Myanmar’s Raison D’etre: Breath-taking Bagan

When people recall Myanmar, more than likely they are visualizing Bagan. Bagan is the showstopper of Myanmar. Some may say that Bagan is a “trip of a lifetime” witnessing close to 50km of temple/pagodas across watercolor painted skies or one of the most impressive archaeological sites in the world. For me, it is the visual impressions that will leave a mark in my memory. It will be hard to describe and to do the beauty justice, but I will do my best. (Mostly with pictures)

Amazing views with temples far as you can see.

Our arrival in Bagan was not easy. We arrived at about 330/4am and the backpacker area Nyaung U, where we intended to stay was completely dark. All guest house gates were locked and the buildings were dark. After 7+ months of traveling we have gotten used to just showing up in city without reservations. We learned quickly that this was NOT the city to be so casual about. After our 4th option fell through, basically any budget or even affordable accommodation listed in Lonely Planet was booked, we started getting nervous. But finally we found a spot, calling it basic would be an oversell, but it was cheap and open…done!

We came to find out that Bagan would be much more expensive and touristy than we had experienced but the town we were staying in did have a lot of charm including a restaurant row, a day market and plenty of cafes that serve typical SEAsian coffee: A strong black coffee mixed with “Tea Pot brand” condensed and sweetened milk. At first I thought it was too sweet and now I have really grown to love it.

The art of SEAsian coffee: Tea Pot is signature ingredient

 Itinerary

Bagan’s agenda was simple: see the temples, see the temples at sunrise and see the temples at sunset. It was a lot of temple-ing, in fact some could get a little templed-out, as there are over 10,000, but it is a must do. As a visitor, you have some options of how you’d like to get to the temples: 1) Push bike 2) E-bike 3) Horse cart. The horse cart at first seemed appealing to me, the idea that you will be transported back in time, but it actually looked quite boring. So we rented push bikes at $2 a day. One of my favorite parts of visiting the temples, besides the often ridiculously low and narrow passageways to climb to the top, was simply biking through hundreds of these temples. We were often completely on our own and it was great to feel as though we were discovering some far off fantasy land.

Biking our way through temples

Heading through deserted dirt paths

Horse and Cart, pretty cool to look at, boring to ride

Biking through the city to a market just as school got out, a bit more tricky.

Temples Throughout the Day

We biked around 10km stopping to gaze at, climb up and walk through temples. Some temples housed dozens of large buddhas, others were just brick buildings with narrow passages to climb. Some you could not interact with at all.

Aaron barely fitting as he climbed, NO SHOES allowed

Temples to climb

Climbing obviously led to magnificent views, temples surrounding us

Views -AH-MAZ-ZING!

Large buddhas inside, some painted

Most were gold

Some housed thousands of small buddhas

One temple was long and narrow to fit a laying buddha

Narrow dirt roads connected the thousands of temples, looked like a fairy book setting realized from above

Sunset

Aaron and I were lucky enough to find a temple that suited us and forgo what is the recommended sunset temple. We had the temple practically to ourselves and we were able to enjoy and talk and be silent in awe without having to beat off the crowds and the hundreds of picture takers with their tripods and having to worry if we got a good seat. We stayed up there for hours, just relaxing and smiling at what a beautiful place this was, surrounded by lakes and thousands of temples.

Awaiting the “Magic Hour”

My NatGeo photographer

Trying to get capture the other side

Having fun, playing around

Our pagoda has crystal prisms that create rainbows

Just the two of us + our tiny tripod

Sky is dimming

Getting colorless

Then color starts to pop

Sun starting to set

Sky turns purple

Temples are shadows

Sun has set

Sunrise

We biked in the dark around 5am to the sunrise temple. We would have loved to have found one more secluded, as when the morning drew on the temple it became very crowded with tourists and touts that were mostly children selling postcards. But we knew this temple was the best for watching the sunrise and “WOW!” did it pay off. We climbed wearing our head lamps as it was still dark and found a great spot to park ourselves. As the sky brightened and the sun rose, it became evident to me that this is one of the most breathtaking images I may ever see. At sunrise, the sky painted was a color of yellow. Soon hot air balloons would dust over the temple skyline. Note: If I ever come back it will be to rent a balloon. Balloon rides cost about $300 US per person, plus they need to be reserved at least a month in advance, if not more. But I can only imagine the feeling of floating above the temples with dozens of other balloons.

Still dark, sun starting to rise

Sun coming through in the distance

Sun showing it’s face

And rising…

Morning light

Sky turning yellow

Balloons starting to lift up above the temples

And fill the sky

The yellow sky is intense for moments

The the sky turns blue and there is a whole world to see

At sunrise

Birds flying overhead, the morning is here

A Non-temple excursion

We took a half day trip out of town to Mount Popa. We hired a car and drove through the country side. Driving through the country made you feel like you were stepping back in time: farmers used ox carts, hoes and shovels to work the soil and tend the land, hand picking and placing weeds on large baskets on their backs. The country side was an interesting mix of desert with palm trees and lush green land. When we got close enough, we were able to spot this religious site on top of a volcano. It looked unreal. On arrival we looked up, knowing that we were about to climb the infamous 777 steps to the top, making our way past herds of nasty monkeys and weird Nat Spirit exhibits of giant dolls that people gave money to. To outsiders these Nats may look like a cheap rendition of It’s A Small World, but to the Burmese these are sacred images. Nat Spirits are exclusively Burmese and they are spirits connected with Buddhism. Each spirit used to be a living human and died a violent death and now have taken on a personality to which you pray to. One Nat we found most exciting was the Nat who had addiction problems. He was immortalized by having a beer bottle in one hand, a club in the other and a cigarette in his mouth. The idea is you pray/pay to this Nat to overcome any issues of substance abuse.
When we reached the top, you could look at through forests and country. Above it all, we took time to relax and chat with new friends.

Baby monkey, on the gates to greet us

Heading up the 777 steps, barefoot of course

So many monkeys along the way

One of the several Nat rooms, presented on the way up

Another…

Our favorite Nat, the rebel

Sometimes the monkeys were more entertaining than scary

Almost to the top

Made it!

Amazing views…

Amazing friends…

After our day trip we took one more ride through the temples before it got dark and took our signature jumping picture. We had spent two days within the temples and we could have spent two more. Bagan is a place that can only be experienced or imagined. Even there in the midst you can hardly believe your eyes.