Our third and final day was extra special as we had booked a hot air balloon ride over Bagan with Oriental Ballooning.
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| Up, up and away |
There are currently 3 companies that offer hot air balloon rides over Bagan; Balloons over Bagan, Oriental Ballooning, Golden Eagle, reassuringly owned and run by Brits and Swiss. With a maximum of 21 balloons that can fly on any one day we had booked ahead as the places seemed to be selling out around a week in advance. That said, demand may now be much higher since the ban on climbing most of the temples was announced.
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| Big balloons! |
We found booking through an agent (YTT Travel) was actually cheaper than booking direct and managed to get the premium package flight in a basket of only 8 people for US $300 per person with the second largest company Oriental Ballooning.
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| In our basket of eight |
Leaving early in the morning because of the cool air required to get the balloons off the ground, we were picked up at 5.45am from our hotel and taken to the launch site.
We were welcomed to the site by the extremely cheery British crew. It was quite surreal and comforting to hear a very English "Good Morning" as we were introduced to all the pilots one by one whilst sipping on the complementary tea and pastry on the side.
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| British Richard |
We met our balloon pilot Richard, who led us over to our deflated balloon lying limp on the ground for a quick briefing before we could enjoy watching the fascinating spectacle of our balloon being inflated.
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| The team get the balloon ready for us |
It took around 15 minutes or so until the balloon was fully rounded and floating high above our heads. We were given the OK to jump in to our basket compartment (2 people in each corner) and soon we were up, up and away!
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| Ready, steady...up! |
There is something extremely magical about travelling by balloon. It is a graceful and serene way to travel, gliding so gently through the skies, completely at one with the wind.
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| Floating with the sunrise |
We rose up and down over the warmly glowing temples in the early morning hues of the sun on the horizon. Flying right over the top of many of the sights we had explored by foot, which gave us a whole new perspective and appreciation for what we had now named 'beautiful Bagan'.
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| Over Dhamma-ya-za-ka Zedi |
It is hard to put into words how it feels to fly in a hot air balloon, but I do know one thing for sure... it took my breath away.
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| Literally floating on air |
45 minutes later, we began our descent. Richard was very modest, but his landing was perfect, it was almost as graceful as when we took flight. Once secured by the team, we were greeted with a glass of bubbly which Richard proceeded to toast with us, and gave us our balloon certificates.
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| Bubbly for breakfast! |
As we were dropped back at our hotel, it took us a while to stop saying 'wow, wow, wow' and get our heads ready for a day on the ground. So after a quick nap and mooch around the local Nyaung-U market we picked up our final (pink) e-bike!
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| Our pink ride |
For our last afternoon we had saved ourselves the temples Old Bagan itself. But before heading there we popped by the large golden Shwe-zi-gon Pago in Nyaung-U. Notable for the fact that it is covered in gold plate and its architectural design which was the prototype for many other pagodas across Myanmar.
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| That's a lot of gold |
Our first stop after arriving through the old Tha-ra-ba gate entrance in Old Bagan was That-byin-nyu Temple; also known as the omniscient. It is the tallest pagoda in Bagan at 200ft and iconic for its white hue.
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| That-byin-nyu |
Followed by the area just outside the old wall with Mi-nyein-gon and its surrounding group.
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| One of the temples around Mi-nyein-gon |
We then stopped by Gaw-daw-palin; the second highest pagoda in Bagan, again with a similar white hue to the earlier That-byin-nyu. And Bu-paya for a view of the river.
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| Gaw-daw-palin |
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| A river view |
Our final stop in Old Bagan was the Hindu inspired Maha-Bodi Pagoda. Very unique in style in comparison to the other temples in Bagan, as it was modelled on the Mahabodi temple in Bodhgaya (India) where Buddha reached enlightenment.
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| Maha-Bodi |
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| Lighting the way |
You could easily do Bagan in two days if you put your mind to it, but if you prefer to take it easy and rest in the heat of the day or find a spot to just sit and read a book with a view then 3 days is perfect.
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| Sun setting over the temples of Bagan |
We'd highly recommend the balloon ride too if you can afford it...and promise you it's worth it!
Top tips for hot air ballooning in Bagan:
- Shop around for the best prices with travel agents before booking, as they each have an allocation of spaces. The cheapest price we found for our Oriental Ballooning package was $290 US but sadly they were out of spaces!
- Check availability and book at least a week ahead. Demand is likely to get much much higher now there's less options for getting views from on the temples themselves.
- Book your balloon trip for the first day you arrive and get the instant 'wow' as you get your first sight of Bagan.
- If you can afford it, book a smaller basket. The baskets of 16 people looked very crammed and not as intimate as those with only 8.
- Lap up every single moment of your 45 minute ride. Stop taking those photos just for a moment and really contemplate the fact you are floating over 2,000 ancient temples in a giant balloon filled with hot air carried simply by the wind! Yes, WOW!
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