Balloons Over Bagan

Was it wildly expensive? Yes.Did we have to rise and shine at 5am? Yes, indeed.Was it mighty chilly before the sun rose over Bagan's 3,000 temples and pagodas? You betcha.Was it worth it? While it wasn't as weirdly wonderful as our ride over the otherworldly land formations in Cappadoccia in Turkey (where we swooped low enough to practically touch the Penis Rocks, as Alan Frankel called them), it was quite a nice sun rise - the fiery orb rising from behind the low mountains, burning the mist off the fields and promising a summer day in the middle of January, a great bird's eye view of what I've come to think of as Buddha's houses. What was truly strange was our flying low, exhaling dragon's breath of flames, over a neighborhood of seedy hotels and bamboo huts as we made our way toward the landing area (a large field). Most of the residents glanced up and with a 'been there, seen that' shrug went right back to work.