Day 305 Bagan (Revisited)

Happy Easter to all. I only found out less than a week ago that it was Easter this weekend. I understand the snow is likely, I envy you. Just a bit of rain would be really nice here.

Well I am still in Bagan! The day had another early start, 4:30, with another dash to the loo. At 6:15 when the alarm went off things weren't looking any better and after much soul searching I decided to go to Yangon by public transport. That left me with very mixed and confused emotions. I was really glad to not have to make it there in 4 days, one would have been 230k+ and in this heat would have been no fun at all, but it really hurts to have to use public transport when it wasn't essential, this is what I really hate about having deadlines and a flight to meet. But it is crazy to think like that. When I arrived here the intention was to cycle from Yangon to Mandalay via Bagan and I have done that, so why should I still feel so frustrated now at having to go back the easy way? It is stupid, but very frustrating and try and I may not to be annoyed about it, I am. Unfortunately that is just the way I am, too stubborn for my own good. Still, I tried to look on the bright side as it gives me a bit more time to have a proper look at Bagan, and that is worthwhile. Then later on I had a thought, I could try and get my flight changed to Sunday, why didn't I think of that before. I dashed off to a ticket office but they told me I had to go to the Air Mandalay office in New Bagan 8 miles away, which closed soon being Sunday. I asked them to give them a call just to see if it was possible and before I had a chance to give it a second thought the call had been made and I had been switched to Sunday's flight. I then made a slow dash to New Bagan and was glad I hadn't left today as my energy levels were low, but I got there in time and got my ticket updated. Joy! It is not ideal, but at least I am happy for the time being and have peace of mind. The only downside is that I will now overrun my visa, something I was trying to avoid doing, which means I may run into trouble when I leave, but I am probably worrying about nothing there.

So feeling content and relaxed again I went off in search of lunch. I had decided to concerntrate on a group of temples at Old Bagan so I went to a restaurant there recommended by Eva and Francisco, it was good, but somewhat smarter than my usual cheapie choice, but I just enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere with my new found peace of mind. After visiting just one temple I had sudden urge that I could have done without. I dashed back to the restaurant as I knew exactly where the loos were, they were great too and I was glad to have paid extra for the lunch just to have found out where they were otherwise I am not sure what I would have done. After visiting a few more temples I started to head back. I was already hungry again so bought some food from a shop, then downed a litre of water and strawberry juice in a cafe.

So having been here 3 days I still haven't seen as much of Bagan as I would have liked as I have had 'restricted access', but at least I have seen more than if I had left after one day. Hopefully I will leave tomorrow and I see no reason as why not to. I have 6 days to get there now, but still hope to get there in 5 due to the lack of accommodation on the way. I know of 2 places I can stay, that leaves just 2 that I will have to sort out when I get there.

Dad, you need to read the comments to see the relevance of Nellie the Elephant, but if I remember rightly for some reason you can not access them.

Another advantage of staying here another day is that I have just found out that Norwich won 5-1. We normally only score 1 goal a game, there must have been 4 own goals!