Short hair Francis

Part 26 – An Over-Saturation of Pagoda-ing in Bagan, Burma


Time to go to the main attraction of our 4 Day Burma trip, Bagan; with the precautionary planning by jfkeze, we were able to get about 34 Hours ground time in Bagan which was nice. First, however is another ungodly wake-up call.


Jun 29, 2013 – Saturday
W9 143 RGN – NYU 7:00am – 8:20am (AT7/Y)

5 am wakeup with a 5:30am departure, and with zero traffic, we arrived on the domestic terminal 25 Minutes later.

Air Bagan Check-In


Domestic Terminal



When is the next time I’m gonna get an Air Bagan boarding pass


We decided to have an early breakfast in the airport prior to our flight, we didn’t have much if any expectation for our Air Bagan flight.

The apron full of ATR 72


Asian Wings Airways ATR 72-500



*32nd flight, 79239 Miles flown since Apr 28
Air Bagan 143
Rangoon to Nyaung-U, Continuing Service to Heho and Mandalay
Scheduled – 7:00am – 8:20am, 1 hr 20 mins flight
Delayed Departure – 7:02am, Flight Documentation Delay
On Time Arrival – 8:18am
Economy Class, Seat 14B
Food – Snack
Equipment – ATR 72-500 Operated By Asian Wing Airways


Boarding commenced at 6:50am with people holding up wooden placards for our flight.
As there were showers outside, the airline had a line of employee holding up umbrellas from the terminal to the bus and from the bus to the plane.
I see 2 problems, how do you 1) Keep Up with the Service when labor gets more expensive, 2) Umbrella attracts electricity, not sure that is the smartest way to go in an open environment like an airport.

Luckily 1 bus was all it took for all the customers, we however had wait slightly for documents, so door were closed at 7:02am

Asian Wings Airways ATR 72-500 Economy Cabin.


Economy Seat


I wonder how people qualify for elite status on this airline when they are all on paddle jumpers, I would hate to fly 15K a year on ATR alone


Very little wait, and we were airborne 10 minutes later for Nyaung-U
Bye Bye Rainy Rangoon




Service consist of a pre-poured drink service followed by a snack sandwich run



And as we flew more north, it started to dry out as we went towards a more Savannah like environment




We park slightly behind schedule at 8:30am and off on the old Korean bus to the terminal



Part 26 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

Welcome to Bagan, home of 2000+ Pagodas


As it was the off-season, they were very limited touts, tourists or anything tourism related. In fact, there weren’t many drivers around either.
We originally hired him for the ride to the hotel but he seemed like an ok driver so we decided to hire him for the day.

Our day car


One issue though, we really should’ve cheapen out the extra 5 dollars for the Premium car, because our car had some AC but minimal. And in 37 Celsius heat while touring pagodas, the car is where to enjoy your cool-downs.

Bagan Thande Hotel





Our bungalow, it does the trick



With our resident lizard to help us with the bug population

The rest of the resort right on the Irrawaddy River





Once we dropped off our stuff, and put on some mosquito sprays, the boys were good to go, but the ladies weren’t quite ready yet.
Conflicting Travel Styles …..

As for the Pagoda-ing, thanks Ms. Mangosteen for coming up with the term, I’ll mostly allow the photos to do the explaining.

Shwezigon Pagoda







Part 26 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

Gu Byauk Gyi Temple


Htilominlo Temple





A girl wanted us to show us a viewpoint of Htilominlo, it was a great photo shoot, she just wanted us to paid 2 dollars, not as an entrance fee but to buy something.
I can’t be the only person not to want stuff right?







I wasn’t able to figure out after what these ones were





And just prior to lunch, we were at the Ananda Phaya






And do try to visit sights early, the tiles which you walk barefoot get very hot mid-day.

By this time, it was around 1pm and we needed lunch and some down time, eatery were hard to find except near Shwezigon, so we went back to our river resort.

The idea sounds good, but not in 37 degree heat



Part 26 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

Our quick Lunch


The ladies decided on a swim while I took a needed air conditioning break and after 3pm, we were back out for yet more Pagodas.

Manuha Phaya


Gubyauk Gyi Temple






*With its own Rosetta stone

Dhammayangyi Temple








3 sides of the Temple were bricked off with 1 open, this was also the temple where the king would chops off a laborer’s hands if a pin can fit through the bricks. He got overthrown quickly.





Dhrammayangyi can also be climbed for some outside photo shoot



Part 26 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

*Do at own risk of course

And please bring some wet wipes after, it stinks of bat poop and can be found on the floor


And if you have any second ideas, remember the emphasis


Sulamani Temple














Damn these cows are lean


And finally the last temple for the day, Shwesandaw Temple




Part 26 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

The View of a Bagan Sunset






If there is anything that is good about travelling in the off-season, this is it, the lack of crowds and lucky us, we didn’t have more than 50 tourists all on the top level of Shwesandaw.
With the looming clouds afoot and the sharp memories of the Wind of Death in Rangoon, we went back to the resort for Dinner and to rest up for the night. What a long 13 Hours this has been…

Dinner Time under the Trees


With the very long and extremely hot day in Bagan and a RGN – NRT red-eye not far away, we decided to really relaxed the entire day, that meant swimming for the ladies, catching up on some sleep and getting a massage for the boys.


Jun 30, 2013 – Sunday
W9 129 NYU – RGN 5:25pm – 6:45pm (AT4/Y)

The hotel Spa


Both I and jfkeze went for the Myanmar massage, might as well try something new while here, having a lady walking on your back is an experience for sure

The hotel Pool



And while the boys were getting the massage, the girls were bored so…

They went Templing!

After our massage the boy did the same, and walk to the nearest Temples to the hotel.

Gawdaw Palin Temple






Part 26 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

And around 3:30pm, we made our way back towards Nyaung-U Airport

Ranchers with the lean Myanmar cows





Check-In was very quick with no line-up, and unlike starting from Rangoon, this Air Bagan flight had open seating since it was coming from Heho and Mandalay.

Nyaung Airport


Air Bagan Check-In



As we only had a brunch, SHF is starving and bought a 1 Dollar cake

*One expensive cake


*33rd flight, 79543 Miles flown since Apr 28
Air Bagan 129
Nyaung-U to Rangoon
Scheduled - 5:25pm – 6:45pm, 1 hr 20 mins flight
Delayed Departure – 5:48pm, Late Arrival of Inbound Aircraft
Delayed Arrival – 7:11pm
Economy Class, Open Seating
Food – Snack
Equipment – ATR 42-320

The boarding gate at Nyaung-U, be sure to sit near the Air Conditionner


One Last Air Bagan Boarding Pass for the memories


Boarding finally commenced at 5:40pm as the paddle jumper was running late

Air Bagan ATR 42-320



Air Bagan ATR 42-320 Economy Class Cabin


Plane was quite run down compared to the ATR 72-500 operated By Asian Wings


A quick U-Turn down the runway and we were airborne, another 1 Hour 5 Minutes flight back to Rangoon


Air Bagan Snack



Flight was otherwise uneventful except the ATR lavatory is one hard stall to get into, even for the shorter SHF frame.

We landed at 7:05pm back and another bus ride back into the Domestic Terminal, one last day in Rangoon then it’s time for the Business Jet Party Flight.


Next Part
Part 27 – In Rangoon One Last Time for a Mistake fare

shogunate03

Great trip report SHF! Seeing the Myanmar pics reminds me very much of my trips there - both RGN fares but one also involved actually seeing the country too. Bagan looks so much emptier during the off season.

Went to the same place for sunset views and you could barely find any room to stand. Also the departure area in both RGN and NYU were way more packed.

jfkeze

Greetings from JFKEZE hostel and Burmese travel agency hehe

God, I fell in love witht hat country, and after 4 visits in a year, it’s hard not to!
The “Wind of Death” ™, sure was a little side effect on travelling during monsoon season, but well worth it, crowds weren't so bad and the rain did create some good adventures at the Yangoon pagodas hehe…

Just some more tips... The Thamada was a great deal considering the location and could be booked online. We used a travel agent (Oway.com.mm) to book all our internal flights, they had a semi-functional website, which allowed you to select flights, but they reconfirmed them after the booking, sometimes changing flights…

We hired a driver in Bagan for a day and half to see all the sights, please, please, please splurge the 5 additional bucks for a car with air-conditioning, don’t make our mistake hehe

thisiswilks

oway.com.mm

Short hair Francis

Thanks for the continual reading shogunate03
I agree, Burma/Myanmar was a blast, a great look back to old Asia back in the day.
Between my 1st RGN fare in Jun 2012, to my last one in Jul 2013, you could see evidently see alot of change every time you were passing through.

Sunset Views were amazing, it was so specious that we can get a group photo withe view in the background, i've withheld due to privacy reasons.
The group wanted the hot balloon rides which isn't in service that time of the year.

If it's anything, Bagan made me appreciate off-season travel that much more, especially since I was going to Europe later on in this trip with the huge crowds which I didn't like.

That said, I have to thank the "Myanma Promotional Airfares" Campaign, without it I don't think I would've seen Burma/Myanmar in my lifetimes which was a great life experience


Agreed, jfkeze, official Burmese travel consultant
Bagan was a great call on your part, no rain, yes hot like a savanna but more than worth it to get away from the huge crowds.
Rangoon, I will say the “Wind of Death” ™ really got to me, where I was just annoyed to death because it was hindering my injury and where the downpours meant you had to hide out somewhere to slow down your progress
Thamada is great at that price, that could consider not using so much air conditioning though, even the Canadian needed the extra blanket
Rangoon is ok for visit for like a 2 day trip but anything more, you really need to go out to the other parts to see the magnificent country.

Oway, they did the trick for getting us there and back, but I will saying changing our RGN inbound flight times to accommodate them in the beginning was annoying for sure

Finally, yes for anyone going to Bagan off-season, PAY THE 5 EXTRA DOLLARS!!!^^
Would save your sanity to cool down in the car while you go car-hopping through each temple.

I think that was the 1st thing we did on our last day in Rangoon, pester the driver to show us his AC first

Hi thisiswilks, yep that's the link

LH4116

Very interesting that Air Bagan have their own FFP. But don't worry my friend, soon they will join an alliance (preferably SkyTeam or OneWorld) and the Wy Wings Program will become the new A3 Miles&Bonus. Soon you'll have a bunch of over entitled My Wings Gold members acting out their DYKWIA shenanigans (like only a nouveau status or whatnot member can) on Delta, flashing their cards and demanding upgrades

Short hair Francis

Ha LH4116, it's funny you've mentioned A3 Gold, since I ran into this exact problem about 2-3 weeks ago when I flew UA ex-HKG, the agent's never seen an A3 Gold before, where I've said easiest Star Gold achievable

And yes, I did wave it for my priority boarding lol


Will get another part up in an hour or two ^

LH4116

Yes in Asia A3 isn't as widely (or infamously) known as it is in EU or America. But I suppose that's a good thing, adds some dignity to the card, unlike in Europe where the lounge attendants are downright rude upon the sight of an A3 card

Great. Looking forward to the rest!

Short hair Francis

I agreed with the infamously known part lol
Weirdly I've never gotten the rude sight from UA/LH clubs in Europe or America yet