A balloon with a view

I may have mentioned that I hadn't been especially organised with this trip right? Which is why when we enquired about hot air ballooning over Bagan - everywhere was full. No ballooning for us. Not to worry. I got on with having a lovely Christmas with the loves of my life only to get an email from Jodie on Boxing Day saying one of the companies had a cancellation and was I up for it. Was I ever! I think Santa played a part in this - I've been exceptionally good this year.

So that's how we came to be picked up in the pitch black on December 31st 2015. The price of the flight was pretty eye watering ( $380/ person) but I was pleasantly surprised with the Africa safari camp style seating that was laid out for us with coffee and pastries served to our table. The excitement started with the 5 pilots calling out who was in their baskets. 4 British pilots and one American. I was hoping to be a) with Jodie b) in a smaller 8 person balloon ( better viewing) and c) with British pilot Richard. Bingo on all 3. 

So our group got our instructions - all pretty reasonable no standing on the seats, sit down when we land and have fun. That we did. It's a magical experience. We were all given hats to protect our heads from the flame, and up we went. The next hour was one of the most serene of my life - up we floated - the views all around us just mesmerising. One side the calm Ayeyarwady river, another the peak of Mount Popa and everywhere else temple after temple after temple. In the skies alongside our Balloon ( Oriental Ballooning) there were a good 12 other baskets up there - making the skyline look just magnificent.

Our pilot had that British style of humour which put everyone at ease - making jokes out of anyone's stupid comments (' how do you steer?' asked a sweet but naive 18 year old Australian) in between filling us in on his favourite temples. It was from the sky that we decided on our day's temple viewing ( Sulamani Pahto looks exceptional from the sky).

As the journey neared it's end we floated down over the village of Minnanthu - locals waved at us, the steam I thought was mist from up high revealed itself as fires heating the locals food. We passed over farmers and cattle ploughing the fields, women off to work in the nearby Nyaung-U.

We landed safely, drank champagne and I thanked the gods who had let me experience this once in a lifetime morning. That blessing I gave at Ananda Pahto clearly worked......

We flew with: Oriental Ballooning - locally owned but British equipment and pilots. It's not cheap but it truly was priceless in my opinion. I couldn't have enjoyed it more. $380 is worth the splurge. 

Temple heaven

I've been less prepared for this trip than any other - ordinarily I'd have researched things for months in advance. This trip for a variety of reasons is a lot more ' winging it', so apart from some stunning images of Bagan that I'd seen in a magazine article I didn't really know anything else about the place. The epic 10 hour boat ride from Mandalay gave me a chance to read up on the history of the area - and before we even got there I was intrigued. 

There are ( or at least were) more than 4,000 temples built during a huge frenzy of activity between the 11th and 13th centuries. The building was started under the command of King Anawrahta during the first Burmese empire and was continued by his successors. What gripped me though was that it doesn't sound like historians know what happened next - and why what must have been a fabulous city declined in the 13th century. One view is that hordes of Mongolians sent by kublai Khan attacked the city; an alternative theory is that the threat of invasion from China threw the empire into a panic and the Burmese all fled from the city. The British established a presence in the city in the 19th century finding a citywide neglect due to many earthquakes in the area. 

Since 1975 though the area has seen significant restoration investment - I couldn't wait to get into it and see some of the temples. 

It didn't take long for us to see just how a special a place this is - just on the taxi journey from jetty to hotel in New Bagan was passed at least 20 temples relatively close up, and the flat landscape revealed hundreds and hundreds. It would have to wait - we needed beer and a curry after our boat trip. A lovely little family restaurant more than provided that for us - and happy sleep followed.

The next morning our biggest decision was whether to cycle, e-bike or walk around the temples - after trying all 3 options - walking seemed safest for us 😀 we got a taxi to the entrance of ' Ananda Pahto' and our awe of this place began. This temple is currently being restored so not everything was visible to us but we did see 4 incredible 9m high buddhas's inside which was an impressive start. It was I think the most spiritual I've ever felt just walking around inside and outside the temple - so much so that I made an offering at the entrance. 

We then did a circuit of the main old Bagan temples, all completely gorgeous and relatively empty. I calmed atop one to get a good overview - all you can see are hundreds and hundreds of temples all over the place. Incredible. We both loved the calm and peace around the place, and of course the friendly Burmese - always smiling never hassling you. We spend the rest of the day lunching ( TheMoon  veggie cafe in old Bagan), relaxing back at the hotel and working out where to head for sunset. 

Now sunset viewing is when the calm ends......it's as if tourists and locals arrive only for sunset and then disappear again. The little dusty streets become clogged with cars, bikes. Even the cows seem to be on the streets only at around 5.30. With this in mind I have some tips for sunset viewing - go early to get a spot, avoid the busy temples of Shwesandaw Paya and Pyathada Paya unless you get there early and just head to a quiet little temple on your own. On our second night we found a very special spot and just soaked it all up. 

After another family run dinner in New Bagan it was early to bed, we had a 5am alarm call for ballooning the next day....more of that to follow.....

We stayed: Hotel Yardanabon New Bagan. Location quite good hotel just average - cheap though and nice pool

We ate: for dinner we went to Narahtheika restaurant - wonderful cheap food with a French twist, 

Star beam bistro similar to Narantheika with the added advantage of several electricity power cuts during our dinner, the moon in old Bagan is a great veggie spot for lunches and smoothie

We loved: temples wise here were our favourites: Shwesandaw Paya and Pyathada Paya both in the daytime give fabulous views, Ananda Phato stunning spot with incredible buddhas's. Sulamani Phato is gorgeous - probably my favourite. 

The perfect beach?

I love a beach - always have. There is something about the sound of the ocean which just suits me, chills me out. So taking advantage of my role as holiday organiser I invariably manage to ' squeeze' in a few days at the beach. Burma is no exception - I'm sure for what is the final part of the holiday we could and perhaps should be trekking to Kalaw but instead we happily find ourselves on an internal flight to Ngapali on the west coast of Burma. Our hotel is called Yoma Cherry Lodge and we get picked up from the tiny airport by a smiley host who collects our bags and shows us to our pimped up finding nemo style truck. We were going to enjoy Ngapali. 

Yoma Cherry is a delight - gorgeous huge rooms with teak flooring and elephant wood carvings. The gardens surrounding the villas are beautiful - we even spot a separate massage pagoda. But it's when we walk down to the beach that the disbelief sets in. The Bay of Bengal is enticingly turquoise, the sand superfine and best of all lots of fishing boats with smiley locals milling around. The next four days go quickly - we keep ourselves busy with walks along the bay, deciding on back (£5) of full body massages (£10); Whisky sours (75p) or chilled bottles of Mandalay (£1.25). Dinner decisions rest of staying at the hotel or going for it and popping to our favourite beach shack next door ( Silver Sands). 

One morning on our walk of the bay the local school come down for their sports day. We cheer them on during the sack and three legged race, then for the final competition which appears to be a hopping contest Jodie and I hold the finishing line. The kids are all wonderfully cute. 

The only real blip to our stay is when slightly drunk after several happy hour Gin Fizz's at Yoma Cherry I think i see a rat pop up from beneath the decking. I blink and he's still there - dinner decisions get easier from that point. We go for the beach shack - at least you can see any vermin coming..... Turns out that the rat did us a favour - on our last night at the beach shack 4 fisherman stop in front of our table and shuffle around for a while. Jodie then points out they are naked and wading out to their fishing boat with their longi' held above their heads to keep them dry. I can confirm that Burmese fisherman have very pert arses.......we may or may not have woken up early to see them return to shore the next morning......

We stayed: Yoma Cherry Lodge - not cheap but fabulous location, > $100/ night - massages on site and when we left we got ' goodbye' spelt out in fresh flowers on the bed

We ate : Silver sands the beach hut next to the hotel - the food is all incredible - drinks are £1 - and they were so sad to see us go they gave us each gifts ( shell hair slides) 

Messing about on the lake

Somewhat reluctantly we left Bagan early on New Year's Day, based on the terrible music blasting out of our hotel for new year's several guests were going to be nursing sore heads. Not ours, so a brief flight followed by an hours taxi drive later we arrive on the lakeside town of Nyaungshwe. A friend we met in Africa had been here a mere few weeks earlier and recommended a coffee spot in town. So a quick check in to the spacious Golden Dream hotel and we were walking the dusty streets in search of ' The French Touch'. A vision in orange we found it and quickly drank coffee, ate French bread and topped up the vitamin levels with smoothies. Time to discover this lovely little town. We started with the   mingala markets for some bargains, then we got out into the countryside in a tuk-tuk. Bizarrely there is a winery outside of town - Red Mountain winery. The views from the top are incredible and we sat down with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc ( £1.50 / glass and not half bad) and chilled out for a few hours. That evening we watched a very odd movie about monks filmed by the owner of The French Touch - and got an early night so we were ready for tomorrow's trip onto the river.

The next morning our boat driver picked us up from Golden Dream and after a fuel stop we headed on down to the jetty to our long tail boat. Blankets, cushions and wooden seats were provided - it was looking like being a comfy day out. The next six hours were spent visiting floating vegetable gardens, silver workshops, seeing local weaving houses and getting off at various temples. Everyone we met patiently wanted to explain how they made their living. We even visited the boat making workshop, a tourist boat like our one costs $2,500 and lasts around 15 years. We headed upstream to the village on In Thein to see a fabulous temple ' shwe in Thein paya'. Heading back to town gave me another opportunity to try and figure out how on earth the fisherman perfected their very odd technique - they seem to wrap one leg around the paddle to steer the boat. Amazing balance from these guys. 

If there was any disappointment to the day it would have been found at the final stop at the ' Jumping Cat Monastery'. Monks had apparently trained the cats to jump through hoops - happily. Well either the monks or the cats were having a ' no bloody way Jose' kind of day....my money is on the cats. Fickle beasts. 

We stayed: Golden Dream hotel, Nyaungshwe £25/ night - great, clean hotel our room overlooked a lovely temple

We drank coffee: The French Touch - well signed off the main road, expensive by burma's standards but worth it

We watched sunset from: Red Moutain winery - cycle here or cheap in a tuk-tuk - great place - recommend the Sauvignon Blanc. Stunning views. 

We ate: Inle Palace - new place next to our hotel on the main road, cool interior and our local food was great. Whisky sours at less than £1 each are a bargain. Good place to linger. 

Our boat trip: organised through our hotel and only around £11 for a day for the boat - amazing value and our driver was complete lovely

We shopped: all over but the Mingala markets in town are great