balloons over Bagan

I saw the photos of Balloons Over Bagan two months ago and was very tempted to splurge. Instead, we wound up getting up before dawn and hopping in a tuktuk to watch them float across the sky.

At first it was dark and cold, and we were barefoot on the terrace of a temple near Dhamma Ya Zi Ka, where we were last night. And then the sun began to rise and so did the balloons!

In the east, over Mt. Popa.

 Maybe I've had a more incredible morning. I can't remember one.

 The balloons slowly, silently floated over head.

So it turned out, after taking photos in Bagan for 3 days, atop towers and through arches and at night, that the secret was to wake up early. Lesson learned.

After breakfast, we waved goodbye to War War, the guardian angel and manager of Ruby True, in her brightest yellow dress, and headed for the airport.

A half hour flight and then an hour's drive to Kalaw, a town known for trekking, brought us back to Shan state. Of course our first stop after the hotel: Shan noodles.

We enjoyed them with delicious coffee and delightful company at Elpis Cafe. Emma, it turns out, used to live in Pasadena and returned to Kalaw to care for her aging parents.

We happened upon a procession for noviates.

The temple is covered in tiny mirrored tiles: I dubbed it the disco pagoda.

It was market day in Kalaw, when the five day market is in town. This is a local market, not crafts for tourists.

We loved it.

 Emma said these are a kind of stinky green. I didn't try them.

These are betel leaves. You wrap a bit of betel nut in them with a lime paste. I tried one on the train. You get quite a jolt!

Aren't they lovely?

The rice stand

Heading home after a long day of shopping

pagoda party

Have you ever seen a ferry for motorbikes like this before?

Nothing better than a lazy day while traveling. Especially in Bagan.

 Man U fans

Happy kids, dressed up and dancing in circles

Another temple damanged in the 2016 earthquake with bamboo scaffolding.

Simple pleasures by the Irrawaddy.

 Sold at the market in front of the temple.

 My people! Even my favorite color, chartreuse.

We took a tuktuk across to the ugly tall tower for sunset and happy hour. 

 Not too shabby.

You can see Mt. Popa in  the distance.

 Our tuktuk driver is a great photographer. He and Pam were looking at the white spaceship temple.

This temple was damaged in the 2016 earthquake, and is now covered with scaffolding and lit like a romance novel cover.

 Sweet dreams.

stupafied

Today I wandered around lesser temples. This is an offshot of the temple next door, which doesn't allow photos. The art style resembled fleur di lys from Renaissance Italy, hundreds of years later.

 There are hundreds of small temples like this. And lots of rules:

The stupas are solid. Some of them are brick. The valued ceilings with a lotus flower at the center are amazing.

We drove to the monastery and Cho showed me the caves where monks go in the summer to cool off.

Just gorgeous

I like the hobbit houses too.

A team of oxen rode by just as I was taking a photo. Pam was in the middle of it.

 Forgotten.

 This building is in scaffolding from the 2016 earthquake.

You can see the grass growing in the cracks.

We had a special treat for lunch: Phyo, our adorable Bagan guide, invited us to her village for a home-cooked lunch.

We were honored and dug into long bean salad, tea leaf salad, watercress with mushrooms, fish cakes in curry, chicken curry, and Burmese salsa.

Here's the cook herself.

 It was fun to meet her mom and younger brother too. The village is quite large with roughly 1000 people. 25 years ago as Bagan was being developed for tourism, locals in old Bagan were forced to move to New Bagan

 General Aung San. He was assassinated shortly before Burma declared indeendene.

Several people including my driver mentioned Barack Obama's visit to The Lady (Aung San Suu Kyi). General Aung Sang.  is revered throughout the country, almost as much as his daughter.

My eyes are closing. So much more to explore toorrow.