The temples of Bagan, whether you’ve slept or not.
Bagan is one of the four corners of Myanmar’s tourist circuit, and is arguably the most tourism-developed, since it was Bagan that people visited back in the era of the 7-day visa. It’s a plain heaped with heat, consummately devoid of coolness, and cluttered with temples beyond belief. You know how, if you give stickers, stamps, or some such to a five year old and have them decorate a picture, they will put far too many of them in there to be quite reasonable? That’s how Bagan is, only instead of stickers, it’s temples, and instead of five year olds, it was kings.
The “Thing to Do” in Bagan is rent a bicycle, motorbike, or horse carriage (no, I’m not being facetious about that last one) and head out to watch the sunrise and/or sunset from one of the approximately 4,000 temples. Some are crumbled, most are restored, and a few are covered in gold. You can legally climb on some, informally on others, and not at all on the main ones, but you are guaranteed the experience of watching the sun’s arrival or departure in the company of an ancient Buddha or six.
One more peculiarity about Myanmar is the overnight bus. Because it’s not. Overnight. They all seem to leave at 19:00, and deliver you about 8 hours later…at 3:00 in the bloomin’ morning. That ain’t overnight, that’s….in-night.
There’s a reason for this. Apparently the ol’ USA recently gave Myanmar a big development grant to pave their roads. Uncle Sam is such a sweetheart! This reduced the transit time for these buses by a few hours…but they haven’t adjusted the schedules yet. They still leave at 19:00 instead of moving everything back a couple hours. Whichever company removes its head from its culo first is going to make more money for the few days until the other ones notice and emulate.
In the case of Bagan however, 3:00 AM is okay, because then you have time to hop on one of the bicycle-&-sidecar “trishaws” in the pre-dawn stillness to find a guesthouse. You can drop off your stuff, brush your teeth, rent a bike from the sleepy attendant and pedal out to a deserted temple of your choice. Mine had several Buddhas happy to see me, happy to watch the sunrise over my shoulder, happy to…everything.
Good morning, Enlightened One. Not a bad introduction to a place.
Love the photos! Ace shots!
LikeLike
Thanks! It felt like one of those places where you can’t really go wrong with a camera!
LikeLike
Amazing and beautiful…. Asia is a temple continent….beautiful architecture and heaps of it!
Thanks for sharing.
LikeLike
My pleasure, thank you for reading and thank you for enjoying!
LikeLike
Great photos, it is places like this that make me wish I had a teleporting device.
LikeLike
I know the feeling. I wish I had one too, including for Myanmar, and I’m only next door, so to speak. Can I trade some commas for one?
LikeLike
No, you can’t. They make me smile (/laugh inside).
LikeLike
I wonder how you say “culo” in Burmese 🙂
LikeLike
I could ask…and if nothing else, the experience of walking up to people on the street, pointing at one’s tookus and asking “What is this?” is always rewarding in itself. (Unfortunately, I’ve already left Myanmar. I’ll ask next time.)
LikeLike
3am, ugh, though it worked out well in your case. Such amazing light to go temple watching/stalking in!
LikeLike
I used to live in Burma. Your photos are excellent and take me back in time. Thanks so much.
LikeLike
Stickers to a five year old! Sounds apt. How amazing! Did you just stroll from temple to temple? This seems like the kind of place that ‘loses its magic’ after about hours. Then you look back at your pictures and can’t believe how utterly awe-inspiring it all was once you step back for a moment and let your brain reset.
LikeLike
Pingback: My poor machine. | Vagabond Urges
I really enjoyed my time in Bagan back in 2012. Such a beautiful and tranquil place. I hope it will stay that way a little longer!
LikeLike
I hope so too! I think Myanmar is changing fast, but Bagan has been receiving visitors for a long time, and hopefully they will have the vision to grow/change in a positive way.
LikeLike
Pingback: Love for the old and the young, America to Myanmar, on FeelGood Friday | Vagabond Urges