Myanmar (Burma) - part 2

Thursday 20 December 2007 - Bagan, Myanmar (Burma)

Took an early morning Air Mandalay flight to Nyaung U airport (closest airport to Bagan). Flights are either early morning or late afternoon and given I don't have accommodation pre-arranged I always chose the early morning flights. I was very happy with Air Mandalay, they served a decent breakfast of either fried egg and fried rice (my selection) or omelette. They also have an in-flight magazine.

At Nyaung U airport, I had to pay 5,000 kyats for a taxi ride to downtown Nyaung U (only 10 minutes away). I attempted to bargain but to no avail. I was at the mercy of the taxi mafia. For 5,000 kyats the taxi driver took me to every guesthouse I wanted to check out before I decided on my accommodation for the night. I literally checked out every single guesthouse in Nyaung U and in the end I choose to stay at Inn Wa guesthouse. The choice was easy, I had windows on two sides of my US$4 room on the 2nd floor with hot shower and air conditioning. The guesthouse was a stone's throw from the market and breakfast was served on the rooftop. Some of the other guesthouses I checked out were just so dark, gloomy, miserable and depressing. The US$4 rate only applied to stays of at least 2 nights. I ended up staying 3 nights. Most of the guesthouses had no more than 5 guests. The tourism industry still hadn't recovered from the demonstrations in October. The streets were quiet given it was the peak season and Bagan is a must see for any tourist to Myanmar (Burma).

After putting down my backpack in my room, I headed to the market. Afterwards, I hired a horsecart for the day for 7,000 kyats. The initial asking price was 8,000 kyats and I counter-offered with 6,000 kyats but the horsecart driver wasn't able to go below 7,000 kyats. Throughout the day I learnt that the horsecart driver does not own the horsecart, he just drives it. Everyday he walks 45 minutes to work and walks another 45 minutes back home. He first took me to Shwezigon Paya (which was closest to Nyaung U). Women and children flocked to me and they asked me to take a picture of a mother and her young daughter. I asked why and they replied that they just like their picture to be taken. Being naive, I obliged and took a picture of them. Immediately afterwards they asked for candy. I took out my pack of unopened candy and within a matter of seconds my sugar rations for my whole trip were gone. Candies were reaped out of my hands, no exaggeration. They then pulled me to their stalls where I was asked to take their goods in exchange for candy. I told them to buy candy from the market and they said that they like foreign candy. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. I wasn't going to fall for their tricks a second time but I wasn't able to leave until I purchased a t-shirt for 2,000 kyats. Throughout the day I visited a number of pagodas (at none of which I was flocked like I was at Shwezigon Paya) but none left a lasting impression in my memory. Perhaps this was because I am not a buddhist. For lunch I had fried noodles and bought my horsecart driver a soda. The highlight of my day was watching sunset from the top of Shwesandaw Paya which was only one of a handful of pagodas that could be climbed to the top. Upon returning to my guest house, I asked my horsecart driver to wait for me while I picked out a t-shirt and some fluro glow sticks for his daughter and son. Yes, I brought fluro glow sticks to Myanmar (Burma) with me!