Myanmar: Bagan "The Golden City"
Bagan "The Golden City"
We’re heading for Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, one of the least known countries in Asia.
Our first stop is Bagan, frequently referred as the “Golden City”, located along the Irrawaddy River. It is the country's largest river and most important commercial waterway. We saw a lot of boats passing by as we walked along the river to Bagan. I think that’s the one of the country’s source of income. However, you can notice that tourism is the country’s main economy as few tourists busses passed us by.
Along the road we saw a few souvenir shops that were specialised in Lacquerware. We decided to come back later to buy a few souvenirs for our families.
As I browsed through my guidebook I got really impatient to finally see this cultural and historical treasure located in the heart of Myanmar. Still to this day Bagan is the world’s largest area of temples, pagodas, stupas and ruins dated from the 11th and 12th centuries.
We finally arrived in Bagan and I was (taken aback) by the beauty of this “city”. We could easily consume three or four days here wandering in the magnificent ruins of Bagan. You get a feeling of freedom when seeing the vast land.
After our excursion to the temples we continued our walk to the farmland. It was rather impressive how their farming equipment is really dated but people still uses these techniques as a sort of regimen.
Afterwards a few of us hired a bike and took a ride throughout the rural countryside. Whenever we saw something we dumbed our bikes in the grass and explored the area , climbing the narrow stairways of the temples. It is something to see farmland and ancient temples intertwine
The rest of the group went for a real treat and flew over Bagan in a hot air balloon.
One of my highlights of the day in Bagan was the sunset. The colours of the sun pierced through the windows of the temples and this deep red sunset shined throughout the whole area. It was overwhelmingly breath taking.
Greets Jihane
Sunset in Bagan
Julie trapped under the balloon
sources:
https://i1.trekearth.com/photos/92908/bagan-sunset-3.jpg
https://wodumedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/American-cluster-balloonist-Jonathan-Trappe-holds-onto-his-balloons-after-landing-on-farmland-in-Moeres-France-Friday-May-28-2010.-Trappe-took-off-from-Challock-England-to-become-the-first-person-to-cross-the-English-Channel-960x647.jpg
www.wikipedia.be