#temples of bagan

[x-heesy]

@archpics, twitter.com

Temples of Bagan from a hot-air balloon, Myanmar.

[travelless]

sunrise over bagan

[adventurepirates]

Bagan: More Temples Than You Can Handle

When:  June 14, 2014

Where: Bagan, Myanmar

What: The Angkor Wat of Myanmar: Temple tours and massive monsoon downpours

Hey all,

We get into Bagan, land of many temples in a vast, deserted area, before sun rise and leave that day just after sun down. That means we have 14 hours to suck up as much culture as possible!

Our bus rumbled into Bagan at 4:00 AM in the morning following a bumpy sleeping session (we decided not to pay for the VIP). We sleepily exited the bus (this time very intentionally grabbing all of our possessions) and headed out into the dark morning. We had the name of a recommended guesthouse, Winner Guesthouse, but still had to travel about a 5 km distance to get there. As always a swarm of taxi drivers intercepted us at the bus and we did our best to fend them off. Prices again were fixed and we battled hard to negotiate a lower price. Kevin, Stephen (our Irish friend) and I ended up getting the cheaper horse buggy thinking that we were getting about the same value as a common taxi. Plus, a horse buggy’s cool. You pay big bucks for those things in Quebec City. Well, the three of us and our bags barely fit into the buggy. Kevin claims that he and Steven had to hang off the back, clutching for dear life as the buggy lurched along. In reality, Kevin and Stephen were comfortably perched on the end with an easy way of bailing in case the twitchy horse took off. The only things “hanging off the back” were their legs, flopping comfortably over the back. I, on the other hand, was trapped in the event of a runaway horse, crammed up in front beside the driver with all the bags piled on me. All in all, the buggy ride was significantly longer than a taxi ride would have been, or for that matter how long the buggy driver said it would be, but we got to the hostel in one piece and in high style. And that is what matters.

We pull into Winner Guesthouse and luckily they’ve got some rooms free so they’ll let us check in now for tomorrow night. This works for us as we are not staying the night. However, we have heard that watching the sun rise over the Temples of Bagan is pretty great so we decide to head over to one of the biggest temples you can climb. The Temples of Bagan were built by waves of kings of Myanmar from the 11th to 13th century. Originally, there were about 10 000 temples, but only about 2200 have survived. Now, I’m no history  professional, but we liked to imagine that each king tried to one-up the king before him. There are many smaller temples, but also many grand ones.  After buying an advertisement-filled map (aren’t they supposed to be free??) at reception for about 40 cents, we eschew the buggy driver’s pricey offer to take us over and get e-bikes for $7 each. E-bikes, or electric bikes, are partially human and partially battery powered! Actually, in the case of the three of us, they were pretty much all battery powered. We took off into the night and hurried away to catch the sun rise. Except… we couldn’t find it. There were signs everywhere pointing to the temple with a picture of a sun rise on it but I think someone was just messing with us because we ended up just driving around.

Just a few of the temples in Bagan. No one else around!

Many of the roads around the temples are sand and the bike wheels don’t do very well on them. We all had a couple of close calls and I even at one point flew, face first, over my handlebars. Luckily, I caught myself before face actually made contact with ground so all was well. Back in the saddle!

Now, normally, the combination of being lost and having to drive an out of control e-bike is the kind of thing that would frustrate me. You know, frantically driving around while the sun comes up and knowing we are missing it. However, even though we didn’t make it to the planned temple, it was still pretty cool. Like this-place-would-make-an-awesome-setting-for-the-next-James-Bond-movie-chase-scene kind of cool. They temples are in a deserted area, sparsely decorated with a few trees, and we didn’t see another soul save for a few locals. It was incredible. Every turn, every sandy road, just more 900 year old temples.

School bus of novice monks make their way in to the temple. We yield to them.

One of many dogs which apparently also enjoys the Temples of Bagan.

Rain is beginning! Temples are still cool.

Big, small, compounds, little shrines, you name it. Occasionally we’d also stop at one and walk around and see the Buddha statues and paintings on the wall. After about three hours, it was starting to get hot and we were starting to feel the fatigue from the bus ride so decided to head back to Winner Guesthouse. Unfortunately, the staff wouldn’t give us our free breakfast that morning even though we were gone the next day, so we had to fork out $1 each for what ended up being two pieces of toast, a little fruit and an egg. Good enough. After that, we all passed out pretty heavily.

We wake up to rain! Well, only one day so it’s time for Round Two with the Temples of Bagan and their sandy roads. Kevin goes and rounds up Stephen while I jump in the shower. Feeling fresh and excited to see more temples, we hop on our e-bikes. We do much of what we did earlier and just cruise around and stop at the odd place. We find the temple we were supposed to climb for the sun rise and laugh when we discover it was so close to our hostel. Unlike most other temples, it is white, not a red-brownish brick.

Zipping around on our electric bikes.

As the drizzle slowly worsens, Stephen, who has more days in Myanmar, decides to head back. Kevin and I bravely soldier on through the wet sand roads and have a couple of wiggles and near-falls but survive. We see one particularly inviting temple with potentially cool views and make a beeline. Unfortunately, this involves me driving right through what I assumed were harmless branches which end up being covered with thorns! Considering how sharp they are, I get away pretty scot-free with only a few scratches. Kevin comes to my aid and helps me untangle. We reach the temple, climb it, and… we were right! Another amazing view of the Bagan plains with temples stretching out as far as you can see. We meet a couple of friendly Malaysians who take our photo for us just as the monsoon really gets going. After soaking it in (the views that is) for a little longer, we decide we should head back or face certain death on the roads.

Top of the temple we meant to get to for sun rise.

Monsoon season in Bagan.

We zip back as quickly as we can as the rain starts to come down hard, making it difficult to see. Now, I know that these e-bikes are technically electric bicycles, but they max out at about 40-45 km/h. That’s faster than I can bike. I would never ride a motorbike without a helmet but I guess the word bicycle made me think it was okay. As we’re tearing along these wetted, poorly-maintained roads with rain in our eyes, I am regretting this decision. We keep our eyes peeled and head directly for Winner Guesthouse.

Arriving at the hostel, we are relieved and excited to shower and get dry. We are soaked to the bone. We have about an hour before our taxi (another truck where we are loaded like cattle into the back) arrives to take us to the bus station. We shower, put on dry clothes and say our goodbyes to Stephen who is very smartly dressed (laundry day for him). We make it to the bus station in good time and head for Yangon. This bus is more comfortable (we decided to go crazy and spend the extra $2 on a VIP) and we are seated right behind the bus driver. We recline in our big seats, put our fleeces and blankets on, rest our feet on the little ledge, and pass out. I don’t even wake up for dinner! When the bus driver flicks on the lights and tells us we are at the restaurant stop I just snuggle further into my armrest and mutter “No thank you”. When we wake up in the morning, I want to be in Yangon!

Cheers,

Casey and Kevin

[outstandingplaces]

Temples of Bagan, Myanmar - After years of suppression Myanmar is finally open for tourists. A fine example of Myanmar’s treasures are the temples of Bagan  by sunset. (outstandingplaces.com)

[xxxzistence-blog]

[humans-ofthe-world]

Bagan, Myanmar

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" "An artist and travel the world" "Where do you want to go?" "I have been selling postcards for the last 8 months and I have seen tourists from so many countries. So, I want to visit each one of their countries in turn" 

[humans-ofthe-world]

Bagan, Myanmar

"He is in love."

"Who is the lucky girl?"

"She's his classmate. He wants to marry her and have kids as soon as he's old enough."

[humans-ofthe-world]

Bagan, Myanmar

"You are not afraid to fall?"

"No."

"Why?"

"They won't hurt me, because they are my friends."