Day 273 - First day visiting Pagodas
Saturday, April 6th, 2019.
After breakfast, we practiced riding the e-bikes before we ventured outside. Let me clarify, rather than practice, I needed to try it for the first time before we went out on the road. Gregory was happy and confident. It was easy to drive but I was nervous because I had a kid on the back and the balancing was a little different.
I can not remember how many Pagodas we visited today but we stopped at one of the main ones to buy the tickets. You can probably get away without the ticket if you plan to visit many of the small pagodas but at the main and popular pagodas, you were asked to show your ticket. They fine you if you get caught visiting without a ticket so we ended up buying the ticket, which is good for four days!
There are only 2,200 Pagodas left in the town now. At some point there were over 10,000 pagodas that different kings commissioned over the years. Unesco declared Bagan a patrimony of humanity for its architectural value. It is impressive to see how they placed each brick over another one giving a pointed top. Some of the Pagodas have frescoes from the XII century. There are many types of Pagodas with different kinds of windows, halls, stairs, patios. The inside is very cool, no wonder the birds and the wasps make their nests inside them on the ceilings or behind one of the many huge Buddha statues that you can find inside the Pagodas.
We stopped to see a Pagoda with a river view, this one was popular and full of locals. I didn’t see any other tourists. We saw many families having their food on some kind of patio. Other families were crouched down and bowing, touching the floor with their foreheads and praying to Buddha. Other families were taking pictures and some kids were playing and running around the outside of the Pagoda.
I like to observe the dynamic of the families and what they do in the pagodas. Right outside the Pagodas, there is always water for everyone! There are also many vendors selling offerings like jasmine flowers on a string that people put around the Buddhas statues. Everywhere you go, you can smell the delicious fragrance of the flowers. We also saw many monks dressed in red and also nuns dressed in pink and orange.
Bagan is a sacred place where people come on pilgrimages from different parts of Myanmar. We came from across the world to admire and learn from this humble religion. The kids were done by noon, and okay, we were too, mostly because it was extremely hot. We were melting and needed to get out of the sun. I noticed that the roads were emptier at noon, no wonder why. We pulled over on the side of the road to go to a little restaurant (which was really just a few plastic chairs planted in the dirt under a tarp) where there was a tour group of locals. First I argued that it wasn’t clean because there were no bathrooms or running water but every time I point this out, Sunshine and Gregory and even Daniel tell me that it is okay. I just pray, wash my hands and enjoy the food! The meal came to 10,000 kyats which is $6.50. We only ordered one dish with chicken and we mostly ate the vegetables and steamed rice.
We took our bikes back to the hotel where we change into our swimsuits and jumped in the pool! This was the best part of the day. We swam, then showered and relaxed in our comfortable and quiet hotel!
After breakfast, we practiced riding the e-bikes before we ventured outside. Let me clarify, rather than practice, I needed to try it for the first time before we went out on the road. Gregory was happy and confident. It was easy to drive but I was nervous because I had a kid on the back and the balancing was a little different.
I can not remember how many Pagodas we visited today but we stopped at one of the main ones to buy the tickets. You can probably get away without the ticket if you plan to visit many of the small pagodas but at the main and popular pagodas, you were asked to show your ticket. They fine you if you get caught visiting without a ticket so we ended up buying the ticket, which is good for four days!
There are only 2,200 Pagodas left in the town now. At some point there were over 10,000 pagodas that different kings commissioned over the years. Unesco declared Bagan a patrimony of humanity for its architectural value. It is impressive to see how they placed each brick over another one giving a pointed top. Some of the Pagodas have frescoes from the XII century. There are many types of Pagodas with different kinds of windows, halls, stairs, patios. The inside is very cool, no wonder the birds and the wasps make their nests inside them on the ceilings or behind one of the many huge Buddha statues that you can find inside the Pagodas.
We stopped to see a Pagoda with a river view, this one was popular and full of locals. I didn’t see any other tourists. We saw many families having their food on some kind of patio. Other families were crouched down and bowing, touching the floor with their foreheads and praying to Buddha. Other families were taking pictures and some kids were playing and running around the outside of the Pagoda.
I like to observe the dynamic of the families and what they do in the pagodas. Right outside the Pagodas, there is always water for everyone! There are also many vendors selling offerings like jasmine flowers on a string that people put around the Buddhas statues. Everywhere you go, you can smell the delicious fragrance of the flowers. We also saw many monks dressed in red and also nuns dressed in pink and orange.
Bagan is a sacred place where people come on pilgrimages from different parts of Myanmar. We came from across the world to admire and learn from this humble religion. The kids were done by noon, and okay, we were too, mostly because it was extremely hot. We were melting and needed to get out of the sun. I noticed that the roads were emptier at noon, no wonder why. We pulled over on the side of the road to go to a little restaurant (which was really just a few plastic chairs planted in the dirt under a tarp) where there was a tour group of locals. First I argued that it wasn’t clean because there were no bathrooms or running water but every time I point this out, Sunshine and Gregory and even Daniel tell me that it is okay. I just pray, wash my hands and enjoy the food! The meal came to 10,000 kyats which is $6.50. We only ordered one dish with chicken and we mostly ate the vegetables and steamed rice.
We took our bikes back to the hotel where we change into our swimsuits and jumped in the pool! This was the best part of the day. We swam, then showered and relaxed in our comfortable and quiet hotel!
For picture please click here
https://photos.app.goo.gl/csBE51RyaMZmAUay6
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