Myanmar: Nyuang Shwe, Bagan Pt 2, Yangon








July 13 & 14: Nyuang Shwe

Recovering from the trek in luxury. We chose this hotel because of the bath tub. Excellent choice.



We spent the vast majority of time playing cards, watching movies, and having baths.

We spotted this really cute owl-filled restaurant, and ended up having the best meal in Myanmar. It was Western, but totally comfort food and super filling. We were very happy.





July 15: Nyuang Shwe

We loved One Owl Grill so much, and missed their incredible breakfasts (one of which was called Breakzit) so tried to go back but they were closed :( So sad. Instead, we went to another establishment owned by the same people. We thought they would have the same food, but no. Excellent coffee, disappointing food.

I felt like wandering the city, and Andy went in search of WiFi.

 This is the first temple I've seen under construction (as opposed to restoration). They use concrete!

View across the river 

Cute 'Welcome to Nyuang Shwe/Inle Lake' sign

Buddha in the temple pictured below 




Got myself a foot massage, which actually turned out to be a leg, neck and shoulder massage. Incredible, and so, so nice.

At 7pm we were picked up for our night bus to head back to Bagan. This night bus was very different from those in Vietnam: 3 people across with an aisle between each, foot rest, calf rest, huge recline, neck pillows, blankets, fig cakes, and a small Coca Cola and bottle of water for each of us. Oh! And a lemon-scented wet wipe, for good measure. Glorious. Keep in mind, we decided to pay the little extra for a VIP bus, and it was so worth it.

July 16: Bagan

We arrived at 4:30am to the bus terminal that was 8km outside of town, so caught a taxi to our guest house. You may be asking, why go back to Bagan? I felt like we didn't take advantage of our time there. I really wanted to get over my fear of motorbikes by renting an e-Bike and I felt like we didn't do enough temple exploring. So, back we went! And, luckily for us, we arrived at a time when they didn't check our tourism cards so we didn't have to pay twice. Success!

We were told that we could not check in until 2pm, so decided to walk to a temple for sunrise. We accidentally walked through a monastery, and unfortunately for us, we chose a temple overlooking the river i.e. the sunset spot. Womp womp. However, it was neat that we chose a temple that was active and full of people at that hour. Also, we noticed a bunch of animals eating the food offerings and figure that Buddhists don't shoo them away because they are reincarnations and are thus potential relatives.

We went back to the Northern Breeze Guest House hoping to change clothes and then wander about town, but there was a room magically ready for us so we managed to get some good sleep before venturing out for food. This time in Bagan, we chose to stay in New Bagan to be closer to some action (so to speak). This room had the best shower in our travels thus far. Super fantastic shower head and I was super duper happy.

We wandered out for lunch, decided it was too damn hot, and went back to our air conditioned room. After the mountains of Kalaw, we were not prepared for the midday heat in Bagan. At 6, we decided to go for a walk to a sunset spot along the river (sunset was at 7 so we would have plenty of time). A really nice lady stopped to help us figure out where we were going, and said she was going to the same spot. Burmese folks are super nice. I really like these people.

We were walking along when this woman came back on her bike, telling us that the spot was crowded and we should follow her to a quieter spot. So we did! It was really nice!

                      Clouds really make sunsets gorgeous, unless they block out everything ha.




On the walk back to the guest house, the sky just got prettier and prettier.

 So on our walk back, the woman who helped us stopped us and asked if we'd like to buy some paintings. They were gorgeous! Apparently this is pretty normal; people give directions and then try to sell you paintings, which is illegal :s We were really hungry by the time it was dark, and found a great place, with the best food in Bagan (in our humble opinion). I was really craving a hunk of meat and that's exactly what I got at this great "Italian" place called San Carlo. The best part: they had a dog named Snow, because he's white, but they have never seen snow.... I asked 'Have you ever seen snow?' and he pointed to the dog hahaha 


July 17: Bagan

I was on a mission to rent an eBike and see the sunrise. We woke up early, but Andy didn't get a good sleep so opted not to come with me. Big mistake! I went to Kyan Ma Ba and loved it. 





I got back to the guest house and had a really nice breakfast, then read a bunch until Andy was ready to rent an eBike so we could go temple exploring. I was really nervous getting on the eBike, so I was given a smaller bike. The good news: they only go to 30km/h. Nice and slow. Bagan was a great place to get back on a bike, too, because it wasn't busy at all. Wee!

We really enjoyed going around to different temples, but the sun was REALLY hot and exhausting.


A lot of the temples and stupas require driving on sandy roads. We learned the hard way to go very slow along these and not to change direction quickly. Andy landed in a bush of nettles, and hurt himself most trying to push off from the ground (not from falling). It was unsettling for us both, but no one was hurt. Phew!

It was absolutely fantastic to be back in Bagan, and I am so grateful that we were able to do it. I was really set on seeing the sunset from Ta Wet, but there were clouds so it wasn't as great as I was hoping.


We dropped our bikes off just after the sun had set and managed to change our clothes just as the Jeepney was pulling up to take us to yet another night bus, very much like the previous night bus.


July 18: Yangon

Taking a taxi in Myanmar is interesting. There are no meters, you simply negotiate a price based on where you want to go and then hop in. Often, they will pause at a certain point to double check a map and make sure they know where you actually want to go. Ha! Luckily for us, we were staying near a well known Pagoda.

I am grateful that our hostel gave explicit instructions for how to get there, otherwise we would not have found it. We arrived at the hostel at 630am, before anyone was awake. I passed out on a mat in the common room for a few hours, and Andy checked us in. I do not sleep well on night buses so needed a few hours to become a person again.

We went out for lunch to a place called Brunch Society. It was super hipster. I was craving some good coffee, and was not disappointed.




We went back to rest at the hostel for a few hours and then met up with my dear CISV friend, Akari! She took us to Shwedagon Pagoda, which is MASSIVE, and then we went for sushi. It was a fantastic evening.



So, when Europeans came to Myanmar, they thought the Pagoda was made of gold, so they tried to excavate it and were sorely disappointed that it was only painted. Technically, the original Shwedagon is inside the current Pagoda (they had to construct a new one over top of the one the Europeans ruined).

A neat thing about the Pagoda: it has daily corners .... There are shrines with animals for each day of the week. You are meant to go to the shrine that corresponds with the day of the week on which you were born. So, I went to Thursday corner.



July 19: Yangon

It's a national holiday in Myanmar, to commemorate the deaths of 9 political leaders who fought for independence. During breakfast, there was suddenly a LOT of honking by the cars outside (for a solid minute!) and people stopped moving. Turns out, it was at that specific time that Aung Sun was shot in 1947 and it's a really big deal. I guess it's kind of like how in Canada we pause at 11:11am on November 11th to remember our veterans.

After breakfast at the hostel, Andy and I wanted to check out the market. Well, the first market was closed, so we wandered to a fancy mall for some a/c and hoped to find the second market. Well, we chose to get food at the mall, and wander about for a bit before we met up with Akari.

She took us on a little walk and then on public transit, and thank goodness because there is no way we would've managed that on our own. We went to the big market, but alas, it was closed, so instead we went to the mall haha

Akari and I wanted beer, but the only place to get it in the mall was a really Western grocery store. I wanted to buy all kinds of things but knew that taking them in my backpack would be rather difficult.

We went out for ice cream to Sharky's, then back to our hostel to pack up everything. We ate dinner at a little Thai place and the power went out. This is quite common in Myanmar. It would seem that the population has outgrown the power grid and most places have their own generator.

Had an excellent time with Akari and am super grateful that we got to see each other again!



Overall, I absolutely loved Myanmar. The people are super friendly and helpful, the buses always left early (what?!), and even though my body was rejecting rice, I had a fantastic time. I strongly recommend heading to Myanmar :)









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