Myanmar 2013: Bagan Part 3

April 15, 2014

Myanmar 2013: Bagan Part 3

Balloons over Bagan was on our last morning in Myanmar. The morning started off very early, 5:45 a.m. early. The hot air balloons have to go first thing in the morning while the air is still cool. Hot air makes for unstable conditions. It was expensive but worth every penny! Definitely book in advance and make note that they do not run year round! We did not have a reservation, but got lucky as a tour group that was supposed to be there had a delay in their arrival into Bagan.

All the balloons laid out to get blown up. Quite the production to see. There was a huge crew to get it all going.

First they use massive fans to blow it up, then comes the heat.

The heat is on!

After a quick safety drill and landing instructions, we were off!

Sunrise is also a popular time to make your way to the temples.

We really went right over the top of some of the temples.

Time to land. I liked that our balloon was the caboose.

Some mimosas after we land while the crew packs everything up.

Little kids selling postcards and drawings for US$1. Note- if I go back, I will bring candy, crayons and small toys to hand out to these kids. They were everywhere.

After the balloons, we decided to walk around a bit more before heading to the airport.

Fake 7-11

Local fire station.

One last meal at the Weather Spoon.

Gillian and I took a horse ride while the boys walked back.

Of course there is no direct flight (currently) back to Hong Kong, so we had to connect back through Yangon. Always try to take advantage of layovers, we headed to the 19th street food markets on Yangon for some grub.