Bagan proper

Bagan. Truly an amazing place. We have been fortunate to have traveled to some places that surpassed expectations. By a long shot. I would put Bagan with Petra and Machu Pichu. Different by far but just astounds you with beauty.

There will be quite a few temple pictures to follow- no apologies- can't be avoided. I didn't even include all of the ones I took. AND these were all on my iphone! Our good camera still being in our shipment. 

We first took a sunset tour. There are not too many points that are up high... so as you can see in the second shot, we weren't alone.

The crew: Max, Luca, Innes, Lisa, and Wilder

We dragged everyone out of bed for a sunrise. It was nice but I have to say the blue sky contrasting with the red brick was my favorite. We rented scooter and cruised around.

The boys saw a sign and decided to get tattoos. Not to be left out I also got one befitting my gangsta profile

Great trip, jayzubah Bagan

Bagan, but first a little Popa

 A few things recently came together quite nicely. We had a four day break scheduled from school and had booked tickets to Bagan. We also added a night at Popa mountain because of a tip from a friend. Wilder called and let us know that the teachers at Newcastle U had just called a strike for the next 10 days. Lisa checked, and just like that we got the band back together! We didn't tell Luca and it was priceless seeing his face register that it was actually Wilder here in Yangon. I'm wasn't crying, you were crying! We added Luca's friend Max and had a great trip.

Here are a few from Popa

Our first time out of the city- quite flat at the start

We picked up a bit of an elephant vibe. Also it was cool- like I needed a sweatshirt kind of cool. I honestly couldn't remember what that felt like.

In the distance is the popa temple, built on a volcanic plug. We would go climb it later.

There were monkeys at the temple and the other 200 were not as calm as these two. You could buy little packets of seeds so when they got to close or aggressive you could throw a packet and run.

They also had a bamboo hatter- Wilder obliged. 

Made for an amazing sunset and sunrise! Oh I was wishing for our real camera!

Lisa and I went on a trail run the next morning to the top of popa mountain. It looked easy and was said to be well marked. This sign either says "popa mtn this way" or "whatever you do, do not go this way"

We were happy. Cool air, great views, there were even pine trees!

and then it was time to go to Bagan. Thanks popa mtn. (One last gem: this was from the airplane, I can't tell if it was meant to be a piece o candy, or a pizza flavored candy)