Part II (Part 1 can be accessed in our Archives, dated 4/1/2019)
I arrived at the hot air balloon launch site around 6:00 a.m. The half-hour bus ride from my hotel over potholed roads in the pre-dawn dark took me past clusters of houses, occasionally lit by bright, bare lightbulbs for early risers. Voices from the streets burst through the half-opened windows, then quickly faded.
Several balloon envelopes spread over the ground, each forming a huge flattened circle. A few balloons began to bulge as the bus arrived; ground crews maneuvered giant blowers with large propellers into balloon necks to inflate them. As the balloons filled and lifted off the ground, crews lit burners that sat in the middle of each giant, wicker-covered basket for holding passengers (gondola). Heated air in the expanding envelopeskept the balloons upright.
On a signal from the pilot, sixteen of us hoisted ourselves over the high gondola walls, with four people in each partitioned quadrant. The pilot untied the tether anchoring the balloon to land and turned up the flame of our giant burner. A WHOOSH of heat increased the temperature of the air inside the balloon’s envelope. The gondola dragged across the ground for several feet, then lifted off; the surface rushed away silently. In no time, I was several hundred feet up.
The eastern sky whitened as the earth rotated to meet the dawn. Logic gave way to fantasy, and I imagined that the sun must be only a few inches below the horizon. On the ground hundreds of structures slowly materialized from deep darkness as mist rolled and evaporated around them. WHOOSH! The furnace blasted. Everyone spoke in hushed tones, as the grandeur of the moment unfolded.
The first rays of sunlight shot across the landscape, revealing thousands of temples and stupas scattered across the plain. A few large structures covered in gold flashed into splendor, glittering in daybreak. The stupa architects intended the structures to represent Buddha sitting in meditation. Suddenly hundreds of them declared their spiritual and physical presence. As the sun climbed, I saw an armada of fifteen other airships spread across the sky. Occasionally the rising sun cast our balloon’s shadow across a temple as it drifted overhead. Dozens of tourists who had climbed to the top of a few large stupas waved as the balloon glided by.
Growing light and evaporating mist revealed a neat checkerboard of tilled fields and old, cracked paved and dirt roads crisscrossing the ground among the structures. A farmer pulled his water buffalo yoked to a cart full of tools along a path that led to his field. Several boys played soccer before school started. Two men were already at work harvesting grain. A bus on the main road picked up passengers. Ever-present motorcycles buzzed along. I felt privileged to peek, almost invisibly, into the morning life of this otherworldly place. The aerial nest gave me a view of humanity’s fourteenth and twenty-first century trappings side-by-side.
A champagne toast awaited after a smooth landing. The bumpy ride on the dusty road back to the hotel contrastedwith the exhilarating experience flying over the plains of Bagan.
I later learned a more serious story about the plains. The temples and stupas once sat in the middle of the old town of Bagan. The government forced residents and businesses to move to nearby New Bagan or elsewhere, demolishing the old city to enhance the site’s tourism potential. My guide and her family lived in a temporary dwelling along the river for a few years until the government provided them with a home. Several times the river rose enough to flood their shelter.
Her account sobered my elated mood. The grand spectacle of the plains’ temples and stupas had come at a human cost, like so many historical wonders and technical “advances.” Understanding the backstory of the cultural treasure anchored the experience and my perspective. And it provided another lesson on the complex ways of the world.
IF YOU GO
- By Plane: From Yangon, Myanmar’s capital, to Bagan Nyaung U Airport – 80 minutes
- By bus: From Yangon to Shive Pyi terminal – 10 hours
- By train: from Yangon overnight to Bagan Station – 17-1/2 hours
- Balloon ride: www.balloonsoverbagan.com(make reservations several weeks ahead of time)
- Tourism website: www.go-myanmar.com
For almost 40 years I've traveled worldwide, with a particular focus on India and Southeast Asia. Places culturally atypical to the western eye are more interesting to me. A social services non-profit leader earlier in my career, I am a travel and street photographer; my easy-to-navigate website at www.blainebonhamphoto.comchronicles my adventures. On the site, I note experiences from extensive journals createdon the road. I want to share these stories and photographs with fellow travelers and cultural explorers like your readers.
