Day 275- Just the 2 of Us Visit Gu Byauk Gyi Myin Kabar Pagoda and a Few others
Monday, April 8th - More Pagodas
We decided to stay one more day in Bagan since we like the hotel and our bungalows. We have a very nice view of the pool, some pagodas, and many trees. I love to sit by the window inside mostly because the temperature has been ranging from 85 to 100 F.
Today we slept in until 8:30am. Sunshine knocked on the door to remind us that breakfast is served until 9:00am. After breakfast, we were feeling a little lazy about going to see more pagodas -- it's our third day after all! Sunshine and Daniel stayed in the hotel to get some homework done and just relax. Gregory and I rented only one e-bike and it was great because I really got to see all the pagodas instead of watching the road!
We only made two stops but we spent more time. Our first stop was an unnamed pagoda, but there were also other three more just a stone's throw from each other, so we visited all of them. Each one was different in size but all of them had the huge Buddha in the center and one of them was really in bad shape: the ceiling was cracked and it looked like it could fall at any minute. [Gregory's note: we didn't stay long in that one.]
Just after we arrived, we saw a light truck completely packed with passengers. There were people even sitting on the roof. I had to take a picture, so I did. When the passengers saw me, they smiled and waved. I asked if it was OK to take a picture and everyone smiled and nodded.
I took several pictures and then people started to get off the truck. One girl approached and asked if she could take a picture with me. I nodded and then took the picture. Almost immediately, everyone wanted to take pictures with us. It was super funny! A mom bringing her two kids to have their pictures taken with us. Everyone was smiling and laughing, it was like we made their day! People are super friendly in this country!
After half an hour we got back on our bike and went to Gu Byauk Gyi Myin Kabar temple that had many frescoes inside. At first, I thought it was going to be like most of the ones that we had seen but then a man approached us and showed us the walls full of 12th-century frescoes. He had a big light and showed us the paintings of the many lives of Buddha. He was going very fast and his English was not good [Gregory's note: I'm still not convinced he was speaking English. I think he was making sounds, and a few of them sounded like English words] so I kept asking him to slow down. Instead, he gave us the light and told us to take our time. It was very interesting to see the paintings and all the details explaining Buddha's incarnations. When the guide came to check on us, he told us some stories about the paintings that I would love to share but I’m not sure how much I understood and how much I would be making up. He told us that we could look them up online. He spent a long time trying to tell us Stories 246 and 357.
Afterward, when we were leaving, we were stopped by an artist who we had promised we would visit. We had already bought 2 paintings but we ended up buying one from him. He had a photo with the Aung Sung Suu Kyi, the president. Who knows, he might be famous one day and we got one of his artwork. By then we were tired and melting from the heat. People lie down everywhere with this heat, even inside the pagodas which are dark and cool.
We went back to our hotel and I ran to the kids' room while our room cooled down. Instead of jumping in the pool, we had a snack in the room and watched TV. What luxury! I spent another hour on the phone trying to figure out where our new credit card was and why it hadn’t arrived. Later we all met by the pool and had a nice swim. [Gregory's note: Chase is usually very good, but a missing international package is apparently way beyond their support agent script and no one there could help. Their only suggestion was to cancel that card and send another one.]
We walked to town around 6:30pm and had dinner at Black Rose again. The food is so tasty there! We said goodbye to all the staff who seemed to know us well by now.
We decided to stay one more day in Bagan since we like the hotel and our bungalows. We have a very nice view of the pool, some pagodas, and many trees. I love to sit by the window inside mostly because the temperature has been ranging from 85 to 100 F.
Today we slept in until 8:30am. Sunshine knocked on the door to remind us that breakfast is served until 9:00am. After breakfast, we were feeling a little lazy about going to see more pagodas -- it's our third day after all! Sunshine and Daniel stayed in the hotel to get some homework done and just relax. Gregory and I rented only one e-bike and it was great because I really got to see all the pagodas instead of watching the road!
We only made two stops but we spent more time. Our first stop was an unnamed pagoda, but there were also other three more just a stone's throw from each other, so we visited all of them. Each one was different in size but all of them had the huge Buddha in the center and one of them was really in bad shape: the ceiling was cracked and it looked like it could fall at any minute. [Gregory's note: we didn't stay long in that one.]
Just after we arrived, we saw a light truck completely packed with passengers. There were people even sitting on the roof. I had to take a picture, so I did. When the passengers saw me, they smiled and waved. I asked if it was OK to take a picture and everyone smiled and nodded.
I took several pictures and then people started to get off the truck. One girl approached and asked if she could take a picture with me. I nodded and then took the picture. Almost immediately, everyone wanted to take pictures with us. It was super funny! A mom bringing her two kids to have their pictures taken with us. Everyone was smiling and laughing, it was like we made their day! People are super friendly in this country!
After half an hour we got back on our bike and went to Gu Byauk Gyi Myin Kabar temple that had many frescoes inside. At first, I thought it was going to be like most of the ones that we had seen but then a man approached us and showed us the walls full of 12th-century frescoes. He had a big light and showed us the paintings of the many lives of Buddha. He was going very fast and his English was not good [Gregory's note: I'm still not convinced he was speaking English. I think he was making sounds, and a few of them sounded like English words] so I kept asking him to slow down. Instead, he gave us the light and told us to take our time. It was very interesting to see the paintings and all the details explaining Buddha's incarnations. When the guide came to check on us, he told us some stories about the paintings that I would love to share but I’m not sure how much I understood and how much I would be making up. He told us that we could look them up online. He spent a long time trying to tell us Stories 246 and 357.
Afterward, when we were leaving, we were stopped by an artist who we had promised we would visit. We had already bought 2 paintings but we ended up buying one from him. He had a photo with the Aung Sung Suu Kyi, the president. Who knows, he might be famous one day and we got one of his artwork. By then we were tired and melting from the heat. People lie down everywhere with this heat, even inside the pagodas which are dark and cool.
We went back to our hotel and I ran to the kids' room while our room cooled down. Instead of jumping in the pool, we had a snack in the room and watched TV. What luxury! I spent another hour on the phone trying to figure out where our new credit card was and why it hadn’t arrived. Later we all met by the pool and had a nice swim. [Gregory's note: Chase is usually very good, but a missing international package is apparently way beyond their support agent script and no one there could help. Their only suggestion was to cancel that card and send another one.]
We walked to town around 6:30pm and had dinner at Black Rose again. The food is so tasty there! We said goodbye to all the staff who seemed to know us well by now.
For pictures please click here
https://photos.app.goo.gl/4Tpfg7kNpL644Mt47
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