After taking photographs at a windy night yesterday, today we woke up at 5.30 am and have a very horrible choice for breakfast at Kyaikhtyo Hotel. I found the food unedible but the sunny side up and end up eating nothing. I tried to drink the tea, after a sip of very bitter taste in my tounge I stopped drinking. So when I pack my luggage, I took a crackers I brought from home and eat it on the way.

A monk walking barefoot on a rainy morning in Kyaikhtiyo

There were monks asking for donation in front of the hotel entrance, we learned that monks in Myanmar is very different with Chinese, Tibet, and other monks we thought of before. In Myanmar, monks are living from day-to-day donation and preaching. There are many monks everywhere in Kyaikhtiyo, all of them carrying a small bowl for donations.

A junior monk at Kyaikhtiyo

We depart around 8 from the hill and arrived at 9 at the base camp, where our car to Yangon been waiting. Due to our early arrival in the base camp, we visited an old monastery in Bago, where only 9 monks were living. The monkees were playing football when we arrived. We look around the 130 years old monastery then continue our way to Yangon Airport.

Monkees playing football at Old Monastery in Bago

Our lunch was at Shwe Pyi Resort and Restaurant, a decent restaurant on the way. I ate another chicken fried rice (I didn’t like how Myanmar people cooked pork) and have an orange juice as well. The resort is well maintained and looks clean, with a lake in the center of it.

Shwe Pyi Resort and Restaurant

Thirty minutes from the restaurant we visited Taukkyan War Cemetery, where British and Indian army in World War 2 are burried. The cemetery is a must visit for architecture lover, its symmetry an simplicity is excellent. British government are still paying for the maintanance of the cemetery today, makes it a clean and comfortable place to spent an evening walk. There were several couples and local people strolling an sitting across the park, few of them taking pictures with a selfie stick.

Taukkyan War Cemetery, Yangon.

Taukkyan War Cemetery, Yangon.

We were then transfered to airport and waited until our flight at 15.00, but it was delayed. The domestic terminal of Yangon Airport is adequate, but far from great in many ways. The toilet is clean but lack of adequate lighting, the TV showing flight schedule isn’t updated, and there is no clear procedure on how we go to the plane.

Taukkyan War Cemetery, Yangon.

We board the plane at 15.30, it was a small ATR passenger airplane. The first stop was Heho, it took one hour there, where the plane dropped half of the passenger and we were asked to move to the back of the plane to balance it. With another 40 minutes we landed at Nyaung U Airport in Bagan. We were picked up by another local guide and went straight to Shwesandaw Pagoda for sunset.

Landscape from the air before landing in Nyaung-U Airport, Bagan

The sunset in Bagan was at 6.50 pm, a little bit late than usual. We hiked toward the top of the pagoda where other tourist are located, waiting for sunset on a cloudy sky. Stairs to the top circle is very steep and quite dangerous, however there is a handrail to hold on to, you have to take the steps one by one and make sure your bad knee take a good rest.

View from Shwesandaw Pagoda at evening, Bagan

View from Shwesandaw Pagoda at evening, Bagan

We waited for an hour until the sky turns dark blue and the lighting are litted around the pagodas and temples. Bagan is certainly the most spectacular archeological site I’ve visited so far, the surrounding environment does feel like ancient time and the architectural structure is well maintained. Photographers will definitely love this place, simply outstanding and makes you speechless.

View from Shwesandaw Pagoda at evening, Bagan

View from Shwesandaw Pagoda at sunset, Bagan

We went to our hotel, Su Tine San, at eight and have dinner in the hotel, where they charged in US$ and more expensive compared to our previous meal. A decent meal cost $15 while we could get it for around $8 in another place.

WP