We docked in the port of Thanlyin, about an hour outside of the capital, Yangon. I spent my two days getting to know Yangon, visiting the Sule and Shwedagon Pagodas, monasteries, and trying to find an outfit for my friend Mikayla's birthday. Having succeeded in doing both those things and making back to the bus, I began to get ready for my trip to Bagan.
After getting a glimpse of what Yangon had to offer, I got up early to join a trip going north to the ancient city of Bagan. Myanmar is a country covered with pagodas and temples both new and old. Bagan, is especially known for these temples, seemingly becoming one with the environment, almost as if having had emerged naturally from the ground themselves.
Our first day in Bagan started with going into an ancient temple, seeing tons of pagodas, a carriage ride, and a trip down the Irrawaddy River to visit a basket weaving village. That day was a good way to ease into the trip, because the next day we would be doing a sunrise hot air balloon ride, then seeing a lacquer ware shop where we got to make our own piece of lacquer ware, shopping in a market, and then watching the sunset from atop an ancient temple. But reading about Bagan is nothing compared to actually seeing it though. Wherever we went the people were so nice and genuinely happy. Just take a look.
And with that, our short trip to Bagan, we flew back to Yangon, and had the bumpiest bus ride back to the ship. I was most excited for what Myanmar would show me, and I have to say, I was not let down. While the country is still facing an internal political battle and racing through industrialisation, the culture and history are so amazingly complex and beautiful, and the people are beyond kind.
Our next stop is India. I had been waiting to go there for the majority of my life, so this stop on my journey fulfilled some longstanding dreams and they were more than I could've imagined.
Talk to you later,
-Karin xx
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