For years I’ve been wanting to visit Myanmar (Burma) but somehow throughout the long time that I’ve lived in Asia I’ve failed to visit. It was only recently on a business trip to Asia that I was able to take a weekend+ to go see Yangon and Bagan, the obvious highlights, and get a taste of this mysterious country. I can’t remember the last time I spent a few days walking around in nearly 40c, but the Bagan area in northern Myanmar is practically a desert, and so coming in from the Dutch under zero temperatures I roamed through the hundreds of Bagan temples in insanely hot weather.
The first day I mostly did things on foot, and although that led to some surreal adventures with the locals it was a bit too much to bare. The second day I did it the usual tourist way – on an electronic motorbike, and it was definitely easier and covered more grounds, but had much less of an interaction with people and felt too ‘easy’. So, the two days combined, I was able to experience the best of the two worlds, and even though the heat was almost bearable, I could see how people can live in such harsh environments. Suddenly, the cool air temples with their gigantic relaxing Buddhas made perfect sense – I, too, was elated when I ventured into these temples.
Although at the end of these two days I was completely exhausted and depleted, these were – by far – the best two-day adventure I’ve had in a long time. They brought me back to my glorious days of backpacking throughout south-east Asia and reminded me just how much I need a sense of adventure in my life. Europe, with all its perks and well-balanced life and high culture-history, just doesn’t come close.
To give you a taste of those wonderful couple of days, here are my visions of Bagan, Burma…
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More on Bagan and Myanmar to follow soon…