The Irish Mail on Sunday

Soaring above a pagoda paradise

- By Alice Bianchi

We glide through the air silently. On the horizon, a shy sun is rising and the sky is tinged with streaks of pale pink. Below our hot-air balloon, the Burmese valley unfurls like a carpet, woven with scenes of rural village life: palm-thatched huts, stray chickens, and girls waving at us in excitement.

We soar higher over tamarind trees and crumbling pagodas. In the distance is the ancient city of Bagan.

I had been urged by Amy, a friend based in Burma: ‘To best appreciate the spread of these temples, take to the skies.’ Her advice is spot-on. Of the 10,000 temples built between the 11th and 13th centuries on a 100sq.km plain on the eastern bank of the Irrawaddy river, 2,200 remain. The grandeur is on a par with the Angkor Wat complex in Cambodia. One benefit is that there are no crowds here since Burma’s repressive regime has only recently opened up the country to tourism.

Our pilot pulls a lever and more gas wheezes into the balloon. As we whoosh higher, my husband Toby puts a protective arm around my waist, lest I too should fly away. ‘Where are we landing?’ I ask. ‘No idea yet,’ says our pilot, grinning. ‘That’s part of the adventure.’ Our landing is a little bumpy but all is forgiven when we’re served champagne in pewter flutes.

Back in the city of Rangoon, a short flight away by Air Mandalay, the golden Shwedagon pagoda is the biggest draw. Dubbed the city’s Eiffel Tower, it dominates the sky- line with its burnished golden stupa.

We’re staying at the Belmond Governor’s Residence, a colonial mansion set amid lotus ponds, redolent of a bygone era. In the evening, on teak chairs set out on its lawn, we watch The Lady, the biopic of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has led the National League For Democracy party since 1988, and is now the country’s first state counsellor.

Under the stars, cocktails are served in coconut shells. It’s the best cinema in the world.

Trailfinde­rs.ie offers a 10-day ‘Classic Burma’ tour starting from €1,562pp, excluding flights. Hot-air balloon flights start at €326.

 ??  ?? SILENT FLIGHT: Ballooning above some of Bagan’s 2,200 temples
SILENT FLIGHT: Ballooning above some of Bagan’s 2,200 temples

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