Bagan, Myanmar

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Once we flew into Bagan in a very small plane – we checked in, rented e-bikes and made our way through the town. Our first stop was Nyang U Market, a local market for groceries, household goods as well as a little strip to tend to the tourists. Here we saw ladies carry the craziest of weights on top of their heads.

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Dressed up in traditional Burmese female longyi skirt, top and shawl.

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Antiques were also for sale

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There were lots of hand weaved items such as baskets, bags, hats, key chains, coasters.. anything you could think of.

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Ladies hard at work. They couldn’t speak English but they were fascinated with the camera and kept asking me to take photos of each of them haha. They couldn’t sit still once I pointed it at them so this was my best take.

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We soon had enough of the markets as although most of the people were friendly, there were a few desperate sellers who would latch onto you and aggressively sell things at you. You had to almost buy something to tell them to bugger off. I was used to this in southeast Asia but James caved in. We jumped onto our e-bikes and headed to Restaurant Street… which was still in Nyang U. I forgot the local name.

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Handmade umbrellas getting soaked in oil to become waterproof.

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Hand carvings. I couldn’t stop goggling at the woodcraft on offer in Myanmar. The quality and price match were just heavenly, I didn’t even want to bargain that much as I knew how hard they would’ve worked. I saw some Chinese tourists slag them so hard for bargains, it was almost abusive. I stuck around for a whole hour to listen to them hurl demands to drop the price, I even gave the Burmese locals a gesture that they were crazy and they finally cracked a smile through the ordeal. There was this beautiful Pyinkado rosewood vase thing that the tourists were interested in but the locals wouldn’t drop the price to their low ball figure but when I asked about it, they gave me a much nicer price than what they offered to the other tourists. Just pays to be kind sometimes.

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Stray dogs were everywhere in Myanmar but they were so friendly. Sometimes they’d even follow you or take you around for a while.

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Houses made of weaved fibres and bamboo. Next to this house was an isolated pagoda. A boy approached us but we couldn’t understand what he was asking us until a truck full of locals wanting to visit the pagoda made it clear to us that this boy actually had the keys to open up the temple. No money were involved whatsover, but I thought it was interesting that the people who lived nearby were given the responsibility.

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James decked out in his traditional longyi wear. He ended up wearing longyi skirts for the rest of the trip, and I would’ve too – they’re a lot cooler than pants! The women skirts were hip hugging and I wanted to stay functionally active so I opted out.

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Some of the pagodas allowed you to ascend to outer levels.

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The splodges of paste on my face were in fact Thanaka paste. Thanaka was a type of tree that gets grinded on a stone with water to turn into a paste that gets used as make up and sunscreen with the local women. Throughout my trip, ladies would always ask if they can put some on me, they took enjoyment in sharing their traditional ways. I read somewhere that Myanmar is one of the only countries left that still use face paint like this in everyday wear as opposed to just dressing up for tourism or ceremonies etc.

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The pagodas always seemed to have a Buddha at every side, sometimes you got so dizzy wondering where you were as they were repetitively similar as you walked through the larger pagodas.

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Street stalls constantly covered the larger pagoda entrance ways.

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Cute little girl that never smiled hahaha.

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At sunset, one of the locals asked if I wanted to go up an old monastery. Again, it was never about the money but they did just want you to look at their stall after the sun had set. I sat on the monastery wall for a good 45 minutes as the sun threw in the towel for the day. I was pretty lucky as I only shared that space with one other girl who was doing yoga. I looked around and saw that other pagodas and monasteries were speckled with dozens of people in one place.

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We went back to Restaurant street for food constantly. There was just so much variety that we wanted to try out, and we fell in love with this one quiet place that never had customers which served Myanmar curries. They strangely reminded me of my mum’s cooking.

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We loved these little umbrellas so we bought three – and he especially made them for us with the inside structure still intact so that they still looked like umbrellas as opposed to lamp shades. Took him a day but we were so happy.

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James is an architecture student who loves all things wood so he made friendly with a local workshop and asked how much it would be to get samples of the wood. They just laughed and thought it was so silly and told him to take them for free. The difference in Myanmar as opposed to some parts of Asia is that most people are religiously Buddhist so you could feel the difference in their nature when it came down to making money. They were more about making karma.

I was a little shocked to see that this little boy was playing around with a chopstick and a saw. He wanted to be doing the same things as his uncle.. which is cute.. BUT GIVING A THREE YEAR OLD A SAW TO PLAY WITH?!?!?

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We found ourselves a private pagoda to scale the walls and watch the sunrise. We woke up at 5 but the sun had already started to light the skies so we sped on our e-bikes through the blistering cold morning air.

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The iconic hot air balloons over the Bagan plains. I wish I could afford to go on one but they were like $300 USD per person. I couldn’t justify it this time around.

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After the sunrise we decided to go exploring into the depths of the dry plains, away from the typical tourist routes. I got to see farmers at work with their bull and cart and also ran into a very poor family that wanted to show us their home.

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They made their home using the pagoda walls to contain their animals. There were puppies, cats, goats and chickens. I presume the three boys’ parents were out to work as their grandparents looked after them. The lady hustled me over and wanted the boys to play with me. They were so happy and instantly handed me a puppy to hold.

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Then the grandpa told me to come look at the other animals. In our Western definition of poverty, they completely fit the bill. But did they consider themselves that? They seemed so happy and not bothered by the very little they owned. In fact they were almost excited to share what they had with me, throwing baby goats into my arms and telling me to take photos with them. Then setting up family photos and asking us to take group shots.

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He was smoking a cheroot – a type of baby cigar smoked throughout Myanmar.

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I got out my polaroid and took one just of their family for them to keep (and one for me to keep). The little boys were fascinated as the picture came up and the grandpa kept telling them to shake it.

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And again, I was surprised when they asked for nothing. I thought it might’ve been a whole charade to then ask for something in the end. I gave the grandpa some chocolate biscuits I had in my bag and at first he hesitated to take them but I kind of gestured that they were for the children and he smiled.

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We continued to explore the rural areas to find two ladies picking berries off the ground. She handed us a few and told us to try it. It was bittersweet. She explained that they never pick off the trees so that it can stay healthy and I guess, to not be greedy.

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We then headed back to the tourist pagodas, wouldn’t want to miss out on them either!

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I stopped and waved at this truck who bursted out into happy giggles and waved back at me. The chirpiness of the Burmese people always made me feel so welcome.

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Lady selling sand paintings through the temple gates.

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This man was on the truck that I waved to. When I saw him, he instantly smiled at me and waved. I asked if it was okay to take a photo of him and he nodded. When I showed him this photo of him, he chuckled at himself and then continued smoking his cheroot.

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A trike selling fresh thanaka, the face paint I was wearing the other day.

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Antique brass bells

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Grandiose doors

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Pagoda portholes

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I liked his belly out stance against the odd shaped stupa (seemingly also having its belly out)

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Mandalay river. Another option of travelling through Myanmar is up and down the river. If I had the time, I would’ve loved to have visited Mandalay.

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We accidentally rode through a local village where we were met with these cheeky kids that held onto our bikes and ran to follow us.

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Prepping bamboo to make houses

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The tedious processes of lacquerware

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Winding bamboo to create the shape was the first step. Then coating it in tree lacquer, then it was putting the natural colour pigment one layer at a time, with lacquer and etching in between. Each lacquer coating took a few weeks to try as well. There was also a wax to keep the colour in… all in all it’s about a 6 month process for one object.

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Intricate details of pagoda brick work.

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Taking a polaroid

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Old remains

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Horse & cart

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Sunset #2 this time we chose a higher pagoda

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Moon rise

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You can see the smoke building up in the air as dusk calls for rubbish to be burned. Bagan was beautiful, I want to go back and spend more time exploring. And of course, a hot air balloon trip is definitely on the bucket list.

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