Temple Heaven
Trip Start
Jun 12, 2006
1
134
172
Trip End
Jul 01, 2007
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Bagan,
Myanmar
Sunday, March 25, 2007
So how does it compare to the other ancient sites I have visited, have a look at the pictures and see what you think. Less tourists than even Easter Island, more of a mission to get to than Tikal....but wow wow wow its all worth while.
The only thing the lonely planet has got right about Myanmar is its description of Bagan....imagine all the cathedral in Europe packed into the area of Manhattan island. Thats almost 50,000 temples..some dating 1000's of years old, some still being built today.
So why is it unique to the other sites, well it took an 8 hour journey on dirt roads from Mandalay or a 15 hour bus journey through river bedded roads and over wooden bridges to get here. The country is boycotted by western governments and only 500,000 tourist come here a year...mostly Germans and french. Therefore myself and Chris have to be of the minority English boys which have made the effort to get here.
So first day we got our bikes, 50p a day hire and started off on the 42 square km distance. We soon started stopping every 5 minutes due to the magnitude of the site, wondering around the darken alleys ways to temple top views across the northern plains.
Pictures dont really do the area justice, one day of exploring the northern plains, day two in the south which is even less touristy, only locals here!!!! and huge temples with one two of us to enjoy the breath taking views.
Out final day we took in sunrise near the western edge of the river, as the sun rose mist dwelled across the temples scattered plains...giving my best sunrise so far on my trip. After a breakfast we took a side trip through local villages to Mt Popa a hill top temple for more great views across the plains.
For me one of the highlights of my trip and this is why i came traveling to discover hidden treasures that others dont make the effort to come and see..Bagan is a must!!!
