The contrast full Myanmar - Pagodas in Bagan

The rain is pulling down, when I am looking out of the Taxi window, while we are driving out of the freezer, which could be the synonym of the new international airport in Yangon en Myanmar, which is not yet totally finished, so the temperature insight filled as 16 degrees with condensing down the windows.

The main entrance to enter Myanmar as a tourist is this airport. Already from this moment it is possible to see, that they are getting ready for the expected rise of tourism visiting in the future. A number that has been steadily increasing since 1992, where the government opened up slowly for tourism. In 1995 did 194,000 visit Myanmar, a number that raised to 792,000 in 2010 and last year did 4,681,020 tourist visit Myanmar and according to the Tourism Master Plan, which was made in 2013 is there going to be 7,5 million tourist arriving to Myanmar in 2020.

The rain aren´t stopping, when we are entering the rooftop terrace at Hotel Lavender. The light is nearly making a glowin the air over the Shwedagon Pagoda, which is the most famous pagoda and sight to visit in Yangon which is also known as Rangoon and is having a population of 5,2 million people - nearly the size of Denmark.

The silence

It is 5 a.m in the morning. The blue hour has just started, when we are walking up the stairs to the Shwedagon Pagoda. There is a special silence, when we can see it in front of us. The birds are around us, with the sound of the clocks when we are passing by Bhikkhus in their traditional outfit, while people are praying around us and the day is starting.

The Thousands Pagodas

We are jumping on our bikes that we have rented for the day.

The road is dark and there is a special silence while we are heading of to a day full of visiting Pagodas.

We are arriving to the first Pagoda when the blue hour is starting. There is nearly nobody here since we are out of season and it is rain-season, which is giving more space and silence for us.

Most of the tourist we are meeting doing the day have rented one of the many Eco-bikes, which makes it easy and comfortable to drive around and see some of the Pagodas, since there is more than 3000 in Bagan, which have been rebuild, so it today not have been accepted to be a part of UNESCO World Heritage even though the scenery is stunning.

Even thought it is possible to rent Eco-bikes have Bjørn and I rented the old school bikes so we can enjoy the silence and the landscape in silence while the light softly are hitting the red Pagoda.

The Contrast

Two cows walking with a trolley made of wood are passing by us while we are turning left to investigate one of the many Pagoda closer. Even though Myanmar is considered as a underdeveloped country and first opened for tourism in 2010 where 295,174 got an tourism visa does everybody has a smartphone. While they are selling at the street they are sitting looking at Facebook or chatting with friends while waiting for customers a fact I must admit I didn’t expect. So even thought Myanmar is having a population of 53 million is some of it further developed than other. As well is their level of English better than expected especially because both old and very young people are speaking well English.

A contrast that is easy to see, when we are continuing after visiting a Pagoda. The sand is red, the trees are green and the road is narrow. On our right side is a women walking with two white cows plowing the field. There is a silence around us, the light is soft and the Pagoda are around us. By looking at this women plowing the field, does it fills as going two century back in time, because the women is using the same technique as western did 100 years back.

So at one point are people sitting with their new smartphones and being a part of the 21th century and on the other hand it does fills as we are back in the 19th century when it matters about more basic things as plowing the fields. At the same time it is notably that most of the persons we are seeing on the fields are women, so a question, which is coming up is: where is all the men? – A guess could be that they might be working abroad as a guest worker in the Neighboring countries...

The View

The steps are steep while Bjørn and I are climbing to the top of the Shwesandaw Pagoda. The light is soft while we are enjoying the view over Bagan. We are not alone, since this Pagoda is one of the more famous one to se the sunset from, since it is very accessible.

While we are enjoying the view, a Bhikkhu is stopping up just in front of us, taking his smartphone and starting to take pictures of the landscape. Another moment where the contrast are clear while the sun is going down behind the clouds.

On our way back to the hotel trying to be back before it is to dark after we have been biking more than 20 km, I am glad that we are visiting Myanmar out of season because not only is some of the things cheaper. It is also easy to see, that Myanmar are getting ready for a lot of tourism. Last year did 4,681,020 turist visit Myanmar and according to the Tourism Master Plan will 7,5 million tourist arriving to Myanmar in 2020, which is one of the reasons why when Bjørn and I are enjoying the sunrise over the Pagodas the next morning I am glad that we are seeing this now, since I wouldn’t like Bagan when it is full of tourist since the area is not that big, but the scenery is beautiful. A thing the Government might try to stop since it cost 25,000 Kayt to enter the area and the tourism E-visa cost USD 50, which is being scanned at the entrains followed by a stamp in your passport where most of the informations are handwritten.