Oh, how I wish the ancient city of Bagan was the next town over, instead of a flight away! Once or twice a year, I have photography clients who are willing to fly me there from Yangon for a shoot, and I must say, I think it’s worth the expense to have such spectacular photos. Last month I headed back to Bagan with a lovely couple from Singapore. We arrived on a Monday morning and met our guide, Ye Ye, at the airport. I always hire a guide in Bagan, because it is constantly changing and I do not go there often enough to keep up with those changes (such as temple/monastery closings, repairs, etc which can seriously affect the quality of the photos) but have had mixed experiences with guides. I wholeheartedly recommend Ye Ye because he found us the most beautiful locations—and there were no other tourists at any of them, just as we’d requested. We spent the day finding perfect shooting locations with Ye Ye, and then ended with a sunset shoot. We had a great meal at Sharky’s, and headed back to our hotel for some beauty sleep. The following morning, we woke up early for our sunrise shoot. We were pleased to find that there were no other people at our chosen spot (a monastery that was partially destroyed in the big earthquake a few years ago). As I monitored the precise sunrise location on my SkyGuide app, I got nervous because we hadn’t seen a hot air balloon yet. Sometimes, the hot air balloons are canceled due to various weather conditions, so we weren’t sure whether we’d see them. Ye Ye had promised they would be visible from our location, and he was right. First we saw one, then a few more, and then the horizon was dotted with them, floating over the thousands of pagodas and the gorgeous sunrise.
