Bagan

From Mandalay I took a nice 8 hour bus ride to Bagan but along the way we encountered some minor problems. Part of the drive train broke and fell off the bus (it was found a few meters back down the road). The problem looked pretty serious to me and I figured we were going to be stuck in the middle of nowhere for several hours at least; but the bus company employees managed to get the part back to the nearest town where it was fixed up and brought back to the bus and reinstalled in under 2 hours! Something that I thought would be impossible.

I arrived in Bagan in the evening and saw immediatly that this place was much more touristy that the rest of Myanmar and it looked like it might even be the start of another Siem Reap (big resorts, lots of restaurants and souveneir shops, etc.). This year though it was pretty untouristy (thanks to the economy and problems in Thailand probably) as one restaurant owner said he normally had 60-70 customers a night and when I was there there were less than 10 people at the restaurant. So it was still fairly peaceful.

My first day in Bagan I rented a bicycle (actually I did this for all three days that I toured the temples) and headed out to the country side to see of them more famous temples. Bagan is known as the temple capital in Myanmar (and maybe even Southeast Asia) as there are over 4400 temples built in an area the size of Manhattan (according to lonely planet). The temples of Bagan are more interesting than the typical temple that I've seen before in Myanmar as these ones are all older and usually not painted gold or all fixed up.

On my first day I covered the following temples: Shwezigon paya, Kyan-sit-thor Umin (north), Gu-byauk-gyi, Gu-byauk-nge, Alo-pyi group, Hti-lo-min-lo, U-pali-thein, Maha-bodi pagoda, Gaw-daw-palin, Nat-hlaun-kyaung, That-byin-nyu temple, Shwe-gu-gy, and Shwe-san-daw paya. The Shwezigon paya was a fairly new temple compared to the rest with a brightly gold painted stupa and it's said to be the model for numerous other temples throughout the country. Aside from that the Kyan-sit-thor Umin is an old cave monastery complete with paintings on the walls, although the paintings here are fairly faded. U-pali-thein was the other temple that I saw on the first day that contained murals. The murals here were in very good condition and the temple was covered in red, blue and black designs; but it was mostly just patterns not paintings telling a story like some other temples. Aside from those temples the other fascinating ones were: Maha-bodi which is based on the temple in Bodghaya India where Buddha obtained enlightenment, That-byin-nyu temple which is the tallest temple in Bagan (unfortuneatly the public isn't allowed to climb to the top), and finally Shwe-san-daw paya was a superb place for sunset as I could climb up to the top and get a great view (along with most of the other tourists in Bagan probably).

My second day I visited: Iza-gaw-na, Nanda-pyin-nya, Kyat-kan Umin, Tham-bu-la temple, Paya-thone-zu group, Tayok-pyi paya, Ley-myet-hna group, Thisa-wadi, Dhamma-ya-za-ka zedi, Na-ga-yon temple, Ape-ya-da-na temple, and Ma-nu-ha temple. This day was spent visitng the temples with the most beautiful paintings on the walls, particularily the temples: Paya-thone-zu group, Ley-myet-hna group, Na-ga-yon temple, and Ape-ya-da-na temple. The paintings on Ape-ya-da-na temple were by far the best as they were super colourful and extremely well done (not to mention they had been restored/preserved by a UN group, although some other temples were similarily restored). All of the temples with paintings were completely covered by the artwork, at least at some point, as it's visible on all the interior walls, the door frames, the ceiling, everywhere and it was great. Unfortuneatly though in most of the temples that the artwork was absolutely fascinating you weren't allowed to take photos so I can't really show you the beauty. Aside from the murals the other site of interest was Kyat-kan unim which is another cave monastery but this one is still in use and monks still live here. For sunset that day I took a boat out onto the Irrawaddy river and slowly drifted downstream watching the sunset and the light change on some temples, quite nice.

My final day in Bagan I toured only a few temples: Mingala-zedi, Gu-byauk-gyi, Ananda temple, Dhamma-yan-gyi panto, Su-la-ma-ni pahto, and Tha-beik-hmauk. I had to tour around for a third day as I had left some of the most spectacular temples until the end, according to lonely planet. Ananda temple was said to be the nicest temple in Bagan and the one must see; however, I didn't think it was the best as all the walls were whitewashed and it looked like everything had been freshly painted. I much more preferred the older temples that hadn't been restored so I was a little let down. On the other hand Dhamma-yan-gyi panto is the largest temple in Bagan and it looks original (not all restored and painted) from a distance it's easily recognized as it looks like a giant red pyramid. Finally after seeing the last temple I was cycling back to my guesthouse when I managed to get a flat tire, as a result I had to walk back which took about 45 mins so it wasn't a good ending to my time in Bagan.

The temples continually amazed me, the sheer number of temples was ridiculous: yuo couldn't go one hundred meters without passing one. The temples themselves weren't as spectacular or large as those at Angkor Wat; however the sheer amount of temples made the sight just as impressive, if not more.

After my stay in Bagan I headed off to Kalaw to do a three day trek to Inle Lake. The only bus that did this trip left Bagan at 3am so at 3am the next morning I boarded what they called a bus and after arguing with the bus company for a few minutes I got a seat that I fit in and was jammed in there for a very uncomforatble 11 hours. By far the worst bus trip I've taken on my trip so far. But I managed to survive theride to Kalaw where my next entry will take you.







A view of Hti-lo-min-lo from the top of a nearby smaller temple.













A little boy that was my guide around the temples for the first afternoon. He spoke very little english (pretty much just knew the name of the temples) but all he wanted in return of showing me where the temples were located was to take pictures with my camera (something he was really excited about).











Myself standing in the doorway of Shwe-gu-gyi with a view of That-byin-nyu temple (the tallest one) in the background.










A panoramic view from the top of one of the temples. You can easily see the number of temples in the area and this is just a small amount.










Some temples seen at sunset from the top of Shwe-san-daw, the large in the back on the right is That-byin-nyu temple.











The sun setting over a temple in the distance. Taken from the top of Shwe-san-daw paya.













A picture of some of the murals in one of the temples that I was allowed to take photographs in. These weren't the best by far but they were still quite good.












Another panoramic view from the top of a temple, again tons of temples and their desert like surrounding is visible (only in the dry season is it like the desert I'm told in the wet season it's very green).