Yangon, Myanmar

We figured Shwedagon Pagoda was good for a couple visits so went to see it yesterday without reading much of the history. It's best visited in the evening (and also most crowded) because it's cooler in the shade and the lighting is amazing as the sun sets. There was a lot of traffic gong to the south stairway so our driver took us to the almost deserted west stairway. As a bonus (to me anyways) there's also escalators the whole way up so we didn't have to walk the 166 stairs. The bottom of the stairways is considered the entrance (and so where your shoes and socks come off). I've never taken an escalator in bare feet before and was a bit careful getting on and off. At the top we paid our $8 entrance fees and got a sticker (stickers as proof of payment seems to be the in thing here).

It's almost an overload of sights at the top. The main stupa is almost 100m tall, plated with 22,000 gold bars, topped with a 76-karat diamond. There's also thousands of other precious stones. The main stupa is on a terrace with dozens of shrines and pavilions, each one of them gold plated and something I'd go out of my way to see except here it's just background.

We walked on the terrace clockwise around the main stupa a couple times. It's popular for locals to come up in the evening and really busy and atmospheric. However there really is too much to take in in one visit.

Walked down the south stairway, put on our socks and shoes, and found a nearby restaurant for dinner, which was so-so. Took a taxi home and crashed early (9pm), still a bit jet-lagged.

...

This morning we caught an AirKBZ flight to Bagan. I had bought the tickets online a few months ago, which was much cheaper. The flight only had 10 passengers, and actually departed 30 minutes early because we were all there already! They also served a drink, then lunch, followed by tea or coffee and mint, much more than what we expected on the 75 minute flight.

We didn't have much to do today except plan our four days here. It's been raining the past three days but thanks to wifi we looked up the forecast. It's supposed to drizzle tomorrow and then clear up, so we booked our balloon ride for three days out. Also booked our boat ride to Mandalay, and bikes for touring around Bagan.

After our initial experience with ATMs at the airport in Yangon, we've had no problems getting cash from ATMs. Even here in Bagan we were able to withdraw cash. Although they all dispense only 5,000 kyat notes ($5), so you end up with big wads of cash.

We've been asked to be in local's pictures a couple times, and we've seen it with other tourists as well. I guess tourists are still a bit of a novelty.

Bagan is still a pretty small town. Our hotel in New Bagan is on a dirt road. Except for the main road, everything else is paved just a single car width. I haven't seen a building over theee stories. I'm sure this too will change very quickly.

Internet speeds were pretty good in Yangon. I was able to upload all my pics (including outtakes, about 300 pics) overnight to Google Photos. Here in Bagan it's a little slower, but there is wifi in most hotels and restaurants.