Myanmar + Mausi + Travel Video + Last Set of Bagan Photos!

I'm officially out of Myanmar photos to post! These are the last of the lot, and for real this time. I saved them for posting with our Myanmar travel video, which Mabs has dutifully edited, and now it's finally here!

I absolutely love my GoPro Hero2 - Mabs and I each bought one at half-off from Black Friday last year and I really love how the footage turned out, especially the ones from when I would just leave the camera in a corner or on the ground to record random stuff. Mix that up with footage from Mabs' badass Canon EOS camera and play them with Mausi's awesome summer track "sol." in the background and voila, an epic travel video to forever remind us of our awesome trip to Burma.

Even more awesome is how Mausi tweeted me back when I sent them the link to the video, AND they retweeted the link to their followers, and they followed me back! My love for them just increased by about a thousandfold.

Check out the video below, and my last photos of Bagan under the cut!

My fangirl heart is happy! Mausi is awesome! :)

Myanmar Travel Tips

Traveling to Myanmar is a great adventure you shouldn't miss, and one you should take soon, before it gets crowded with tourists. Read on for a few tips we gained from our recent trip to Yangon and Bagan. I hope these are helpful when you go on your own Burmese adventure!

Life in Flip Flops: A Thousand Buddhas & Corridors, Bagan, Myanmar

I took so many photos when we went to Bagan, and these are the last of the lot - my final favorites. I love that they're bathed in the orange glow of the Burmese afternoon sun, or otherwise steeped in shadow from within the halls and corridors of the ancient temples that surrounded us for three days.

On our last day, I thought I had had enough of the temples, opting to spend our final afternoon in the cool shelter of our hotel. As the sun set and dusk approached, we rode a van that took us out of the archaeological complex to the bus stop, where we would take an overnight trip back to Yangon. I caught a glimpse of the temples as we drove past and felt a sense of great panic at the realization that it was the last time I would catch a glimpse of them. I don't know why I felt it, a sense of sadness tinged with great regret that I did not spend the time I had that afternoon for one final moment around the temples. It was irrational, and a tad too dramatic, and it was the worst feeling of separation anxiety I have had in any of my trips. I must've really fallen in love with Bagan to have felt that way.

Where to Stay in Bagan, Myanmar: Bagan Thande Hotel

Bagan Thande Hotel - book now at special rates via Agoda.com
Archaeological Zone, Old Bagan,
Bagan, Myanmar 05232
http://www.baganthandehotel.net/


In a nutshell:
Excellent location, relaxing & spacious surrounds, a bit of a splurge for a backpacker's budget, but worth it!

Rating: 4 / 5

The Beautiful Burmese: Portraits from Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon, Myanmar

I spent more time taking photos of the Burmese locals in Shwedagon Pagoda than of its massive, ornate structures. I hate to admit it, but at some point in our temple exploration of Myanmar, all temples, pagodas and stupas began to look the same, and I prefer temple ruins and ones that are unpainted and made of exposed bricks to brightly colored new ones anyway. As I made a post about the beautiful locals of Bagan, here are some portraits from our visit to Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon.

Life in Flip Flops: Brief Encounters on Our Last Day in Yangon, Myanmar

Our stay in Yangon had been largely transitory, a necessary stopover to Bagan, and our final departure point out of Myanmar when the trip was over. Upon landing at the airport from Kuala Lumpur, we stayed in the capital for less than twelve hours before we took an overnight bus for Bagan. After three days in Bagan, we went back to Yangon for one final day before our flight back to Kuala Lumpur early the next morning.

Pleasant Surprises, Yangon, Myanmar

Before we left for our trip to Myanmar, Mabs and I worried about a few things we had never worried about in our other trips to other countries. We worried about the quality and condition of our dollar bills, having read that the Burmese were very particular about only accepting mint condition US dollars, and that ATMs were few and far between and credit cards were largely unheard of. We worried about not having roaming on our phones because our Philippine providers didn't have partnerships with Burmese providers yet. The fact that Myanmar had only begun to open up to travelers a few years prior seemed to mean, at least from all the research we had done, that there was much about it that was very different from our own country. It was definitely going to be a trip to take us out of our comfort zone.

We visited Burma at a time when it was still relatively Indochina's Great Unknown, the region's Great Undiscovered (this, however, is something that is changing very rapidly). So I was surprised at how at ease I felt almost immediately upon landing in the capital of Yangon. The airport was new and well-maintained, immigration was a breeze and getting our dollars changed equally so. The lady at the tourism booth was exceptionally kind and helpful, and our cab driver was the same way.  The heat was horrendous, traffic was pretty bad, but I could say the same for Manila. Burmese hip hop played through the radio in moderate volume while I looked out the window of our cab to gain my first impressions of Myanmar - my first real, authentic impressions, the ones I made for myself, with my own eyes, and not from the stuff I read or heard from others.

Travel is inherently related to perspective. Even a routine road trip to a beach you've been to so many times since your childhood can have an effect on how you see things. Imagine then how flying to a mysterious, mystical and newly welcoming foreign country can change you. All the stuff you've read and heard won't do it justice, this post you're reading won't do it justice, because the perspective you will gain from actually seeing the place for yourself, for actually being there, will be unique and will only be completely true for you and you alone. 

For every worry I had about coming to Myanmar, the country seemed to have a pleasant surprise waiting for me to defy it. Within only a few hours upon landing, my anxiety-filled view of coming into this new, foreign place had been pretty much washed away by the joy and excitement of being in a strange new environment and meeting its inhabitants. In the crazy Burmese heat, I learned to relish in pleasant surprises.

10 Must-See Temples In And Around Old Bagan, Myanmar (+ A Fairly Relaxed 3D2N Bagan Itinerary)

Two nights spent in transit without a decent bed to sleep on, two flights across three countries, hours at the airport and a nearly 12-hour bus ride - everything was worth it when we climbed up our very first temple in Bagan to catch our first sunrise in mystical Burma. 

We spent our 3 days in Bagan, Myanmar exploring thousand year-old temples, moving from one place to another on foot, on a horse cart, and on rented bikes. The experience was magical, and I wish we could've stayed longer, but as it always does on short term travels, the real world, my desk at the office and 200+ emails waited eagerly for my return, so 3 days (net of transit and a short stay in Yangon, the Burmese capital) were all I could spare. Regardless, it was enough for us to explore the main temples in and around Old Bagan fairly leisurely, with afternoon naps and daily dips in the hotel pool on the side (we stayed in Bagan Thande Hotel, which was at the heart of Old Bagan. Review coming soon!)! Read on and discover the ten must-see temples in and around Old Bagan, and a fairly relaxed 3 days and 2 nights itinerary that covers all ten temples (and a few more).

The Beautiful Burmese: Portraits of Bagan Locals, Myanmar

In my previous travels I've enjoyed taking photos of beautiful scenery, quaint streets, mundane details of everyday local life, even marine life, but I've always felt lacking in my skills when it comes to taking photographs of people. I always attempt to take photos of the interesting individuals I chance upon when I'm on the road and have posted about my efforts once or twice, but I've always felt that I could be better at it. So before my recent trip to Myanmar, I told myself that I would make a conscious effort to take photos of the interesting individuals I would meet in my exploration of mystical Bagan.

I couldn't have chosen a better country to take on this personal challenge. The people of Myanmar are lovely - simple, sincere, and friendly, they are a joy to photograph. In the dusty orange-brown landscape of Bagan, the locals' bright and warm smiles stand out with their thousand-old Buddhist temples in the background. Monks in their red robes, men confidently adorning their longyi (it takes a real man to wear a skirt), women with thanaka on their cheeks and flowers in their hair, and children with smiles in their eyes. Below are a my personal favorites of the photos I took of the beautiful Burmese people, with a little bit of a story in each of them.