Front row seat for the sunset on top of Shwe San Daw Pagoda

Although there are 2,000+ pagodas still standing, the crumbling temples are each unique with different shapes, sizes and designs (some are filled with ancient paintings while others have multiple tiers to keep climbing til you reach the very tip top). Some of our friends said they’d spend a few days less in Bagan because, by this point in their trip they were “pagoda’d out”, but I’d argue that I could spend days and days in this sleepy + dusty town, just popping from one pagoda to the next and watching the sun change colors.

Renting an e-bike is a MUST in Bagan and is really the only thing to do while you’re here. Most hotels rent e-bikes, but we found a better deal at the little stop right outside the gates of Old Bagan (when you’re exiting the gates from Old Bagan, the bikes are lined up on the left). For just $15 (yes, they quoted and charged in USD although they accepted kyat at a rate of $1 US = 1,000 MMK), you can rent an e-bike for the day (or as long as your 8-hour battery will last you).

Ready to hit the road on our (small but mighty) e-bike!

We picked up our e-bike around 11am because we wanted to make sure we’d have it through the sunset (they offer all-day rentals but the battery only lasts about 8 hours). Armed with an old-timey map of the pagodas and an open mind (we were sure we’d be getting lost a bit), we took off. If you’re ready to follow our path, be warned: it leads you through a dirt road with sand so thick that you’ll be pushing your e-bike instead of riding for a short while. The bonus is that the sandy road ends at a cluster of tiny, forgotten pagodas that you can explore on your own – it was my very favorite stop of the day and one of my favorite memories from our trip.

If you’re not up for the challenge of pushing your e-bike through the thick sand, we’ve outlined a more preferred e-bike route that meets up with that sandy road right at the cluster of pagodas!

Our Route Map:
(our stops are pinned + our must sees are starred on the map below)

NOTE: Water salesmen along this route are few and far between, so pack plenty of your own water and, when you find someone willing to sell you a bottle, buy two!

Our Must Sees:

• Shwe zi gone Pagoda
  Shwe zi gone was our very first stop on our e-bike and one of the largest compounds of the day! This beautiful, gold-leafed pagoda was packed with locals praying, applying gold leaf and just getting some shade from the hot morning sun.
  

  Shwe zi gone Pagoda

  

  Shwe zi gone Pagoda

  

  Shwe zi gone Pagoda

  

  Shwe zi gone Pagoda

  It’s fun to see the smaller, deserted pagodas, but it’s just as beautiful to see the larger pagodas that are full of life with many Burmese (and, surprisingly, not so many tourists!).

• Cluster of deserted pagodas at the end of the sandy road
  We only had a semi-detailed map in our hands when we set off, so we didn’t really know what to expect. But, after getting to the end of the sandy road we encountered, we were rewarded with my favorite stop of the day– a cluster of unnamed-to-me pagodas that were completed deserted and absolutely gorgeous.
  

  We’ve made it to the end of the thick dirt! Hooray!!

  

• An oasis offering a cool drink
  Our mouths felt like they were filled with sand with this point, so we were THRILLED to find this cafe at the entrance to a small village! We also checked out their silver shop and drove into the village to see some signs of daily life.
  

  Cafe in the middle of no where offering water and a delicious coconut milkshake

• Thisa-Wadi Pagoda
  This pagoda is all but deserted AND you can climb to the top! You’ll find not one but two staircases (they’re very narrow!) and then one of the most spectacular views of Bagan with no crowds. You may even want to hang out here for the sunset and just avoid the crowds all together.
  

  Thisa-Wadi Pagoda

• Sunset at Shwe San Daw Pagoda
  Located just outside the walls of Old Bagan, this pagoda is one of the largest and is perfect for climbing to the top because of its multiple tiers. Be warned! This is the only place all day that we encountered hoards of other tourists. The pagoda is packed, but it truly is the best place to watch the sun go down! One more note about Shwe San Daw: it was the only place we were asked to show our Bagan entry ticket. We hadn’t purchased one, but somehow they let us slip in… we’re still not sure how!

On top of Shwe San Daw Pagoda for the sunset

Joining the crowds for the first time all day!

View from Shwe San Daw Pagoda

The post Renting E-Bikes in Bagan, Myanmar first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

It’s one of those places that you just have to go to understand its beauty because, as beautiful as it is in photos, no photo can do justice to the serenity when you’re at the tip-top of a deserted pagoda or the minute detail in every inch of a pagoda built literally thousands of years ago. I don’t mean to say “just go,” but… really, JUST GO!

The old, dusty town is also (would you believe it?) an old royal capital from the 9th to the 13th centuries. Beginning in the middle of the 9th century with King Anawratha, kings had pagoda after pagoda after pagoda…after pagoda… built during their reigns to show their love for Buddhism (and perhaps their own power and might). When most kings have just one magnificent palace built (think Louix VIX + Versailles), these kings went above and beyond and had close to 10,000 pagodas built on these dusty, flat plains.

Now, a little more than 2,000 temples remain, leaving the town of Bagan sprinkled with these unique temples. Unlike the pagodas in Yangon or Mandalay, most of these temples aren’t dusted with gold, so they have a bit more of a natural look to them. Some are brown, some are white. Most are made with brick, others with stucco. They are tiny little teepees or giant, 10-storied wonders and all sizes in between. They are clustered together or scattered many km apart… And all of this makes for a fun and winding day of e-biking to see as many as you can before sunset (more on our e-biking experience later).

The local government has renovated some of the larger pagodas and, in doing so, has received much criticism from around the world for using modern materials to renovate and creating a golf course and newer buildings right in the middle of the ancient pagodas. In fact, many believe that the city has not been deemed a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of the poor renovation work in the 1990s. UNESCO donated a cool $15 million for the project, but soon pulled out after seeing the shoddy work done by government-chosen contractors—and, because Myanmar was unwilling to rebuild to UNESCO’s standards, UNESCO took their money back. That being said, some of the better pagodas to visit are now the smaller ones, left untouched and changed only by time.

The “Old Town” of Bagan was turned into a tourist zone in 1990 as residents were moved to “New Bagan” and hotels of all sizes quickly moved in. We stayed in Old Bagan, but it’s clear that local life happens outside the gates now – the town literally shuts down by 9pm and is well on its way to closing by dusk. It is a shame that it’s become so “touristy” in the sense that only hotels and pagodas remain inside the gates, but I guess the town did what they could and figured that they’d make more money with hotels in Old Bagan (probably with no regard to the people who once lived in Old Bagan…).

Although most people spend most of their time at their hotels (eating + drinking + relaxing by the pool before finally venturing out to see the pagodas), being the explorers that we are (ha!), we like to avoid hotel restaurants if at all possible – although our Bagan hotel did offer a stunning river view with beautiful, shady trees. There’s not much to do in Bagan other than zip from pagoda to pagoda and watch all the sunrises and sunsets you can, but we enjoyed walking from store to store in the huddled shops right outside the gate and we even discovered a delicious gem of a family-owned restaurant along the way!

Cows roaming the streets in the less crowded roads outside of town

Friendly young children hang out around the pagodas, befriending you (and telling you they are on school holiday… but it seems that school holidays last a very long time)

Just chatting it up with a few local salesmen

Little ones at the pagodas are friendly and very happy to chat

Maybe my favorite sunset ever?

Take a look at the guide below for where to eat, drink and sleep while in Bagan, then be on the lookout for more detailed posts about the town’s surrounding area and its most popular attraction: renting the e-bike and buzzing around to the 2,000+ pagodas.

EAT

We stumbled across a cute little vegetarian restaurant called Yar Pyi that lured us in with this sign:

Usually, we’re not ones for vegetarian restaurants (I still don’t know what to order that won’t leave me hungry again in precisely 21 minutes), but it was late afternoon, and our meal was more of an afternoon snack than a proper meal. Given the odd time, we were the only ones in the outdoor restaurant and the family was exceptionally friendly and kind. They all came over to greet us and were very concerned that we like everything we tried. The menu had reviews written in all languages and every single one said that they had come back for more meals during their stay in Bagan.

The owners are a friendly and genuine family!

We tried the coconut milkshake (1,000 kyat = ~$1 USD) which was basically heaven in a glass. Then, we tried the avocado with “pappauy” (2,500 kyat = ~$2.50 USD) after it was highly recommended in most of the reviews. It came out looking and tasting just like an extra-delicious guacamole dish and accompanied with very thin chips (maybe they were the “pappauy”??). The avocado had a fresh lime flavor and we gobbled it up – ready for a change after eating so much curry.

Even though we love meat, this vegetarian restaurant is where it’s at in Bagan.

DRINK

Bagan is a bit of a sleepy little town, so if you’re looking to rage, you’re more likely to be raging in your hotel room alone. We were looking for a late dinner in Old Bagan and most of the restaurants close way early (around 8:30 – 9pm) – we ended up inside a closed restaurant with the family’s kids whipping us up some leftovers…

That being said, if hot tea is your idea of “drinking,” there’s a little outdoor tea restaurant in the same complex as the “convenience store” and Yar Pyi. Hot tea is the country’s pastime and there are tea rooms just about everywhere you look – essentially dotting the streets like little unbranded Starbucks.

Otherwise, good luck finding a hip Burmese night club here… You’re probably better off going to sleep early and catching the sunrise from atop one of the pagodas.

SLEEP

We stayed at Bagan Thande Hotel, inside the gates of Old Bagan and right on the Irrawaddy River. While our room didn’t have a view of the river, the complex has a relaxing, resort-esque feel with a large pool, an underground spa and… the best part … an outdoor restaurant overlooking the river and shaded by old Acacia trees. Although it’s about a 15 minute walk to outside the gates (read: if you don’t want to eat at the hotel, you’re walking to outside the gates), we found the location much more beautiful right on the river – and a bit out of the way of those crazy motorbikes (and their horns).

Beautiful Acacia trees on the hotel’s property

DISCLAIMER: If you’re more on the late-night, party train, I would suggest eating, drinking and sleeping in New Bagan…also called Nyaung-U. Although we didn’t spend much time there, we did zip through on our e-bike and saw plenty of hostels, restaurants + more. So, it may be better if you’d prefer a 15-minute ride to the pagodas and only a few steps to restaurants and bars instead of the other way around.

The post Let’s Go: Bagan, Myanmar first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

View of Mandalay Palace from the Watch Tower

One of the city’s main attractions is Mandalay Palace, a walled and moated “city” that now hosts military officials and families. When you’re walking around the city, it’s hard to miss this huge complex, smack in the middle of the city and surrounded by a huge moat and gigantic walls. There’s only one bridge to enter and a long dirt road once you’re inside the walls, but the formidable palace is a site to see and worth the extra long trip to its center.

Across the moat

Headed across the bridge “on the road to Mandalay” … Place

Like much of Myanmar, the local people live just on the outskirts of these royal and holy sites. Vendors are selling waters, cokes, sugar cane juice and tchotchkes on the steps of the pagoda — spirituality closely mixed with the secular — but, isn’t that how life is meant to be?

Watch Tower

Just an extra-tall celeb with the locals

The palace was built in the 1850s and was the seat of the last royal capital before the city– and the Burmese — fell to British rule.What you’re actually seeing is a 1990s reconstruction of the palace, as most of it was bombed during World War II by the Allied Forces. It’s not really what you think of when you think of a “palace.” It’s nothing like Buckingham Palace and certainly not as over-the-top as Bangkok’s Grand Palace. Nevertheless, it’s a peaceful, quiet, fort-like compound, surrounded by 40 small, timber buildings and a small watch tower that offers a good view of the palace grounds.  The most impressive part is the throne room, which also holds many accouterments of gold cups and gilded royal possessions. Most other rooms are empty, but King Thibaw’s bed is on display in his “bedroom.”

Collections of gold

It’s no Shwedagon Pagoda, but Mandalay Palace offers a decidedly different look at Burma’s varied history. It may not be 2,600 years old, but the palace is saturated in history, nevertheless. And, it offers a nice view of the town — that is, until you catch a glimpse from the top of Mandalay Hill (make that your next stop!).

The post Mandalay Palace first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

In typical Jeffrey-and-McCown fashion, we had no idea what to expect when we first arrived (we’ve gotten into a habit of planning the cities and towns along our stop – for flying/training/busing purposes, but nothing to do in the city, so when we first arrive, it’s a bit like a deer-in-headlights syndrome). Several tour companies on TripAdvisor offer these excursions for the set price of about $35/person (with 6-8 other tourists), but we decided to book through our hotel at the last minute for $45 total for the private tour–just us and a driver for 8 hours. To be fair, the TripAdvisor-rated tours offered a little more for the higher price (lunch and an English-speaking guide) AND to be MORE fair, we decided to book through our hotel solely because the tour companies were full/didn’t respond at 7pm the night before we wanted to take our tour, but, don’t worry, it all ends well.

This tourist is ready for the day!!

Our driver, Lu, met us at our hotel at 8:30am. He spoke very good English and, like all Burmese we’ve met so far, was welcoming and very kind. While the hotel stressed that he would be our driver not guide, he turned out to want to genuinely share as much about his hometown as possible – he was a true guide to us. As a native of Mandalay, he was able to share details of the city and eager to pull of the road to be sure we got a photo opportunity at each and every landmark.

Our first few stops were within Mandalay. We headed first to a gold leaf workshop, where they hammered gold into gold leaf, then sold 1×1 inch squares to the people of Mandalay to adhere to Buddha.

Workers at the gold leaf workshop hammering gold

They also made small statues and other souvenirs for sale in their adjoining shop. We found it hard to believe that all the gold-plated items in their souvenir shop were really made in their workshop as it seemed more for show than anything else, but hey, it is a neat thing to see them hammering gold into gold leaf regardless and we didn’t feel obligated to buy the trinkets in their gift shop.

Next up, also in Mandalay, we stopped at a wood carving workshop, where men chiseled away at wooden figures, ranging in size from handheld to 3x the size of a person. It was pretty incredible to get an idea of how Burmese have been carving wood and hammering gold for centuries, then to head to a pagoda to see these wood carvings and gold leaf in action.

Visiting the wood-carving workshop

On our way out of town, we stopped at the Mahamuni Pagoda, which has a large Buddha with no women allowed inside the main section. Men are welcomed to apply gold leaf squares directly to the Buddha and I saw many women handing gold leaf squares to men headed into the inner quarters, apparently asking them to apply some gold leaf for them. The women are relegated to the outskirts and are able to watch the men delicately apply the gold leaf squares via a (ironically, static-y) tv screen.

Men applying gold leaf to the Buddah at the Mahamuni Pagoda

There were more locals at this pagoda than at any we’d visited before, but there were plenty of tourists, too, and they were certainly instating the 1000 kyat camera fee.

After the pagoda, we were headed to the outskirts of town to the Mahagandayon Monastery. We arrived around 10am, just as the monks were lined up to eat lunch.

It was such a peaceful experience to see the line of 1,100+ devout monks clad in dark red robes ready for their last (!) meal of the day. As you might expect, feeding this many people is no easy feat, but plenty of volunteers (mostly older women from the community) make the task appear seamless. At the end of their meal, the monks were served delicious-looking ice cream in all sorts of tasty looking colors. My mouth was watering for the treat that I was sure I would not be invited to try and then … guess what! A sweet old man offered me a bowl! I dug my spoon in for a heaping spoonful and BAM… was hit with my very first taste of what I now know to be the flavor of durian, a fruit that makes me want to vomit every time I unknowingly taste it these days. (Is it bad that Jeffrey and I try to mask our look of disgust after tasting it just to see the other’s face when they bite into the ice cream, cookie or candy with that flavor now???)

From the monastery, we then stopped by the tapestry weavers’ workshop, where women were hard at work making beautiful, golden threaded tapestries, pillows, wallets, longyis and more.

Although they’ve turned these workshops into tourist traps to some degree, it is nonetheless interesting to see how these intricate designs are created and the care that these women put into each item. Again, no need to buy souvinirs, but we are glad to we stopped to see the artwork of the Burmese in these workshops.

Our first former royal capital was Sagain: once a sprawling, ancient city with numerous pagodas on rolling hills, this dirt village has lost much of its glamour and today is more of a sleepy village than a powerful city. We passed several beautiful pagodas gleaming in the sunlight and stopped to explore several others. As with all pagodas, the vendors are lined up to the very door of the pagaoda entrance selling all sorts of souvenirs. The juxtaposition of secular goods with women literally chasing you down to buy a bracelet compared to the calm and quiet inside the pagoda never fails to leave me feeling overwhelmed and a bit stupefied. Our guide talked us into trying the popular sugarcane drink outside the pagoda, which we’ve seen many monks slurping through a straw outside pagodas, so thought they must be delicious. Despite the numerous flies huddling around the strainer which had kept us from jumping in and trying it previous times, we gave it a go after our guide suggested it (it’s on him if we keel over from some sort of fly-disease now).

Pressing sugar cane into a delicious juice

The sugarcane is put through a large press countless times to extract its juice. Once all the juice has reached the bucket, it’s strained to get the pulp out, then served with lime and ice. YUM. For just 500 kyat (50 cents), it was refreshing and not too sweet.

My favorite stop of the day was Sagain Hill, where the expansive pagoda was extra colorful — with bright blue railings and shimmering statues holding gems of every kind. The brilliant colors and the hilltop setting made this one pagoda more memorable than many of the others we’d visited, plus the locals (and many child monks + nuns) made it seem a bit more special, too. I highly recommend this stop as it was my very favorite in the Mandalay area.

Little nuns at Sagain Hill

Sagain Hill

From Sagain, we headed to Inwa, known to the British as Ava. Lu, our driver, dropped us off at theAyeyarwady River (aka Irrawaddy River), where a small ferry took us over the river in about 3-5 minutes and dropped us off in Inwa/Ava (the ferry costs 800 kyats/person round-trip).

Just a casual 3-minute ferry ride, totally needed a hat for this experience

No cars are allowed in Inwa, so this town really harkens back to the days of old and the preferred mode of transportation is horse and cart (which sounds exciting and glamorous before you get in the back of this bumpy carriage!). Our first stop was a great restaurant along the river bank, Ava Maria. Be warned, tourist pricing is in full swing, but this is relative. We were shocked at the 6,000 kyat ($6 USD) pricetag on the day’s special: beef with pumpkin curry. But, luckily, this price gouging was easier to swallow (a $6 lunch, in the grand scheme of things, is still a steal anywhere else in the world).

Lunch with a view at Ava Maria in Ava

The horse and cart picked us up from our restaurant and we were bumping along from pagoda to watch tower to monastery for a few hours. It was a fun experience just in the horse and cart– I felt like I was Scarlett O’Hara or some other 1800s girl with a hoop skirt. (But really… how did they stand it from city to city as the bumps in the road were magnified x100 when you’re in those big-wheeled carts.)

Our very own horse cart for the day!

Just a casual ox-drawn cart passing while I’m on a horse-drawn cart #hello1800s

Regardless of the bumps, the experience was extra fun and added a new spin to seeing more pagodas and more monasteries. The carts themselves were decorated with bright colors and the drivers were friendly and kind, though somewhat monotonously pulling up at each stop along the way (they do, after all, do it every single day).  The horse and cart costs only 8,000 kyat (about ~$8 USD) for about two hours worth of riding PLUS the experience of the horse and cart, quite the deal.

Our final stop (after crossing the river in the ferry back to Lu) was Amarapura, where we got to spend some time taking in the sunset at the longest teak bridge in the world: the U Bein Bridge. The teak bridge is (sorry for the disillusionment) a bit less than impressive when you have the high expectations of “longest in the world” hurled at you before arriving.

World’s longest teak bridge

Tourists were dripping from every. single. inch. of this bridge and my fear of heights coupled with the lack of railings AND added to the huge amount of tourists walking on the bridge made me cringe with every step I took on this wooden bridge. I got about 1/4 of the way across and then just turned and ran back for the side. #lame, I know. I found I enjoyed the view much more from the little restaurant and happily drank my fresh coconut juice with the bridge in my eyesight rather than under my feet.

World’s largest coconut

Our day exploring the three former royal capitals was quite the learning experience. But most especially, the day reminded me how quickly the world can change. These three villages that were once bustling capitals, that’s right: HOME TO A KING… are now home to almost no one.

The post A Tour of Three Royal Capitals – Mandalay, Myanmar first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

Because most locals can’t afford apartments in the city proper, the vast majority lives in the suburbs but finds work inside the city. This Circle Train is the preferred method of transportation in and out of the city as traffic can get pretty brutal (and, of course, you have to own a car or motorbike). So, riding this Circle Train provides an unspoiled glimpse into local life away from the gleaming, golden shadow of the Shwedagon Pagoda (save for the handful of fellow tourists that received the same tip as us).

The Circle Train is anything but glitz and glamor. We arrived to the ticket booth at 10:07am, just in time to purchase tickets for 500 kyat each (around 50 cents each) and quickly board the train for its 10:10am departure. The run-down, open-windowed train was mostly empty when we left from the main station; a few Western tourists were on board, but, for the most part, the train cars had locals of every age riding (presumably) back to their homes. Luckily, there are plenty of cars and we found that one pair of camera-slinging sightseers is more than enough for one train car. For the next 3.5 – 4 hours, the commuter train served as the “subway” of Yangon, picking up and dropping off passengers at each stop. Sometimes, people would be waiting to throw live chickens, fresh crops and vegetables and more through the open windows, seemingly to their friends on board to take back into the city.

Ticket Booth at Yangon’s main station

For the first 20 – 30 minutes, the train is somewhat underground (or at least surrounded by tall walls on each side of the track), but you can still see the tops of buildings as we traveled farther out from the city. It’s not boring, though, because the train’s passengers concoct a story that’s different each day, and different in each train car. A family with three little girls boarded at our very first stop and the giggling little ones chose to sit next to me (despite the almost empty cabin). It was fun to smile and wave with them and see the city and its countryside light up through their eyes. I think they thought it was fun to see me react excitedly to mundane, everyday scenes in their world (like an ox being pulled on a rope next to the train tracks!).

At each stop, vendors were waiting on the train tracks and, before the train had even crawled to a stop, they’d board with their wares (cold drinks, hard boiled eggs, flowers and newspapers seemed to be the most popular items), then they’d jump off before the train started rolling again.

As we churned along, we passed farms of watercress plants, with people literally neck-deep in the water, farming. Monks waited to cross the train tracks, smoldering fires blazed outside of houses, goats chomped on weeds by the side of the tracks and women expertly balanced big bags of textiles, fruit, etc. on their heads.

A couple hours into the trip (and about an hour until our return to Yangon), we met a friend who was on his daily commute into the city to work security at a hotel (shout out to Nay!).

Nay works six shifts/week for about 8 – 8.5 hours and lives out of the city on the circle line with his uncle – his family lives in Mandalay. He was eager to practice his English with us and learn about our lives – who we were, where we came from, which cities we were visiting in Myanmar and where we’d go after Myanmar. Once we arrived at Yangon’s main station, he led us to one of his favorite lunch spots (the mall food court, no less) and helped us order lunch before heading off to work. Nay was a prime example of the friendliness and kindness that we encountered in all of the Burmese people, a refreshing change from traveling in places where the locals only want to talk to you to see how much money they can scam from you.

Because many travelers give Yangon a bit of the short stick and only linger for a few hours in the city, they miss out on the intricacies of local life in the big city– not catching the minutiae of a local’s 3 hour daily ride on the Circle Train. If you’re looking for a place to really brush shoulders with the local Burmese, take the time to travel on this Circle Train. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised, as we were, at the candid friendliness of the Burmese who sit next to you on your journey.

And now, here’s Jeffrey with the nerdy train stats:

Here’s the full route map:

Here are the stats:

Check out more photos of our ride on the Circle Train below:

The post A Ride on the Circle Train – Yangon, Myanmar first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

Although legend holds that the stupa is more than 2,600 years old, some historians believe it was actually built by the Mon people between the 6th and 10th Centuries. During the 14th and 15th Centuries, King Binnya U and Queen Binnya Thau (respectively) rebuilt and added to the pagoda. Queen Binnya Thau donated her weight in gold (88 lbs.!) to the temple, starting the tradition that continues to this day of people donating gold to maintain the temple.

Now, the temple still stands, beckoning visitors and locals alike to its grand and golden stature. Although visitors pay an 8,000 kyat entrance fee (~$8 USD), Burmese do not, so the temple grounds are a meeting place for friends, with families congregating in the shady spots, letting their babies crawl around the cool marble slabs while they exchange stories. It’s very much a part of current-day, every-day Yangon and not an abandoned site like many temples and churches in other cities and countries.

All of the guides I found online suggested either visiting at dawn (to avoid the crowds) or at sunset, but we decided to go around 10am. When we arrived, we were told to take off our shoes – no one said it in the guides, but surely the reason to go pre- or post-sun is because your feet will get scorched! No socks, stockings or shoes are allowed and the hot tile floors around the temple quickly bake in the 104 degree heat. I think Jeffrey and I both lost several layers of skin on our feet from visiting this pagoda mid-day.

These temple grounds have more than 27 metric tons of gold and thousands of precious gems (including diamonds). The temple dates back to more than 2,600 years ago, making it the oldest Buddhist stupa in the world, and it is truly a must-see in Yangon, in Myanmar and in Southeast Asia as a whole. It reminded me most of the Grand Palace in Bangkok with shimmering gold details on everything, my first foray into golden temples with gems dotting every column (an experience that’s stuck with me!).

After spending several hours in the pagoda, we descended the steps to the outside world.

“Gangnam Style” then the Black Eyed Peas blared through a brightly colored blue metal contraction next to the street vendors offering ice cream. We’d stumbled straight into Happy World, a children’s amusement park just across the street from Shwedagon Pagoda. Bright lights and swings excited the children as they posed next to plastic monsters and super heroes. Then, we entered the dimly lit arcade and immediately were transported to Chuckie Cheese (just without the hassle of collecting tickets to win “awesome” prizes). We stepped into the outdoor café and ordered a lunch of fried cauliflower, som tam salad and kim chi rice with chicken – all for less that $5 USD total.

The Shwedagon Pagoda is truly awe-inspiring, a perfect introduction to Yangon, Myanmar and the Burmese people. Like in Yangon as a whole, inside the pagoda grounds, you’ll find a collection of tranquil monks resting on the cooled stone steps in the shadows mingled with energetic little ones dancing in the doorways and couples (us included!) taking selfies on our iPhones. This glimpse into Burmese life – both its future and its shimmering, golden past – was the perfect welcome to our first stop in Myanmar.

Check out more of our photos from our visit to the Shwedagon Pagoda and its surrounding area below!

The post Shwedagon Pagoda + Surrounding Area first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

One of my best friends had plenty of wonderful things to say about her time at Coronado Island, just a quick 10 minute drive from downtown San Diego, so we chose to stay on the island rather than in the downtown area. Once we’d decided to stay on Coronado, I had to choose from the handful of hotels there. The famous Hotel del Coronado was a bit out of our price range at $400+/night, so we settled on the El Cordova Hotel just across the street. It is an old mansion that’s now divided into 40 guest rooms. Although I was the tiniest bit hesitant about booking a hotel room where the door opens to the outside (always a big no-no in my book), the hotel was the very opposite of creepy and was absolutely fantastic. (More about El Cordova Hotel + pictures of the hotel here.)

After getting some much-needed rest, we headed out in our rental car to explore downtown San Diego. We had plenty of things on our to-do list, but were just taking the day in stride and trying to be flexible, not rushed. We headed to Balboa Park, one of the top must-see attractions in the city and home of the San Diego Zoo. I have to admit that I wasn’t too pumped about spending the morning in a park (it seemed a little boring to me), but it was the top-rated attraction in San Diego, so we decided to give it a shot. It turned out to be anything but boring and we spent a long morning exploring the botanical gardens, the many museums and scenery of the extraordinary park. One of the best parts? Free Admission!

Balboa Park

Balboa Park has plenty of free parking, so we pointed Google Maps to Inspiration Point lot, just outside of the park. A free tram service picked us up quickly (they run every 10 minutes starting at 9am), and took us to the park– which was only about a 4 minute trolley ride and (it turns out…) totally walkable. We were dropped off at Plaza de Panama, which is right in the heart of Balboa Park. The Visitor’s Center opened at 9:30am, so, while we waited to grab a map and get our bearings there, we walked down El Prado Road, past the Museum of Natural History and found a beautiful garden of cactuses. It really felt like we were in the Southwest then! The weather was shaping up to be a gorgeous day, so we enjoyed walking around the park and seeing the beautifully manicured lawns and dramatic architecture of each building. Balboa Park began as 1,400 acres set aside by the city government in 1868 and really started “blossoming” with the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition, which commemorated the opening of the Panama Canal. This exposition provided a momentum for city officials to continue improving the park, and many of the exhibits and museums were created for this exposition.

After a quick run through the Visitor’s Center’s gift shop, we headed to the Botanical Gardens which have free admission (but don’t open until 10am). If you like orchids, this building is a must-see because there are all shapes, sizes and varieties of orchids on display, along with many other exotic flowers and plants. Although the lily pond outside of the Botanical Gardens is strangely missing its lilies, it’s still a beautiful site.

From the Botanical Gardens, we walked past the Museum of Man which had a beautiful tower and Spanish-tiled dome. We opted out of the museums for lack of time, but I’ve heard many good things about the museums — and, of course, the San Diego Zoo, which is also located inside the park. After pausing at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion (a beautiful outdoor pavilion), we headed to the UN International Gift Shop where many trinkets from all over the world were on display. Unfortunately, the nearby Hall of Nations was closed for renovations, but we got to look inside each one — these small cottages offer a window into each country. For example, the House of Scotland was decorated with tartan plaid curtains.

After a morning at Balboa Park, we headed into Old Town to try some authentic Mexican food. Because San Diego is only 18 miles from Tijuana, Mexico, we couldn’t pass up being so close to the country without trying its food. We fell in love with Casa Guadalajara:  a colorful, delightful lunch experience with one of the best patios. The food was delicious – and, after we told them we’d be in a bit of a hurry, it came out almost immediately.

Casa Guadalajara

Casa Guadalajara

After lunch, we barreled down another one of San Diego’s many freeways toward our harbor cruise. When doing a bit of research, I came across a fantastic deal on a 2 hour harbor cruise with Hornblower Cruises. On Goldstar.com (a site similar to Groupon, but for events), I purchased two tickets for less than the regular price of one ($27.00/2 vs. $28.00/1 at the window). We picked up our tickets at Will Call with no trouble and waited by the harbor to begin our two-hour cruise on the Admiral ship.

While waiting, we hopped next door to see the USS Midway and its famous statue (commemorating the end of WWII).

USS Midway

Unconditional Surrender statue at the USS Midway

The Admiral was kept very clean and was one of the nicest tourist ships I’d been on. We were a bit disappointed in the narration as they didn’t share as much history of the city as we’d hope — just pointed out landmarks (and sea lions!) as we passed them. Overall, though, the cruise was a fantastic afternoon activity with beautiful views of the San Diego skyline — really a must-do activity when visiting San Diego.

The best part was that the weather (even in February) was warm enough to enjoy sitting on the outside deck of the ship as we sailed the harbor. We hopped off after the first hour of the South Bay and skipped the second hour of the cruise (the ship comes back to port for those who have just purchased a one-hour tour) because it was late afternoon by this point and we wanted to explore Coronado Island.

We drove back into Coronado and set out for a walk just as the sun was setting. Our hotel, El Cordova, was just across from the beach, so we were able to enjoy our first Californian sunset from the sand. We walked up toward the Hotel del Coronado (a grand Victorian hotel built in 1888) and enjoyed the bustling atmosphere of the many restaurants on the hotel’s back patio with patrons enjoying cocktails or early dinner outside. The weather couldn’t have been nicer and we were tempted to split an $18 hamburger just to enjoy the view, but we chose instead to walk through the many shops on the lower level of the hotel. The Hotel del Coronado is a magnificent building, the West Coast’s version of the Greenbrier. The mahogany and oak detail in the large lobby is stately and inviting, and the gift shop boasts the hotel’s history, steeped with stars and old-timey pictures. Interestingly, the hotel is the second-largest wooden structure in the US, so it’s looming stature can be seen from all over the island– and we even spotted it on our harbor cruise.

Hotel del Coronado

After enjoying the sights at the “Hotel Del”, we walked down Orange Ave., another bustling street for a Wednesday night. Chochtky shops and restaurants reign on this strip, but it doesn’t feel cheap at all. We settled on Village Pizzeria for dinner as it offered outdoor patio seating facing the street (for prime people-watching). We split one 10-inch pizza and were extraordinarily happy with the divine Billy Goat pizza ($18). This pizza was piled high with spinach, roasted red peppers, red onion, oven-roasted tomatoes, basil, balsamic and goat cheese. Although it was lacking red sauce and meat (usually two things I never go without on a pizza), it was filling and extra-extra-flavorful!

Although we only spent a few hours exploring Coronado, we didn’t find it as expensive as its rumored to be and the hotel prices were comparable to downtown San Diego– no more expensive and no “island tax!” We were especially happy to stay on Coronado in lieu of downtown because of the extra character we found in the cute island atmosphere.

For our final morning in San Diego, we spent our last few hours in La Jolla before heading north. La Jolla is a few minutes north of downtown and is rumored to be the “ritzy” island. We headed toward La Jolla Cove — enjoying the beautiful green hills along the way. La Jolla Cove used to be where children would swim, but, in the past decade, the sea lions have taken over the cove. Despite the terrible smell, we so enjoyed seeing the sea lions up close. They were too busy bathing in the sun light to notice us, though!

La Jolla Cove

Sea Lions at La Jolla Cove

Once at the cove, we took the steps down to the small beach and were awed by the small mass of swimmers who were swimming clear across the bay! We spent the morning basking in the warm sun, enjoying the views and watching the swim caps bobbing along the ocean on their way across the bay. It was the perfect ending to our time in San Diego and definitely worth a trip to the north end of the city.

All-in-all, we so enjoyed our short time in San Diego, finding its small-town charm to far outweigh its winding freeways and skyscrapers. With no lack of personality, visitors to this southern California gem will surely leave satisfied– I know we did.

The post 1.5 Days in San Diego first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

My mom had just applied for the US Airways Premier World MasterCard over Thanksgiving, so she received the Companion Certificate in the mail in late December. A little more on the Companion Certificate: this certificate is good for up to two passengers traveling with the card holder on a round-trip Coach Class ticket on US Airways operated flights (so, no partner flights allowed). The credit card holder purchases his/her ticket at regular price and then (on the same charge) purchases up to two companions’ tickets for $99 + tax each. Again, this certificate is only valid for flights within the continental US, so it’s a better bang for your buck to purchase the most expensive ticket (i.e., cross-country) to get a higher percentage off with your companion pass. It looks like the US Airways Premier World MasterCard is still around (there was some talk that it would be a thing of the past come January 2015), and it’s still advertising a Companion Certificate. I was under the impression that the Companion Certificate would also be going away in 2015, but maybe they’ve decided to let it stick around a bit longer?

Side Note: My mom originally applied for this credit card for the awesome 50,000 bonus points with first purchase and payment of $89 annual fee (no need to spend thousands of dollars in the first few months to get the bonus!). These points will become American Airlines AAdvantage points in the second quarter of 2015 and, coupled with the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select MasterCard she applied for at the same time (which got her an additional 50,000 American points), she’ll have a whopping 100,000 points in the bank — enough to visit Europe twice (or Asia once, with enough points leftover to warrant a free domestic US round-trip!). So, this California trip is a bonus that we didn’t even consider before she applied for the credit cards.

We wanted to take as much advantage of the companion ticket as possible, so we were looking for somewhere pretty far from South Carolina (while still staying within the contiguous 48 states). We settled on southern California because, quite frankly, the weather in much of the rest of the US (excluding the Southeast) is pretty frightful in early February. And, with Winter Storm Juno rolling in the week before our departure (with another snowstorm right on its heels), our sunny destination couldn’t have been better.

We ended up booking my mom’s ticket about six weeks out from Charlotte (CLT) to San Diego (SAN) at $390 and tacking my Companion Certificate on for the additional $99 + taxes, which came out to be $141.20 extra — a pretty significant savings from buying two normal tickets.

The weather forecast for the first week in February looked like the peak of spring time on the East Coast: highs in the low-70s and lows in the mid-50s. I’ll take it!

Our itinerary ended up looking like this:

2 nights in San Diego
3 nights in the Santa Barbara area
1 night in San Diego

We’d heard great things about Coronado Island (just across the harbor from downtown San Diego), so I knew we wanted to stay there. The famous Hotel del Coronado (a Victorian wooden monstrosity — as in, the second largest wooden structure in the US) was a bit out of our price range at $400+/night, so I did some Trip Advisor-ing and ended up booking our first two nights at the Hotel El Cordova, just across the street from the gigantic “Hotel Del”. At almost one-quarter of the price, the location is just as fabulous and its a charming little Spanish-style hotel.

El Cordova Hotel sits overlooking its more famous counterpart and, interestingly, was actually the private home of the main builder of the grander hotel in the late 1800’s. The Spanish-style mansion has been converted into motel-style rooms ranging in size. The lobby is on the street facing the Hotel del Coronado and is just steps away from the beautiful beach and cute shops and restaurants. The rooms are circled around an inner courtyard with plenty of Spanish tiles and bright, colorful flowers to drool over on your walks to and from the lobby.

The quaint and quite romantic hotel is perfect — even the breakfast is just right: a small continental breakfast is included, and the best part is that it’s served in the courtyard, surrounded by beautiful flowers, delicate succulents and beautiful weather.

Check out a few photos from our stay at El Cordova:

El Cordova Hotel

Grounds of El Cordova Hotel

Grounds of El Cordova Hotel

Grounds of El Cordova Hotel

Grounds of El Cordova Hotel

Grounds of El Cordova Hotel

Grounds of El Cordova Hotel

Grounds of El Cordova Hotel

Grounds of El Cordova Hotel

Grounds of El Cordova Hotel

Grounds of El Cordova Hotel

Continental Breakfast is included

Continental Breakfast is included

Continental Breakfast is included

Continental Breakfast is included

Continental Breakfast is included

Although the rooms are pretty small and basic, the public parts of the hotel are beautiful and we felt very safe — which was ideal for us since we weren’t spending much time at the hotel.

Balboa Park
Old Town for lunch (Casa Guadalajara)
Harbor Tour
Exploring the Hotel del Coronado + Coronado Island

After a packed first day, we planned to finish our time in San Diego by exploring La Jolla, a nearby island and beach with sea caves and seals. Yes, please. Although I’m sure we could spend days in La Jolla alone, our week-long trip to Southern Cal was starting to get booked up quickly, so we planned our second day like this:

Morning in La Jolla with brunch + sea caves
San Juan Capistrano Mission
late lunch in Malibu
Pepperdine University
Drive into Ventura, CA

Although we would have loved a little more time in San Diego, we wanted to start heading up the coast toward Santa Barbara to give us time to stop along the way. We have a friend who lives in the area who insisted we drive through Pepperdine, calling it the prettiest university campus in the US. With helpful tips like Pepperdine and the San Juan Capistrano Mission, we had another jam-packed day ahead of us, but it really helped to break up the drive up the coast.

We arrived in Ventura in time for dinner and an early night to rest up for our next day of adventures. As you may have read about, Jeffrey’s recently gotten the Club Carlson credit card and this hotel chain’s Winter 2015 promo was the best of the bunch, so we settled on the Country Inn and Suites in Ventura for our nights in the Santa Barbara area. Although the hotel is about 25 minutes south of Santa Barbara, it was much cheaper than any other hotel that week because of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, plus we earned an extra 30,000 bonus points for our 3-night stay– enough for several free nights in nicer Carlson hotels around the world! For more info on the Club Carlson Winter 2015 promo (going on through March 29), click here.

The next morning, we had planned to drive back down toward San Diego about 45 minutes to Simi Valley, CA — not the most ideal plan, but we booked hotels and planned our stays then had to reschedule a little in order to meet up with a friend from our hometown for a tour of the Ronald Reagan Library, which was on the top of my mom’s list. That day, our itinerary looked like this:

Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library
Drive back up toward Santa Barbara
Explore Santa Barbara, including the Old Mission, antique shops + the pier!

On the next day, we were headed up a little north of Santa Barbara:

Morning at the Gainey Winery in Santa Ynez, CA
Afternoon on a ranch in Lompac, California with some friends

On our final full day in California, we needed to make our way back down to San Diego for our flight on Monday morning. We’d booked a hotel on the northern outskirts of San Diego so we didn’t have to drive all the way into the city the night before, giving us a little more time to explore on our way back down the coast. Our last day’s itinerary looked like this:

Santa Monica Pier
Lunch in Hollywood
Looking for stars before the Grammy’s!

We made our way back down toward San Diego with our final night’s stay booked at the Hyatt Place Vista/Carlsbad. We were trying to balance easy location with affordable cost and settled on the Hyatt Place because it was on our way back into town, so we didn’t need to pay the high premium of staying in the city if we were getting in late and leaving early. For our last dinner, we tried a fun wine bar in Encinitas, CA.

More details on our stops and tours coming up soon!

The post Planning My Very First Trip to California first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

After lunch at another outdoor cafe (…because Charleston has exactly 0 fun outdoor streetside cafes), we walked over the Golden Horn to the more modern side of Istanbul. Trying to get our tourism on, we headed to a must-see site: the Galata Tower.

View of the Galata Tower from across the water

In the context of Istanbul, the Galata Tower is brand spanking new at 650+ years old. This is especially evident in the context of the Hagia Sofia, built in 537, whereas the Galata Tower was completed in 1348. Further revealing the age of the ancient Tower, it was once the tallest building in all of the city at a sky-scraping 219 ft (67 meters).

The Tower was built to replace its predecessor, known as the Great Tower, which was used to control sea traffic and closed the Golden Horn. Beginning in the 18th century, the Ottomans used the Tower to look out for fires in the city.

The nine-story tower has a restaurant on its top floor, but visitors can climb to the top without having to eat there. There is a balcony all along the top and, when we were there, we were jam-packed and passing fellow picture-takers was rather difficult. We did end up getting the coveted panoramic shot of Istanbul, complete with the Hagia Sofia and Blue Mosque. And, we even scored a photo of the two of us up top.

BOTTOM LINE:  Although the newer part of Istanbul isn’t my favorite, climbing to the top of the Galata Tower should be high on your list of things to do. The view is second-to-none, and, hopefully, the crowds won’t be too bad so you can get a group picture with a background that’s guaranteed to get you plenty of Instagram Likes.

The post Galata Tower Review – Istanbul, Turkey first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

After touring the Hagia Sophia (click for post) with the other 6 billion people that morning, we headed just across the way to the Basilica Cistern. When we saw the crowds there, too, we were so over crowds and ready to walk around the city that we walked past the Cistern at first. On second thought, we doubled back and went inside.

View from the street outside of the Basilica Cistern

It is dark and dreary inside the Cistern, the largest of hundreds of cisterns beneath Istanbul. This Cistern was built during the 6th Century, and historical documents indicated that more than 7,000 slaves helped to build it. Once you’ve walked down the steps into the main cistern, there’s a huge open space with tons of columns holding up…the land above you. This particular cistern served as the water filtration system for the Grand Palace of Constantinople, then continued on into modern times.

Just like any other historical-turned-tourist site, the astounding old is juxtaposed with modern-day tourist traps. So, right between some centuries-old columns, they’ve set up a photo booth of sorts. You can pay a couple dollars and dress up in Sultan -like clothing. Normally, we skip these kind of things, but this one was too good to pass up…and is one of my favorite pictures of us.

Historical sites always get me because these people built this stuff without machines. I’m always impressed and overwhelmed by their beauty. It’s relaxing to walk around the Cistern and hear water dripping all around you. It’s damp and muggy, too, so you probably don’t want to stay too long. Take time to walk over to the far corner — one of the column bases is carved to look like the head of Medusa.

Photo by Sergey Yeliseev under CC

BOTTOM LINE: If you’ve never seen an underground water system before, don’t miss this huge one. If you have, you should still go to take a gimmicky photo. I don’t think you’ll regret it.

Featured image source: Photo by Hervé BRY under CC

The post Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan Sarnici) – Istanbul, Turkey Review and Photo Gallery first appeared on Weekend Blitz.