A tourist will choose a famous destination with all amenities and luxury, but a solo traveller will choose an offbeat destination where he can find his soul under blissful nature and serenity.
It's the first week of the new year 2020, so I was planning to choose a destination which is offbeat as well as filled with beautiful landscape, so I opt for Myanmar which can offer me peace, adventure, fun, spirituality all under beautiful landscape with not much load to budget. After planning I booked my flight directly to Myanmar capital Yangon which cost me 4000 INR, Yangon is the capital of Myanmar which is a combination of beautiful landscape, numerous breathtaking pagodas with metro city life. I arrived here on 25th Jan after that I directly check-in to mid-tier hotel in downtown Market, it's a famous tourist spot where you can get all varieties of stay options with different varieties of foods.
After check-in to the hotel, i had Indian breakfast, i want to cover maximum part of this beautiful city and only i had one day, luckily i made friendship with driver who dropped me in hotel from airport, he agreed to show me all places in yangon for whole day in nominal cost which was 30 USD,after all settlement i got ready and my journey started with Chaukhtatgyi Budda temple, it consists of large Buddha in side resting position it felt similar like our lord Vishnu resting in Sheshnag, it's a must visit place.
Then my journey went to one of historical place that is Bahadur Shah Zafar grave who is the last Mughal emperor of India, it's decent place to experience specially when it is connected to indian history.
Then my driver suggested me to see one small pagoda which is not famous but trust me it's very beautiful sometimes it's good to follow local rather than Google reviews, Anyhow i reached Botataung pagoda which is incredibly beautiful and consisting of 10000 small buddha statues there, it was amazing experience there.
After there i visited to yangon river which is one of the biggest river in Myanmar, if you are looking for peaceful boat cruise then you can opt for this, but due to lack of time i just remained there for few minutes and then left to most famous tourist place of yangon.
Finally i reached to most famous tourist destination of yangon and one of biggest pagoda of world that is Shwedagon Pagoda.
The pagoda is made up of a central structure which is covered in gold leaf and studded with precious stones like diamonds and rubies. In evening time all golden pagodas are glittering like magical lightening with holy hymns and glittering golden light one can feel he is in heaven, if you like holy place with magnificent architecture experience then must visit this one.
Its all sunset time now , so i rushed towards Kandawgyi Park which has beautiful pagoda in river , after visiting sime time there, i moved to hotel that's end of day but not for mine, as that day was Chinese New year and yangon has Chinatown place which is very famous among tourists for party, nightlife with myriad foods and shopping experience, so i visited there enjoyed moments there then doze off as i need to move to another city of Myanmar.
Next day my journey began to reach one of most beautiful place on earth which can offer you religious vibes with extra magnificent natural landscape, that place is Bagan which is also famous for hot baloon ride. So i took flight directly to Bagan and did check-in at hotel near New Bagan area which is mostly popular in tourist to stay. Finally i reached Bagan, airport is very classic and you need to take 25 USD ticket to stay in Bagan as a tax which you can take in airport, then i reached my beautiful resort where i had desi tea and amazing burger as breakfast, as time was limited i dont want to waste it, as i need to explore numerous pagoda and temple in a day.
what makes Bagan unique is you need to explore by yourself so all you do is solo ride and explore temple and pagoda which are thousands year old in jungle, yoh just need to wander randomly by taking electric bike and you will find some amazing architecture temple or pagoda.
So my journey started with famous pagoda of Bagan which is inside city premises only known as Shwezigon Paya which is known for being a large stupa that is the main religious building in the town, if you visit during twilight duration it will illuminate like glittering gold.
Then my next stop was nearby small pagoda, which is unnamed but it was beautiful, then i headed towards one of old famous and largest Hindu temple of Myanmar known as Ananda temple,This is also one of the oldest temples in the region and is said to date from either the 11th or 12th century when it would have been built under King Kyanzittha.
Now through muddy small road i went inside jungle there we need to explore all temples, which are very unique and divine, surely you will find architecture excellence with divine magnitude of lord Buddha, this was very different experience for me ,till evening i have covered maximum famous temples and pagodas such as Dhammayangyi Temple, Sulamani Temple, Thatbyinnyu Temple, Nandamanaya phaya, Htilominlo Pahto and various other small and big pagodas i have managed to covered.
It was early evening, so i have decided to first visit Lawkananda Paya, it has a large dome which is shaped like a cylinder, from there one can view picturesque view of sunset on Bagan river, if you are with partner and looking for romantic boat ride then this place is must for you, anyhow i enjoyed there some sunset with glorious view.
Now it's sunset time and when you are in Bagan you need to search place through where you can watch incredibly breath taking sunset view, either you can use map me or give some cash to locals to take you in amazing place to visit wonder of nature, that moment was completely out of mind for me , i cannot define sunset of Bagan in words,just i can express them in pictures, after this amazing moment i returned to hotel relaxed there near pool area with amazing Burmese food as next day is much more challenging day to see hot air balloon sunrise view.
This was a challenging day because to get a perfect spot from where you can visit breath taking view of hot air balloon with sunrise, it's a costly affair of 500 USD per person, so if you are fine with budget then definitely go for this, else if you are like me then search for amazing location to capture this magical view, you cannot trust in Google on this as maximum place to visit this sunrise has been banned, better option is give some money to locals and they will take you to place from where you can witness these amazing view, anyhow i got one top place and started waiting for sunrise from 5 am onwards and sunrise timing there is 6:45 , so many foreigners were there who are also waiting for that moment,it was chilling cold atmosphere but we waited for that magical moment, and when it appeared it was like dream comes true moment, feeling like Deja Vu, mammoth colorful ballons over sky with glittering golden sunrise, that view made my whole tour worthy, i have not seen better sunrise than this, that's the end of my Bagan journey, after reaching hotel had amazing breakfast and signed off to airport with millions of memories and holistic experience.
