My head was on the crook of my elbow as I leaned on the window, my eyes fixed on the bucolic scene of countryside Myanmar. I lost count of hours of our local train ride from Mandalay to Bagan. And then it stopped. I thought it was just another train station but no, we safely arrived in Bagan, the coach guard notified us. Next challenge was to look for our home in Bagan for five days – Amazing Bagan Resort.
As the best travel researchers in the world, we didn’t
check beforehand the distance from the train station to our resort (check here for discounted tours, transportation and activities in Bagan). We
dashed out of the station and saw some trucks that were packed with people who
prolly came from the festivities of Myanmar's Thingyan Water Festival. It was the
third day of the festival and we did experience it too in Yangon and Mandalay.
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| Amazing Resort Bagan |
As expected, there were no cabs, tuk tuk, or whatsoever because of the festival so we tried to
hitchhike, but to no avail. Finally, a pick-up truck halted in front of us and
the driver waved at us to jump over for a ride. We traveled through small
alleys and got splashed by water as we passed by the crowd. We were not
waterproofed at that time. Looking at our backpacks and camera bags, we knew
that we’re in trouble.
We were brought to Amazing Bagan Resort after the hullabaloo, it was around sundown. We were soaked and shelled out 7,000 Kyats (US$ 6.60) for the ride, and so
you thought it was free, eh? It was a long, tough day.
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| Lobby |
Still recovering from the happenings around town, we
hesitated to go inside the lobby with our sopping clothes and stuff. This lovely
guy, Eric, immediately welcomed us and assured us that it was totally okay to
get inside, he even took our wet backpacks, such a nice guy.
Being one of the most luxurious resorts in Bagan, Amazing Bagan Resort truly captured the essence of Burmese culture, as evident on the lavish lobby. They have 42 Deluxe, 20 Suite Bungalow, and 4 Suite accommodations. They give the utmost comfort and ease by providing these services; 24-hour room services, laundry services, doctor-on-call, concierge desk, baggage service, tour arrangements, car rental services, cash machine (atm) and more.
After processing our reservations, we were assisted to
our room on the first level. Eric, who welcomed us with refreshing drinks and
cold towel, also ushered us to our room. He was so helpful that he ensured us
that we can call on him if we needed anything.
We opened the door to our Deluxe Room (check discounted room rates) and were overwhelmed and how big it was.
We could play badminton or host a party for thirty persons, it was that huge.
The room was well-furnished with one king-sized bed
(which was really huge), individually-controlled air-conditioning, satellite
T.V. with local and international channels, in-room safe,
mini-bar, coffee and tea-making facilities, wardrobe closet, bathrobes,
slippers and more.
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| Deluxe Room |
The en suite toilet and bath was equipped with hot and cold shower, bathtub, hair dryer, bath towels and toiletries that were all provided for. I specifically loved the shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and body lotion that were stored in traditional Bagan lacquerware.
I couldn’t wait to check out the resort but it was
night-time and my body was crying for a timeout. I rested my body on the huge
bed (I still couldn’t get enough of how big it was) and felt at peace right
away. I almost forgot that our stuff were soaked in water so we checked it
immediately. After drying it out, I felt my stomach grumble. We realized that
we haven’t had a decent meal the whole day. The problem was how to get out of
the resort.
Tucked somewhere in the middle of the Land with a Million Pagodas, our luxury
resort was a little bit far from the main road. We could opt to have dinner at
the Green House Restaurant and Bar
at the resort that offers dinner (featuring traditional Myanmar puppet theater)
but chose to dine out that night. So it’s either we walk our way to the
restaurants and eateries at the town center or hire a motorbike.
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| Traditional Burmese Puppet Theater |
We went out of our room and expressed our dilemma with
Eric, he then suggested for us to take advantage of the free bicycles that they
offer. We were led to the parked bikes and were so delighted as we chose our rides.
We passed through the lovely tree tunnel on the way to the town.
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| Free bikes! |
We had a nice dinner at a restaurant and went back
immediately for some much needed rest. I was about to lay my tired bod on the
bed when suddenly someone knocked. Two lovely ladies greeted us and gave us sweet treats, cool ain’t it?
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| Sweet treats every night |
I woke up feeling enlivened. It was the very first
quality sleep I had after a long time during our two-month backpacking trip around Southeast Asia. We were not rushing to hop on a train or bus and we didn’t
have fixed itineraries that day for we just wanna celebrate the fourth and
final day of water festivities in Bagan.
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| Our huge bed |
We lazily went to the Sunset Terrace Restaurant where the buffet breakfast was served. It
was a pleasant morning and the view from the restaurant was perfect. I could
hear the chirping of the birds as I settled on one of the tables and abused the
complimentary high-speed internet connection at the resort.
The spread was an assortment of International and Burmese breakfast fares. I love how varied it was. My buddy overloaded his plate with happy bacons while I frequented the bread station (croissants galore). I also loved their noodle station where we got to choose our soup and stuff. The fresh orange juice and yogurt were similarly remarkable. It was a slower than usual day and I loved it.
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| Happy bacons and sausages |
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| Burmese |
The three-o’ clock sun was still shining at its best
as we biked our way to the town. The tree tunnel was better during this time
than when we passed by the night before. We parked our bikes on a restaurant
(it came with padlocks) and walked to wherever our feet led us.
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| The tree tunnel on the way to Amazing Bagan Resort |
We were given free food, got showered with water from
hoses and were offered to dance while we enjoyed the extinguished water all around.
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| Bagan people were the sweetest |
We were, again, drenched in water as we walked our
bikes on the way to our home. The moon was shining bright and the long walk
(tugging our bikes) was not a bore as me and my buddy chatted about our
challenging yet fun three days in Myanmar.
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| Our neighbor pagoda |
We spent five wonderful days in Bagan and the warm,
lovely staff from Amazing Bagan Resort complemented the beauty of the place. We
booked for a bus going to Mandalay from the resort. It was sad to leave our
home for five days, and the staff, the staff who were always there when we
needed them. We’d surely go back and stay here, definitely.
Amazing Bagan Resort
(book online for discounted rates)
Bagan, Mandalay Division, Myanmar
Contact Number: (+95) 9.402.630.885
I'm hoping to visit Myanmar soon and also stay in such nice place. Sana with a special samwan haha
ReplyDeleteAyiiiieeeeeee! :)
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