the house is in the middle of a sand road where street lights were installed not that long ago.
I can just imagine what will happen when this place really becomes a tourist mecca like Angkor Wat is in Cambodia, or all the Mayan ruins near Cancun. Boy, this place will turn upside down in comparison .... which is ironic since the townspeople had be completely be uprooted 20 years ago after an earthquake in 1991. Ten days to move from one area to another ... gov't orders, and each person got around five dollars in compensation.
And you thought you had it tough.
So, today, I woke up, and noticed I had missed breakfast. It was almost 10am !! Good problem to have, as no one was really determined to do a huge amount more. Doing more sightseeing is pretty pointless if you aren't in an air/con bus trooping around. Most of the bikes I can rent are pretty rickety, a bit on the small side and don't go very fast anyway, and the distances are quite far. The horse and buggy aren't that much faster .... a dip in the hotel pool is coming up fast. Cold water and pools do mix after all ...
Tomorrow, we are off to Kalaw. Not my friend's house, but hopefully something just as good.
Some people go to New York City, and marvel at how many skyscrapers there are, and yet don't seem to be bothered in the least.
In Bagan, you go there to specially see the 3000 temples and pagodas, and hope the 2999th one is just as exciting as the first one. So, if you don't like them, it's simple; don't go in the first place.
Luckily, the heat sort of stayed away, and I felt strong pretty much the entire day. It was around 32C or so [as prayed for] and despite the heat, we were very, very, very lucky compared to most other times of the year. A few weeks ago on a G adventures tour, it was 48 C. So, it's all relative !!
A number of times we went to certain areas to climb, and get a load of the view. Other times, we just entered them for the temple itself. It is slowly getting tougher and tougher to get excited about seeing yet ANOTHER massive statue of the Buddha, but I suppose it beats marking exams. So, it's all relative !!
After 10 specific stops, most of us were pretty beat up, thank goodness I felted stronger than most, but that's more of a byproduct of having lots of rest back in Mandalay. The water supply was more than enough, and luckily I felt normal the entire day. There's not much more to say, some of the temples look identical, some almost look like cathedrals from far away. The pictures will say more than I could ever type, but the fact it had rained here certainly made the greens and the other colours much more vibrant than usual.
Everyone climbed up one last temple for the sunset, a large group were they're before us, and it was ok as sunsets go, but the breeze was another welcome friend. The biggest feeling was that we had a wonderful day in a dreamworld, during the low season when tourists weren't crawling everywhere around us all day long, and the heat cooperated.
The Holy Trinity of traveling Myanmar .... good times, less people, and no sunstroke. To cap it off, we had dinner at a local families house. Our tour leader knows of a family, and each time he is in town, the group eats there. Nice touch, even if the house is in the middle of a sand road where street lights were installed not that long ago.
I can just imagine what will happen when this place really becomes a tourist mecca like Angkor Wat is in Cambodia, or all the Mayan ruins near Cancun. Boy, this place will turn upside down in comparison .... which is ironic since the townspeople had be completely be uprooted 20 years ago after an earthquake in 1991. Ten days to move from one area to another ... gov't orders, and each person got around five dollars in compensation.
And you thought you had it tough.
So, today, I woke up, and noticed I had missed breakfast. It was almost 10am !! Good problem to have, as no one was really determined to do a huge amount more. Doing more sightseeing is pretty pointless if you aren't in an air/con bus trooping around. Most of the bikes I can rent are pretty rickety, a bit on the small side and don't go very fast anyway, and the distances are quite far. The horse and buggy aren't that much faster .... a dip in the hotel pool is coming up fast. Cold water and pools do mix after all ...
Tomorrow, we are off to Kalaw. Not my friend's house, but hopefully something just as good.
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