There are a lot of things that I love about life. However, my family in Myanmar is at the top of my list. Visiting Myanmar is the second thing that I love. I am fascinated by that country. Last week, I wrote about our visit to the Taung Kwe Pagoda, which is located in Loikaw. I had never been there before and loved that adventure. I enjoyed seeing the pagoda, but it was also fun to watch my granddaughters climbing to the top of the split mountain on which the pagoda straddles.

However, there are several places that I have been on my two previous journeys to Myanmar that I wanted to revisit. Therefore, when I wrote to Moh Moh to set up our family tour, she and Ko Ko, her husband, knew that I wanted to return to Bagan.

I bought this sandpainting on my first trip to Bagan. It is one of my treasures. This is a perfect picture of what Bagan looks like.

While this sandpainting is an excellent portrait of what Bagan looks like, it is difficult to imagine acres and acres of pagodas, stupas, and shrines. I took these photos while on my first trip to Bagan.

These structures were created in Bagan nearly a millennium ago. It is quite difficult to grasp the vastness of the entire area. It covers 40-square miles of various sizes of Buddhist religious buildings. The builders constructed over 10,000 stupas, shrines, and pagodas in a matter of 250 years. However, only 2,500 are still intact. In 1975, a 6.8 earthquake destroyed or severely damaged much of what was able to endure over the past millennium. What buildings that weren’t destroyed have been recently designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

There are a lot of things that I love about life. However, my family in Myanmar is at the top of my list. Visiting Myanmar is the second thing that I love. I am fascinated by that country. Last week, I wrote about our visit to the Taung Kwe Pagoda, which is located in Loikaw. I had never been there before and loved that adventure. I enjoyed seeing the pagoda, but it was also fun to watch my granddaughters climbing to the top of the split mountain on which the pagoda straddles.

Now, we are ready to float above Bagan.

We all enjoyed the adventure of floating over acres of pagodas. Additionally, it was an excellent learning moment for my granddaughters. They were able to see a part of their homeland nearly a half mile above the shrines. Floating above all the acres of shrines puts everything in a different perspective. As I remember floating above Bagan, I wondered what my grandchildren will remember when they tell the story of ballooning over Bagan to their children.

I want to return again to see my family. However, COVID-19 has reshuffled the schedule of the entire world. Hopefully, I will be able to visit them in a year and a half. Nevertheless, I have memories of our time together…. You can see the photos of our balloon ride by clicking on Travel.

One final note. One of the things that we have learned due to COVID-19 is to do what we feel is important in the now. I surely am glad that I acted several months ago. I have learned that lesson well.