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A 4:30 AM wake-up call as Gerry, Sue and I wanted to do the hot air balloon over the Bagan. Yvonne had tried ballooning once and found the fear of heights (she has no fear in flying in airplanes) was too much for her so she passed on the opportunity. Her excuse was someone had to be in charge of transferring the bodies back to the USA if something went wrong!

At 5:30 we were transported to the nearby launch site, the local golf course. The whole program was well orchestrated. When we arrived we were told which table to go to for coffee, tea and pastries. Each table was named after your pilot for the day. Our pilot was Donna, the first time I have seen a female balloon pilot. She is from Perth, Australia and works winters here and goes back to Perth during the local rainy season. Her husband is also a balloon pilot in Bangkok. There were 11 in our group. After having the coffee it was light enough to proceed to the area where our balloon and basket lay on the ground ready to be inflated. We got to watch the trained team of about 12 people use a fan to partially inflate the balloon that allows Donna to fire up the gas burners and complete the job. It is fascinating to watch. We were given assigned locations in the basket and we all climbed in with the assistance of the team. The balloon was fully inflated by this time and tethered to a tractor to prevent it from taking off. Moments later we were given clearance (from the local airport) and we were released to gently float into the sky, ably captained by Donna.

By this time the sun was fully up and we could see off into the distance as we floated to the area where many of the temples were located. Unfortunately there was a haze in the area this morning so my pictures were not the best.  The camera cannot adequately record the scene below anyway. Ballooning, especially in an area like Bagan is a marvelous experience. There were a total of 18 balloons in the air this morning, from three separate companies so the mixture of different colored balloons made for a colorful palette. The gentle winds took us up and over dozens of temples as we spent the next hour flying over the plains of Bagan.

Our flight path brought us near our hotel so Yvonne got to see and hear the balloons. Unfortunately she had no knowledge of which one we were in. We landed safely nearby by and were treated to champagne (a ballooning tradition) and receiving our flight certificate before being returned to our hotel at 8:30, just in time to meet Yvonne and have breakfast together.

At 9:30 we were off with Lama for yet more exploring of the area. Today we were taken to Mount Popa, located about 30 miles from Bagan to see a Buddha shrine dedicated to “nats”, which seem to be similar to saints in the Catholic Church. Buddhists often pray to one of these nats when they need a favor!  Mt. Popa is also the site of Buddhist shrines located atop a butte, reachable by climbing 774 steps. Luckily that was not on our travel agenda. We did have lunch at a nearby mountain resort that overlooked the Mt. Popa complex.

Before we got to Mt. Popa we stopped to see how the sap from sugar palms is harvested and converted into sugar, candies, beer and “moonshine”. We tried several versions of the candy but passed when offered the beer and moonshine.

At the same location we got to see how oxen are used to extract peanut oil from peanuts, resulting in both the oil and a peanut paste. By the way, the peanuts here are awesome, probably because they are so fresh. They are smaller in size than ours and are grown in Bagan fields. Rather than being cooked in oil they are roasted in hot sand, of all things. And no, I never ran into any mixed sand while eating them so the separation process is outstanding.

 

That evening we were taken on a sunset boat ride on the Irrawaddy River, the major waterway that traverses Myanmar. The river is quite low now in dry season and we walked across quite a bit of sand to get to the water.  We were amazed when told how far the river rises during the monsoon season; the land we were walking on would be under 20-30 feet of water during the rainy season! There were many other small boats out on the river as we all waited for the sun to set behind the distant hills across the river.  A humorous episode was Sue and Yvonne were approached by young girls trying to sell them bracelets even before we boarded the boat. The young girls bantered and tried to convince them to buy.  Sue and Yvonne put them off, hoping that they would be gone by the time we returned, but no such luck. They met us as we docked and pestered our wives in a humorous way that we ended up with a dozen lacquered bracelets and a lot of laughs about how good these sales people are at such a young age.

We had a 7:15 AM flight to Bagan, requiring us to leave the hotel by 5:30. Gloria Jean coffee (and pumpkin bread) at the airport made the     effort palatable. The flight itself was 1.25 hours and operated as expected. The Bagan airport is very small and it was not difficult to find our new tour guide for this phase of the trip, Lama.

Lama was born and raised here in Bagan. He explained that  Burmese people do not use surnames and that their first name is determined by the day of the week they are born.  He is in his early 50’s and has been a tour guide for many years. We soon learned he is a wealth of knowledge and we joked that by the end of the day we had gained enough knowledge about the differerent Buddhas that we could quality for a M.S. degree in Bagan and Buddhist history. Lama spent the day taking us to different pagodas and temples and educating us to the different types of Buddha statues that were displayed in these different locations. Oh, I forgot to mention this was done barefooted, as people are asked to remove shoes (and socks) when entering Buddhist structures of any type. Lucky for me the surfaces were relatively smooth and my tender feet handled it admirably. The tour guides provided us with wet wipes whenever we left the temples, a nice touch.

Lama focused on taking us to small out-of-the-way temples where he could show us how the statues of Buddha evolved over the centuries and show us paintings on temple walls that were over 1,000 years old. Many were temples commonly visited by tourists.

Surprisingly most of the paintings dating back to the 11th century are still quite visible. As in other religions the paintings were used to educate the people who could not read or write. The temples themselves were in various states of disrepair. Earthquakes have taken their toll on some of the  structures but we saw how the ingenious designers of the shrines used design techniques that allowed the structures to mostly survive for over 1,000 years. Many of the temples have been or are being restored using a combination of  government and private monies. Families often donate funds for the restoration and they are honored by having their names engraved at the temple site.

There was also a small monastery in the area and Lama walked us through it and explained what it was all about and explained how the monks lived and studied.

On the way to lunch we visited  a small local Burmese village where we got to see how local people lived. It is indeed a visit to the past. They did have electricity but the bathroom was out back. Cooking was done over a wood fire. Oxen were used to plow the fields, grind the grain and provide transportation when needed. These people are mainly farmers who grow peanuts, sesame, millet (cattle food), and beans. They get their sugar from the sugar palm tree. We saw how they process and preserve what they grow. It is indeed a simpler way of life for the people living in this area.

Lunch was again at a local restaurant that featured traditional Burmese food. We learned that their lunch always includes soup, several meat or seafood entrees, two salads, a vegetable and rice. Dessert was always fresh fruit. Although it was getting repetitious we ordered dishes we liked from previous meals.

The afternoon was spent viewing other different types of shrines with only a short down time at the hotel before leaving for the sunset viewing of the temples, a tradition here in Bagan. It is a “wow” moment and I am sure my meager photos do not do the spectacle justice. It has to be experienced to fully appreciate its grandeur.

After the sun set Lama said he wanted us to see one last pagoda  (which was now quiet at this time of the day) before we returned to our hotel. We went to the 11th century Shwezigon pagoda in Old Bagan.  It is not as grand as the one in Yangon but it is still spectacular in the quietness of night. We pretty much had the site to ourselves except for a few worshippers who were meditating at the end of the day.

It was a very long and tiring day but one filled with the wonders of the Bagan. We explored only 8 of the 2,000 temples around Bagan. It would take a lifetime to see the rest and I do not have the time! But I now understand why this is such a magical place and I am certainly glad I made the effort to come here.

Another busy day of sightseeing here in Yangon. It began with good news that Sue’s luggage arrived late last night and she is a happy camper once again!  We all had another fabulous breakfast at the hotel before being picked up at 8:15 In order to reach the local train station where we were scheduled to take a popular tourist attraction called the “circle train”.

Near the train station we parked the car and walked through the neighborhood bordering the station where we saw everyday living. Breakfast out is very popular in Myanmar and small, family owned outdoor restaurants were everywhere. Breakfast is simple-a bowl of rice or curry, not ham and eggs. It was a fascinating insight into daily living here.

 

The circle train is actually a local, inexpensive train that people use to come into the city to their jobs and other needs. The train runs hourly and completes a 25km circular route that stops at 39 different stations picking up and dropping off people. It’s route takes you past different areas of the city and countryside and offers insight into the lives of the Burmese. A  complete route takes 3 hours, but we could get off earlier if we desired and our driver would meet us. Nyi Nyi accompanied us and provide dialog along the way, describing what we were seeing. Although it is a safe trip we were glad we had a local to guide us because of language issues. We did see the poorer side of the country and insight into how people lived in the rural areas. The experience was enhanced by locals selling food on board, vendors bringing  huge bags of produce that they hope to sell in the city. It was truly a study of everyday life in Myanmar.  We did get off the train after hour two of the three hour ride as the sights started to be repetitive.

Lunch was served at the House of Memories restaurant which is located in an old home that once housed the office of General Aung San during WWII. His office equipment is still on display there. Lunch included an interesting approach to a pumpkin soup which contained shaved pumpkin in a broth. Other dishes included tempura vegetables, an eggplant salad, sautéed vegetables, pork in a bean paste and curry chicken. Dessert was mochi (sweetened rice ball with a sugared nut inside) and fresh coconut. The meal was well received by all.

With appetites satisfied our next stop was at the local market place, which turned out to almost be overwhelming in size. There are hundreds of shops selling virtually everything one might need or want. We spent about 40 minutes wandering around looking for something we needed to have. I am always looking for a travel memory to add to my collection, be it a piece of inexpensive art or some local craft that will remind me of my visit to the area. Initially  nothing clicked  but near the end of our visit a young man stopped me to show me some watercolors of local scenes that he said he and his brother produced. Everyone claims they are the artist. Sometimes they are but it is more likely not true. I do not particularly care, I simply want the memory.  A small watercolor of some monks caught my eye and even Yvonne agreed she liked it, as it reminded us both of the sights of Myanmar. As a funny aside, as we reconnected with Gerry amd Sue (we had gone separate ways while exploring the market) We both were excited to see what the other had bought. Ironically both Gerry and I both purchased similar prints from the same artist! Great minds think alike?

The last stop of the afternoon was to see one of the largest reclining Buddhas in the country. It is 216 feet long and is an important shrine for the local people.

We returned to our hotel for a few hours before being taken to a local restaurant featuring a buffet and a cultural show of Burmese entertainment. The venue is on a floating barge patterned after the royal barge of past kings. Needless to say it was elaborate. The food was varied with an emphasis on Burmese and Indian dishes. The entertainers were mostly dancers, but there were several skits featuring a famous cultural entertainment- puppets. One particularly skit involved two persons. The first was a puppeteer, controlling a stringed puppet. The second involved a real girl who imitated being a puppet. It was quite unique and realistic. We were back at the hotel by 9 PM and eager to get to sleep as we were slated for a 4:30 AM wake-up call for our flight to Bagan, the second stop on our trip.

Before I quit I do have to relate a humorous (?) story about Myanmar cars and driving. I noted that virtually all the cars being driven were right hand drive( UK style), yet they drive on the right hand side of the road (US style). I asked our local guide why was it this way. He said that originally drivers did drive on the left hand side of the road, but recently politicians changed the rules, requiring  drivers to drive on the right side. Next will come a law that forces future cars to have the steering wheel on the left. What a mess sorting all that out!

First a geography/history lesson: Myanmar ( pronounced me-en-mar) is formally called the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. Until 1989 it was known by it former name, Burma. Both names have linkage to the majority (68%) ethnic group living there, Bamar, and both names are still commonly used when referring to the country. During the British occupation (1824-1948) Burma thrived, but WWII devastated the country and its economy. It gained its independence from England in 1948.  Myanmar has a population of about 54 million people and the predominant religion is Buddhism. It’s main product is rice although it produces 90% of the world’s ruby gems.

Yangon, formerly known as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region of Myanmar. Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government relocated the capital to the purpose-built city of Naypyidaw in central Myanmar. With over 7 million people, Yangon is Myanmar’s largest city and its most important commercial center.

Yangon is an amalgamation of British, Burmese, Chinese and Indian influences, and is known for its colonial architecture and remains an almost unique example of a 19th-century British colonial capital. Yangon boasts the largest number of colonial-era buildings in Southeast Asia and has a unique colonial-era urban core that is remarkably intact but in much disrepair. The colonial-era commercial core is centered around the Sule Pagoda, which is reputed to be over 2,000 years old. The city is also home to the gilded Shwedagon Pagoda – Myanmar’s most sacred Buddhist pagoda.  End of lesson for today.

We went to breakfast around 7 AM, hoping to see my brother, Gerry, and wife, Sue, who had been scheduled to arrive late last night. They were not there, but by the time we were ready to leave they walked in and joined us. They did arrive in Yangon around midnight only to find that Sue’s luggage did not arrive with them!  Bad start to their trip, but she is an experienced traveler and will make do until it’s scheduled arrival tonight.

We met our tour guide, Nyi Nyi, at 10 AM to begin our tour of Yangon. Our first surprise of the day was the vehicle we would be riding in.  It was a “tricked out” van with posh seating, fancy sound system and mood lighting. It was quite a vehicle.

Our first tour stop in the city was a visit to a local convent and monastery to see how both females and males live as novice monks and nuns. Monasteries and convents are basically religious based schools and are havens for children from small villages to receive a free education. Children range in age from about 5 to 16. Girls live and study separately from the boys. Although the schools are religious based most of the children leave once they receive their primary and secondary education. They appear to be similar to our religious schools, but the main difference is that the children live at the school full time.

Boys at the monasteries go out daily to “receive (not beg)” gifts of food from the local population. (Note: the girls do not go out looking for food; they rely on benefactors to provide them with food).  It is considered important in the Buddhist religion that people assist the novice monks by providing them with food. People often “sponsor” these students as they receive their education at the monasteries. The young monks return in time for their main meal which occurs at 11:30 AM. The only other meal they have is breakfast very early in the morning. We were able to observe the students gathering for their meal, praying before they began and then eating in relative silence. Again, only a small percentage of the students remain as monks once their studies are completed.  We learned that there are literally hundreds of such monasteries and convent schools in the city.

After our visit there we went to the former home of Major General Aung San, considered the Father of Indepence of Burma, and a martyr as he was assassinated 6 months before the country formally gained its independence from Britain. His former home is now a museum, containing information and artifacts about his life.

Lunch was at the Padonmar restaurant that served typical Burmese food. It is somewhat famous as there were pictures of celebrities on the wall including one of John McCain who dined their in 2011 and 2012. No one offered to add our picture to the collection!

At 1:30 we had a tour of the former British parliamentary building complex which is currently under major restoration and will eventually become a national museum. It is also the site of where Aung San was assassinated and we toured the area where it all happened.

The last activity of what became a very busy day was to go to the most famous and most important Buddhist temple, the Shwedagon Pagoda at Sunset to see the reflection of the sun’s rays off the 3 tons of gold leaf on the 99 meter tall stupa, which supposedly contains relics from four former Buddhas. What appears to be a single stupa from the distance is,in fact, a major complex of various sized pagodas dedicated to Buddha. It was a “WOW” moment for sure. We spent an hour there ( barefooted as that is the custom at Buddhist temples) obeserving people praying and offering gifts of flowers, incense and candles to Buddha. There were hundreds of people at the site. A monk was continuously reciting Buddhist scripture over a loudspeaker while we were there. We were told this will occcur 24 hours a day for one week.  Tonight there was also a ceremony where 13,000 candles were being lit to honor Buddha. It was quite a sight.

We arrived back at the hotel about 7 PM and everyone said they were too tired to even consider dinner and we called it a night.

Several initial observations about Myanmar and Yangon.  People seem genuinely friendly and warm. We have been impressed with the staff at the hotel and their willingness to help.

Traffic is a nightmare in Yangon, even worse than Seattle! We were surprised at how clogged the roads were most times of the day.  However, there was no horn blowing or evidence of road rage and politeness in allowing people to change lanes or make turns was the norm.

No one seems to wear “real” shoes. Everyone is in flip flops or walking barefoot.  I even saw construction workers walking around barefoot on the job! Many men (young and old) wear their  country’s equivalent of a sarong, called a “longyi”. Women wear a female version of the clothing which is different in design and material.

Tomorrow is another’s day of sightseeing here in Yangon, then we head to Bagan, the main reason we are here in Myanmar.

We lost a day during the transit, having crossed the international date line, so it is now January 17 in Bangkok.

Although we both took a sleep aid last night we were up at 4:30 AM local time, ready to tackle the world. Luckily the breakfast buffet is open from 3- 10:30 AM.

We spent the rest of the morning reading, writing a blog entry and napping again in an attempt to have our bodies catch up to the local time zone. We left for the airport about 11:15 AM and leisurely worked our way through getting boarding passes and checking luggage, clearing security ( no TSA precheck over here) and immigration as we were flying internationally to the country of Myanmar. We even had time to grab a sandwich. Our flight to Myanmar left on time at 1:45 PM and an hour later we were landing in the capitol, Yangon.

Compared to the hustle and bustle of the Bangkok airport, the Yangon airport is much smaller and quieter. It was easy to navigate and to clear their immigration. A bit of trivia is that the Myanmar tim e zone is only 1/2 hour different than Bangkok, not the usual one hour change normally associated with time zones. Don’t ask me why that is. Obviously some wizard decided that was the best way to handle the issue when time zones were originally set up.

As promised we were met by our private tour guide, Nyi Nyi, and his driver, as we emerged from baggage claim. It was a quick 20 minute drive to our hotel for the next three days,the  Melia Yangon, part of a Spanish hotel chain. The hotel is impressive and our room is equally impressive with a view of Inya Lake, one of the major attractions here in Yangon. We know we will enjoy our stay here.

We chose to have a light dinner at the hotel and it also was equally impressive and reasonably priced.

Fellow travelers, Gerry and Sue Bishop, are due to land at 11:45 PM tonight. We told Nyi Nyi to tell them not to wake us when they arrive!

Tomorrow our formal tour of Myanmar begins.

We had an 8AM flight from Seattle to Vancouver, B.C. I always have some misgivings when a short hop is required to make a connection to a major international flight. Will something go wrong, causing us to miss that connection? We left the gate on time but sat on the runway, with engines running for almost 30 minutes. Will there be a problem? We did have 2.5 hours between flights but what if this flight got cancelled? There was no other alternative to get us to Vancouver in time. Finally the captain did announce there had been a small mechanical issue that needed resolving but it was fixed and we were on our way.

The only other “glitch” in Seattle was that Alaska Airlines could not print the boarding passes for our flights on China Southern. They assured us we could get them at the gate in Vancouver.

It was a marvelous winter day in Seattle- sun and mountains everywhere. The 30 minute flight was a sightseeing wonder and included flying near our home on Miller Bay. We were both glued to our windows as we winged our way.

We whizzed through passport control in Canada and retrieved our boarding passes at the gate as promised. The 787 flight to Guangzhou actually left 5 minutes early. A minor problem developed as the audio system in our row of seats was not working. Great, and we had a 12+ hour flight ahead of us. They flight attendants were very cordial and attempted to reboot the system but were unable to get it to perform properly. They apologized profusely and brought us personal iPads to use for the flight, which worked out fine. Actually we both ended up only watching one movie (Victoria and Abdul), which, by the way, was quite good- worth watching as it is based on a true story about Queen Victoria of England. We both spent the rest of the time reading and napping.

Our route to Guangzhou took us up the coast of Alaska and down the east coast of Russia and China. Guangzhou is in southern China, near Hong Kong, which I did not know until I got to see the flight map on the TV monitor.

The food served on our two meals was some of the best we have experienced on airlines, and the staff was very attentive to our needs. It was a very pleasant flight. China Southern did themselves proud, just as the reviews said they would.

Something new we experienced as we got off the airplane was to take a bus to the terminal. Because we were in business class they provided special, small (20 Passenger) “VIP” buses to take us to the terminal. Nice touch!

We had a three hour layover in Guangzhou before our 3 hour flight to Bangkok. We left on time and slept most of the way there as we were both good and tired by then.

The Bangkok airport is big and modern, and at 11 PM it was “hopping”. There were plenty of helpful people who assisted us getting through Immigration (no problem but we had to fill out a form we did not know we had to have). Luggage arrived safely. Whew! That is always a concern as you read horror stories of lost luggage. We had taken the suggested practice of putting a change of clothing in each other’s bag, just in case one of the bags did not make it.  The luggage also had to change three different planes.

I had chosen to spend the night at the Novotel Hotel at the airport to break up out trip and allow us to recuperate. Airport local staff all spoke English and there were booths everywhere to provide information and answer questions. We easily found the shuttle area where the hotel bus quickly took us to the nearby hotel, eliminating a necessity of walking underground to it. I had considered originally doing that but thought better of it because we both were worn out.

The Novotel hotel is big, modern and fancier than other Novotel hotels we have stayed at.  An interesting policy they have is that you have the room for 24 hours from the time you check in. No need to worry about that 11AM check out time. Again, another nice touch.

The end of a very long journey. In fact we may have set a new record for getting somewhere as it was now 7 AM body time by the time we stumbled into bed. That travel record, (we hope never to repeat) is 26 hours on 3 different planes.  Hopefully, the rest of the trip will not be as stressful.

We are following our usual pattern when we have an early morning flight, by spending the night at a hotel near the airport tonight. Our flight to Yangon begins in Seattle this time. If you recall we sometimes drive to Vancouver, B.C. because international flights are often cheaper from there because of more competition.  For this trip I found the flights beginning in Seattle were just as competitive so we are leaving from here.  We have a short hop on Alaska Airlines to Vancouver, a 2 hour layover, then flights on China Southern  Airlines to Guangzhou, China and on to Bangkok, Thailand.  Although there were several options to get to Thailand, we chose to fly China Southern as the reviews of its service have been positive , plus we will be flying business class on a new 787 which is heck of an airplane.

Yes I know we are headed to Yangon, Myanmar but bad flight timing convinced me to simply spend the night in Bangkok with a mid-morning flight the next day to our ultimate destination, Yangon, Myanmar (formerly known as Burma).  As it is we land at 11PM in Bangkok and there is a Novotel hotel at the Bangkok airport terminal. We will catch up on any lost sleep, eat a leisurely breakfast and catch our 1:45 PM flight to Yangon to begin our tour of Myanmar.