I want to go to Burma. I want to visit Bagan once. I want to see the grandeur of the pagoda field that they say is the most magnificent.

After we got the promo tickets from the red-tailed airline,

We are planning a trip with friends to visit Mandalay and Bagan.

This trip, which focused mainly on Bagan, was back in December of the year before last.

At that time, it was still necessary to apply for a visa, but now I heard that it is no longer necessary to apply for a visa.

I saved thousands of dollars. I think I'll try again this winter.

Since we only had a few days to travel, we decided not to look for transportation and hotels on the spot, as none of the members who went had ever been there before.

To avoid wasting time on travel arrangements, my friend in the trip contacted an agent from Thailand to book both the car and accommodation.

I was originally going to hire a guide, but we were only going to the main tourist spots. They told me that I didn't need to hire a guide because the driver knows the way.

Upon arriving in the afternoon on the first day, I looked around to see if anyone would be there to pick us up. Then, I saw a young man holding a sign welcoming our group.

After we all got on the bus, we headed from the airport to the city center, stopped to grab something to eat, and dropped off our belongings at our accommodation.

We stayed in downtown Mandalay for one night. After that, we rushed to our destination for the day, "U Bein Bridge".

This is the world's longest teakwood bridge, stretching 2 kilometers across Lake Taungthaman, south of Amarapura.

Here, there are paddle boats available for tourists to enjoy. Take a leisurely boat ride and wait for the sunset. The atmosphere is incredibly romantic.

The next morning, we woke up at 3:00 AM to prepare for the sacred ceremony of "Washing the Face of Mahamuni Buddha".
We arrived at Mahamuni Temple at 4:00 AM and waited for the temple to open. When we entered, we were surprised by the large crowd.
There were many tourists and Burmese Buddhists. It was truly a sight of overflowing faith.

The Burmese believe that Mahamuni Buddha is a living Buddha image.
Because the Buddha breathed his sacred breath into the body of this Buddha image,
It is the origin of the Mahamuni Buddha Face Washing Ceremony.
The abbot must perform a face-washing ceremony to clean the Buddha image every morning.
Because it is believed that he is alive and breathing, this is a unique ceremony of faith that has been passed down for thousands of years.

Every day, many Burmese, Buddhists from other countries, and Thai Buddhists come to pay homage to him.
Men can go up and apply gold leaf to the Buddha image, but women like us cannot enter. We have to stay outside in the area where women are not allowed to enter.

After visiting the Mahamuni Buddha's face-washing ceremony, we ascended Mandalay Hill to witness the sunrise.
From this vantage point, we could admire the Mandalay Palace, a majestic landmark standing tall in the heart of the city. On some days, hot air balloons grace the sky, adding to the picturesque scene.

After returning to the hotel for breakfast, we continued our journey to Bagan in the late morning.
Although the distance was not very far, the car was limited in speed. Even though the road was empty, the driver did not speed up at all.
It took us more than five hours to reach Bagan. We stopped at Ananda Temple first.

This temple is another popular tourist destination that everyone visits. On the day we went, we met a lot of Thai tourists.
We didn't take many pictures at this temple because it was so crowded.
We read that inside the temple there are four standing Buddha statues carved from teak wood.
The work of skilled Burmese craftsmen who made openings to allow light to shine only on the Buddha statue, whose face has a smile.
And we found that his face really did have a smile.

In order not to waste time, that evening we went up to watch the sunset at the "Shwesandaw Pagoda".
There were a lot of tourists. When the sun had set, many people cheered and applauded the beauty in front of them.
Is this Bagan, known as the city of pagodas or the land of four thousand pagodas?
Although there are only over two thousand pagodas left now, the grandeur of this place has not diminished at all.
Imagine if you could go back in time, this kingdom would be magnificent.
Standing here, it was truly a moment of awe.

The next morning, we woke up early and headed out to hunt for the Milky Way, but unfortunately, we couldn't find it.
We decided to wait for the sunrise at Shwesandaw Pagoda instead.
We arrived at 5 am, and it was still very dark. However, there were already many people there, reserving their spots for taking photos.
We estimated that there were hundreds of Thai tourists that day, and we could hear them talking loudly, but we couldn't see who was who.
When the sun finally rose, we realized that almost all the tourists at the pagoda that morning were Thai.
We were even more surprised when we saw that the person standing next to us was someone we knew. We were so happy to see each other and started calling out each other's names. After that, we met about ten more people we knew.
It was such a funny coincidence. We couldn't believe that we would meet so many people we knew in Myanmar, when we hadn't seen them in Thailand.

After we came down from the pagoda, we tried to find the popular angle that is seen everywhere in postcards.
The person who took the picture with us said that the angle we wanted was in this temple, but we couldn't find it.
We met a group of children and asked them if they had ever seen this angle in a picture. They said that they would take us there if we bought a postcard from them.
It turned out that what we were looking for was right behind the wall where we were standing. The children then went to find candles to light, as if they knew that if tourists asked, they had to provide them. We bought postcards from the children as a way of saying thank you.

Fortunately, when we first arrived in Bagan, we had no idea where to go.

We only saved the pictures of the temple and the angles we wanted, and we planned to ask about them later.

The younger sibling we met by chance this morning asked us:

Do you want a great guide? I'll recommend one for you. He took me on a tour yesterday.

Let's not waste any time and go find the honorary guide right away. The younger brother said it wouldn't be difficult to find him at all, brother.

While I was walking around here with my camera, taking pictures, a man approached me and asked...

Do you want beautiful pictures? I'll get them for you. At first I didn't believe it, but they really did it for me.

The guide's fee is $50. At first I thought it was expensive, but with all the effort they put in, I'm happy to pay.

Personally, I'm quite against staged photoshoots.

We think it would be better to have natural, unstaged photos.

Or sit and read a book amidst the rays of light.

The images we see in books, on famous websites, or even on the postcards we hold in our hands are almost all staged.

So we have to erase that feeling. Consider it buying experience in exchange for the photos we want in a limited time.

That day was another fun day in Burma because of this guide.

They arranged for us to take photos at each location within a limited time frame.

They will know where to take this shot, which angle, and which pagoda will be lit by the sun at what time.

We can't really say where we took these photos.

Because he was riding his motorbike ahead of us very fast, the driver also rushed to drive.

It's like we're on a photo rally, we've taken so many pictures.

From morning till night, if anyone wants to have this kind of experience

You can find him around the Shwesandaw Pagoda. Ask for a photographer guide named "Teng So". You'll definitely find him there.

The party must end, but our guide is not over yet. He must have taken a fancy to someone in our group. After that night, we went on to have a few beers together.

They said we don't have to go up to the Shwesandaw Pagoda tomorrow morning. They will take us to a better place, I guarantee you will get beautiful pictures.

The next morning we met in front of the Shwesandaw Pagoda at five o'clock. Our super tough guide rushed over on a motorbike with a ladder strapped to his back.
I wondered where he was going to take us to climb. Then he led us to a pagoda near the Shwesandaw Pagoda.
We walked up through the pagoda to the top. We thought the angle wasn't very high, just like a four-story building.
After a while, he gave us the ladder he was carrying to climb to the top of the pagoda. You're really awesome, man.

From this angle, you can see the Shwesandaw Pagoda right in front of you. Our photographer friends were all smiles and got the pictures they wanted.

The shutter was pressed repeatedly.

After finishing the sunrise photo shoot, we packed up and headed to the Shwezigon Pagoda, which is considered one of the largest pagodas in the Bagan kingdom. It is another must-visit place.

There is a walkway near the pagoda, and in the late morning, the light shines through. We couldn't miss the opportunity to capture a picture of a flower vendor passing by.
Before taking the photo, we asked for her permission and offered to buy some flowers. It's a courtesy to ask permission before taking photos of people you don't know.

We found that monks and novices were walking along this path all the time. Before taking the picture, we raised our hands in a wai to ask for permission.
They would slow down to let us take the picture and then walk away quietly.

The Shwezigon Pagoda is very grand, and the highlight of this place is that we can see the top of the pagoda from a small hole with stagnant water.

Translation:

If you look down, you will see the top of the pagoda. You have to find a good angle to see it, and we found that it is very difficult to take pictures with a large camera.

It took a while to find the right angle and lens distance, as the hole was tiny and there were many people waiting in line to see it.

And so the journey must come to an end. On the last night before returning, we went back to sleep in the city of Mandalay.

Translation:

To make sure we catch our flight tomorrow, this is our first time in Burma to take a serious photo shoot.

I wake up early and sleep late every day, but I don't feel tired at all.

Burmese people are lovely. The food is delicious and not as expensive as you might think.

Visiting Myanmar once is not enough, really. If I have the chance, I will definitely go back and visit again.

Finally, thank you for watching the pictures from start to finish.