Wednesday 7 February 2018

Bagan

Like most of the things on my list it started with a photo. I can’t remember exactly when but the image of that beautiful landscape at sunrise was something I had to see for myself.


After a few days of traveling - a day in the air from Sydney, two days sightseeing in Yangon and an overnight bus - arriving at 5am December 30th 2017 exhausted, after a quick coffee, at 6am we were perched atop a temple waiting for the sun to reveal the terrain spread out in front of us. 


There was ceremonial chanting emanating across the landscape coming from a lit up temple in the distance and various pagoda tops reaching up in the darkness spread to the horizon. 


A fire was burning to one side that sent gentle plumes of smoke floating across the trees and temples starting to appear with the daylight. 



It was not the clearest horizon but once the sun rose above the clouds it was a truly beautiful breathtaking moment as the hot air balloons floated across the emerging daylight.

                                                     



After breakfast a full day was spent exploring a few of the more special of the two thousand plus temples that is Bagan.





Eventually settling at another lookout to watch the sun set over this spectacular countryside, a complete day fulfilling this item on the Life List.