3 OF THE BEST SUNRISES IN THE WORLD

Sunsets have long had their spot on several must-see lists and rightly so – they're the cherries on top of an adventure and the perfect way to close a day. Often overlooked are the sunrises that signal a new day and fill you with a sense of hope and optimism for everything ahead of you; they can inspire even the most extroverted traveler to dabble in some introspection and fill you with heart-bursting gratitude at the chance to live another day under this glorious sun. Not all sunrises are created equal, of course, and here are three of the best that are worth leaving your comfortable bed for during ungodly hours.

Wake up to wondrous sights at sunrise

1. BAGAN, MYANMAR

Not a single other soul was stirring around the hotel when I woke up at 3AM to prepare for the sunrise atop one of the centuries-old temples in Bagan. Everything was still dark outside and frankly, it was a herculean effort for me to get out of bed at that hour and in that cold, winter weather. Fifteen minutes later, I wad trudging towards Myu, my local Burmese driver, who took me to the center of all the temple action.

Most travelers would make a beeline for either Buledi or Shwesandaw pagodas – two of the most famous sunrise viewing points in Bagan and of course, buzzing with tourists being herded like cattle by their foreign guides. Don’t go there. My local guide told me that there was lesser-known temple called Lawkaoushaung that afforded the same magical views for a fraction of the crowd. It was still dark when we arrived and there were a couple of bikes and a car already parked on the dirt road leading up to the temple. I climbed on all fours on the steep stone steps leading to the third floor of the temple and patted myself on the back for bringing a torch light – otherwise, I’d be climbing on dangerous and slippery stairs in pitch black surroundings.

I pick a spot on a narrow ledge facing the horizon, set up my Go Pro on the ledge to capture the scene and sat beside a Korean woman who was either sleeping or meditating. There weren’t a lot of tourists on the third floor patio so that was a big plus. Once settled in, I waited. For the first hour, there was nothing much to do except sit still on the cold and hard pagoda patio floor and stare at the inky-blackness in front of me that seemed impenetrable. A cool breeze blew across the Myinkaba plain and wafted in and out of the gaps on the temple architecture.

During the second hour, the skies started to lighten up and I could see tourist buses arriving in hordes at several other sunrise pagodas around us. Those pagodas were starting to fill up, standing-room only, and some of the latecomers even wandered to Lawkaoushaung as there was no space anymore on the nearby rooftop patios. The third hour was a hubbub of activity as bursts of flames sprinkled across the plain, signalling the start of the hot air balloon rides. These colourful balloons glided up to the heavens, silhouetted against a horizon that was slowly waking up from its slumber. It was simply a spiritual experience. I mean, WOW. Just WOW.

Surreal landscapes in the morning

2. SARANGKOT, NEPAL

Some sunrises challenge you in ways you never thought you would agree to in a heartbeat – such was Sarangkot for me. Apart from the early-morning wake up call, I also had to hike up some dirt path to the upper half of the hill to get unblocked views of the Pokhara Valley and the Himalayan mountain range, under the cover of darkness and during one of the coldest days of the year in Nepal. The climb made me feel the burn on my legs and it was easy to just abandon this folly and opt for the lower-tiered viewpoints on the hill. But the desire to satiate my curiosity on why travelers have fawned over Sarangkot was enough to keep me going and wait for 3 hours on a freezing rooftop for a mere twenty-minute peek at the marvelous Himalayas.

Chasing for views of the elusive Himalayan mountain ranges tested my patience. Up on that rooftop deck, there was nothing else to do except walk around in circles to keep the cold at bay, drink copious amounts of chai, and occasionally converse with locals and fellow travelers who wandered in and out of the view deck. It involved a lot of waiting.

I was sitting on a cold, plastic chair that was laid out neatly along the ledge, being buffeted by strong, freezing winds and starting to doubt my decision for this early sunrise viewing. Locals have been telling me that the entire week had been disappointing: increment weather had marred viewings of the peaks as they mostly hid behind fluffy cumulonimbus clouds.

Then all of a sudden, the cold, howling wind stopped. Everything seemed to be frozen in time. Everyone fell silent, and with bated breaths, watched a timelapse-like moment unfold in front of us. The sun decided to rise at the most opportune minute and cast its light towards the Himalayas, and the gray and white clouds littering the horizon suddenly parted to reveal the Himalayan peaks of Fishtail and Dhaulagiri. Everyone clapped in glee and scrambled to take photos of the spectacle. A few minutes later, the Himalayas teased us with yet another reveal – this time, the Annapurna Range. All four of them! Sarangkot sunrise viewings pack a punch: a beautifully colorful sunrise and a grand display of Mother Nature’s might and splendor.

Photo credit: Wazari.com

Photo credit: Himalayanheart.com

3. CAPPADOCIA, TURKEY

It was the perfect weather for hot air ballooning on one November morning: we had gloriously sunny mornings and chilly evenings, blessed with dry, crisp skies all throughout with nary a cloud in sight. Winter had just descended on Turkey so I didn’t have to wake up too early for the hot air balloon ride as sunrise was expected later than usual. The sky was brightening at 6AM when we pulled to a stop in front of the balloon, set on a flat field far from the city center, where the pilot was doing safety and equipment checks prior to the flight.

I could feel the palpable excitement in the air as we saw the hot air balloon being prepped at arm’s reach. After a 15-minute wait in zero-degree temperature, we were herded one by one into the basket – quite a challenge as the basket is deep and I had to jump into it from the edge of the side ladder that one of the staff placed for easier boarding. All 12 of us passengers were delegated a space by the pilot for better weight distribution and stability. He started pumping the flames to start the flight – I was expecting a rough take off, but surprisingly, I barely felt anything as we simply glided away from the ground and the scenery slowly opened up to spectacular 360-degree views of the entire valley.

The ride was serene, and smoother than any other flight I’ve taken. The heat from the fire kept us warm and toasty all throughout. The beautiful dawn sky was bathed in hushed tones of pinks and blues; shadows of mountains bordered one side of the view, while the rest of the valley was still swathed in misty grays, waiting for the golden rays to lift up the filmy veil. We rose up to 3,000 feet to the heavens and saw that the rising sun had split the awe-inspiring landscape into fire and ice: half shrouded in shadows, the other half illuminated with light.

After half an hour of lazily floating across the skies, we could see the entire of Cappadocia – its cliffs and ridges, fairy chimneys, rock caves, abandoned stone dwellings, pockmarked grounds, ancient pigeonholes, crumbling churches, and lunarscapes – erupt in a riot of colors as the sun finally emerged from behind the snow-capped Ageas Mountain and cast a glow across the entire valley. It was not difficult to imagine that we were in extraterrestrial territories, Mars or the Moon, perhaps. Everything around us was like the backdrop of some unexplored planet in a galaxy beyond ours: undiscovered, uninhabited, arid and inhospitable lands that host a plethora of secrets and oddities. My imagination got carried away in the moment – it was hard not to!

Under the winter Turkish sun, Cappadocia revealed its insanely out-of-this-world landscape to us and everything turned from amazing to INCREDIBLY SUBLIME. It was THE BEST sunrise I’ve ever experienced in my entire life and it was impossible not to be moved by the unbelievable beauty around me. Seriously, there aren’t enough superlatives in the dictionary to properly describe this epic hot air balloon sunrise adventure. You HAVE to see it to truly understand: the beauty that unfolds before you will leave you tingling with overwhelming happiness and gratitude from head to toe…. And you will never be the same. :)

HAPPY TRAVELS! x

#Myanmar #Nepal #Turkey #listicles