“But what if I fall? Oh but my darling, what if you fly?”
– Erin Hanson
It’s been my dream for years to visit Bagan! If you know me, then you know how much I love hot air balloons. Bagan is one of the most beautiful spots in the world to participate in a hot air balloon ride.
We arrived midday from a 5 hour bus ride from Mandalay. Bagan is quite a small town with three major areas to stay: New Bagan, Old Bagan and Nyaung-U. We stayed in Nyaung-U which is furthest away from the temples but had a wide variety of accommodation and restaurants to choose from.
First of all Bagan (also known as Pagan) is home to the largest area of Buddhist temples, pagodas, stupas and ruins in the world. As info:
- Pagoda is a generic term for a stupa or a temple.
- Stupas are pagodas you can’t go into – because there is no entrance.
- Temples are pagodas that you can go inside and typically have four entrances and exits located north, south, east and west with a Buddha at each entrance.
With the most dense concentration of pagodas scattered over twenty-five square miles of plains. At the time when they were built around the 11th and 12th centuries, there were around 10,000 temples. To this day only about 2,200 remain. Still ALOT!
What to do in Bagan?
First and foremost, watch the sunrise! Every morning is an ascension of hot air balloons flying over the temples. It’s absolutely stunning.
As of February 2017, you are no longer allowed to watch the sunrise/sunset from the terraces of the pagodas. This is allegedly due to a young girl fatally falling from climbing up a pagoda. Also, these pagodas were built centuries ago so with so many still remaining they are not able to continually maintain each one to keep standards safe.
While ballooning has always been popular in Bagan, now it’s in the lead offering the best sunrise views of temples and balloons. I may have ballooned once or twice before… in Albuquerque, NM, USA at the hot air balloon fiesta ascending with hundreds of balloons from all over the world and in Cappadocia, Turkey over the unique, fairytale moon like rock landscapes on which the town is built. I’ve loved both times so much and had dreamed of experiencing a balloon flight in Bagan as well for years now. Let’s just say, I am not the type to pass up a solid balloon ride!
Upon arriving Bagan we set out for inquiring about taking a ride. One thing we’ve learned from our past experiences is the unpredictability of hot air balloon flights. They are completely dependent on the weather, the wind in particular. So we decided to book our first morning in Bagan to give us the following 3 mornings as back up in case the first attempt did not work out.
There are three hot air balloon companies in Bagan. Golden Eagle, Balloons over Bagan and Oriental. It just so happened the office for Oriental was across the street from our accommodation. After speaking with them then comparing with the other two companies we decided to go with Oriental. I’m sure they are all equally great but we found Oriental to have smaller baskets so we opted for them to be 8 total on the ride.
We were picked up at 5:30am from our guesthouse, then transported to the take off field where they had tents set up with pastries/cereal and coffee for breakfast. As we ate some breakfast, the preparation for flight began.
By 6:30am we were up and about! Bagan is a very foggy city so only around 6:30 was the sun finally visible.
I can’t even begin to describe how beautiful the ride was. Seeing the 2,000+ pagodas from an aeriel view was astonishing!
It really put into perspective how many there are scattered about. Big/small, overgrown/well kept – it was incredible. Our pilot even gave us a little tour, pointing out certain temples and giving us some background information.
The flight lasted for about an hour.
Afterwards we sat in the landing field sharing our travel stories that led us to Bagan while eating freshly cut fruit and sipping champagne. If you didn’t already know it is tradition to drink French champagne after a balloon flight. This tradition pays homage to the French who invented the hot air balloon, one version of the story being that they would carry champagne to present upon landing in the farm fields to show their class amongst the peasants. It’s a funny tradition considering balloon rides are usually done at sunrise. So champagne at 8am it is!
As for post sunrise activities the thing to do is, rent e-bikes/scooters and ride around exploring the temples.
We spent about two days riding around the plains of Bagan. Because there are so many temples all spread out through out the area, the days are spent free from crowds. We almost never ran into other tourists except for when visiting the handful of larger, we’ll maintained temples.
All the temples we encountered were so beautiful. Most consisted of dark brick. All varying in size and style.
Most of all I just enjoyed the freedom and beauty of riding around aimlessly. We would be on tiny dirt roads stumbling upon conglomerates of pagodas at a time completely desolate! It was very beautiful and serene.
At every temple it is required to take your shoes off before stepping around or inside the pagoda. While there are no people around to enforce this, it is widely known knowledge and best to respect their ancient traditions. This goes for covered shoulders and knees as well.
Some of the temples we encountered during our days of exploration:
We persisted to wake up each following morning for the sunrise as well. While I mentioned before that temples have been closed off to tourist in terms of climbing, we heard of a few where the stairs had not been locked yet. A little loop hole. So each morning we set out to find these gems that have been skipped over temporarily with hopes that we could get to the terraces up top.
The first morning we found the temple easily and ascended the stairs where we found a pair of friends had already set up camp. We joined them and sat looking east to catch the sunrise and balloons. After waiting a while and not seeing any balloons we were left discouraged until we looked to the right and realized they had ascended from a different area (due to wind conditions- you never know which direction the wind will take you til that morning). It turned out to be just perfect. The balloons ended up passing right in front of us and above the overwhelming amount of temples in our view!
It was nothing less than magical!
The second morning we set out to a temple we had discovered the day before. We noticed there were stairs so we figured we would try it out. To our surprise we arrived during pitch black and made our way up only to realize that there was a semi busy road nearby. With fear of being seen we just laid flat, hidden waiting for the sunrise. Right around 6:30 when we were finally going to sit up to catch the sunrise, a group of 4 locals had climbed the temple telling us we were not allowed to be there. (They must’ve seen our sandals at the bottom of the steps). We were bummed and then walked out into the field to catch the balloons from the ground. We only saw them pass by for a short period of time at this point.
Our last morning we didn’t want to run the risk of climbing up the wrong temple and being so secretive so we researched one that had been pretty crowded as it was another loop hole that everyone had found out about. Upon arriving there were about 25 of us. It was fine with me! I didn’t have to lay hidden for an hour! This temple was great! By 6:30 they were up and passing in the distance only to realize that minutes later they were on their way right past us.
Then they started passing right on top of us! It was amazing! It’s all chance where they will fly and whether you chose a good temple according to wind that day so we turned out to be super lucky today!
Apart from the beauty and adventure we experienced in Bagan, we also had one delectable meal after another. Tea houses are very popular all throughout Myanmar. It is the spot to get together with friends or family and waste your afternoon away. They specialize in free flowing tea with whatever leaf is most popular in the area so the tea is very light and calm. They also serve pastries to accompany the tea, fried bread, dough, dumplings, samosas etc along with simple noodle and rice dishes. When ordering a dish it comes with complimentary soup as well. We were averaging 50-75 cents each at these local tea houses! This included complimentary tea, soup and then cheap noodle/rice dishes and/or pastries! It was great.
We even tried family style Burmese lunch buffet. They give you a plate of rice then bring 10–15 side dishes to try varying from vegetables, curries, meats, fruits, traditional salads etc. With our newfound knowledge of the pronunciation of ‘vegetarian’ in Burmese (tat-tat-lo) (which directly translates to ‘without life’) that has been our saving grace going to these local Burmese tents and tea houses. They understand perfectly giving us local food without the meat!
Not to mention our guest house which had breakfast included each morning where they would come out with the best breakfast spread I’ve had in Asia thus far. Samosas, eggs, toast, fried dough with honey, fresh cut fruit, enough bananas to start a banana stand, juice, tea, and coffee! Then once you finished they would ask if you wanted more. Seriously?!
Our days spent in Bagan will forever be some of the most magical days I’ve ever experienced. With days starting at 5 in the morning, casting your eyes on the sun’s arrival for a new day with balloons passing by in a sweet, serene nature. Then afternoons spent in the hot sun whisking around on scooters to desolate temples. Bagan, you were truly unforgettable!
Recommendations
Accommodation
- Shwe Na Di guesthouse in Nyang-U. 16USD per night. Amazing breakfast included.
Transport
- Shwe Na Di guesthouse. E-bike rental.5,000kyat per day.
- JJ Express. Reliable, quality night bus to Yangon with entertainment and snacks provided. 20USD
Food
- Myanmar Food Restaurant (Tent set up on Shwezigon Pagoda St. and Lanmadaw 3 Rd. serving Burmese family style buffet for 3,000kyats each)
- Perfect Teahouse (cheap and local, free flow of tea)
- Khiang Wah Teahouse (cheap and local, free flow of tea)
- Moe Pyae San Vegetarian restaurant. (Cheap and local, the Burmese aubergine salad was THE BEST!)
Local Market
- Mani Sithu Market. Off the grid local market with longyis, fresh fruit and just about anything you could possibly need.
