Bagan
The Temples of Bagan
I climbed out of the Shwe Mandalar express bus groggily and somewhat curmudgeonly after being rudely awoken by the strident cry of the bus driver just as the bus squeakily rolled to a stop. Despite the lack of sleep, I found to my surprise that the bus ride had been far more comfortable than I had anticipated. For some reason I had expected the eight and a half hour ride to be on a cramped and very crowded bus that was not too dissimilar to the one that I had taken to get to Bromo. This was most likely due to all the horror stories of the road conditions in Myanmar that I had heard, stories that I think are probably only applicable to rural areas and possibly the ride from Bagan to Inle Lake.The bus had departed from the Aung Mingalar Bus Terminal in Yangon (also known as the Highway Bus Station), which can be reached from the airport by taxi for about MMK5000. The bus terminal is much closer to the airport than the city of Yangon itself as it is located on Pyay Road so it would naturally cost a bit more if one was to take a taxi from Yangon. Buses to Bagan, which had cost me MMK15000, only departed at 07:00 and 19:00. Since I had chosen the latter, I arrived in Nyaung-U at 04:30! The sun had yet to rise when I arrived so I decided to just walk around the deserted, dark roads of the small town until the town started to stir from its deep slumber.
Getting There
Bagan is located right on the banks of the Irrawaddy River, and is 42 square kilometres of approximately three thousand Buddhist pagodas, temples, and monasteries, with a large number of them dating back to the 11th century. Bagan was also apparently once described by Marco Polo as a "gilded city alive with tinkling bells and the swishing sounds of monks' robes". Despite all this, Bagan has yet to be included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites as the way and manner that a lot of the pagodas have been restored and rebuilt (some having been deemed as tampering of sacred archaeological sites) has left the area controversial and in disrepute. Bagan however remains on the UNESCO tentative list [Update: Bagan was added to the list in 2019].
As dawn slowly creeped in, the soft, dim twilight began to illuminate shifting figures along the street, figures that had been in complete darkness just moments before. Before this, there were pockets of light from passing cars and some buildings but just enough to get a rough bearing of where I was. Now as the sky transformed from a deep, empty black to a dark purple, weariness hit me - as it as always seems to do whenever you have gone without much sleep and the sun makes its presence known. The shifting figures that were still rubbing the sleep from their eyes turned out to be very young monks, still children, that were out asking for the morning alms... but unlike Marco Polo, I did not hear any swishing sounds as they passed by.I found the streets to be utterly dust-choked. There was garbage haphazardly strewn about and it seemed to attract stray dogs that would dart away from the harsh snarls of longyi clad men that were spitting globs of betel nut chews - the seed of the Areca Palm (Areca catechu), called 'kun-ya' in Burmese - everywhere. Despite all this, I found that there was something calming and tranquil about the place. Palmyra Palms (Borassus flabellifer), the sap of which is used to create palm wine that in Malaysia is known as 'Toddy', lined the street with twittering birds flitting in and around them as horse-drawn carriages lazily grinded along looking for tourists to pick up. By now, shop owners were awake and were sweeping the ubiquitous, pestering dust back out onto the narrow streets. I walked on slowly taking in the sights, sounds, and smells; unsure if the pace was due to my fascination or just sheer weariness...The whole time I was walking, my eyes had been peeled looking out for cheap places to stay. I had figured, based on my experience, that hostels that were further away from the centre of town were bound to have lower rates. This turned out to not be the case here as the conditions of the hostels were not getting any better and the price was not decreasing as I walked on. I decided to stop at a coffee shop (that were apparently called 'tea shops') and purchased a tiny cup of Burmese coffee (MMK200) to go along with my fried rice (MMK2000) and as I ducked out of the wooden shack that was the coffee shop, I saw a sign advertising bicycles for rent a little further down the road. The rigid, bright purple, single-gear bicycle with a white seat and a basket that I ended up renting cost MMK1500 for the entire day! I also had realised by then that there didn't seem to be too much of a difference between the rates of the hostels and the slightly better hotels so I settled on a hotel that charged USD35 (MMK46430) per day, an amount that was far more than I would normally have ever spent on accommodation. After a refreshing shower and a short rest, I set off for the first temple, the famous Shwezigon Pagoda!Before I go on, I would like to point out that I will be categorising the temples into 'types':Type I temples : This temple is an early form, and is just made up of a bulbous dome
Type II temples : There is a series of receding terraces, surmounted by a dome which continues into a finial of concentric rings.
Type III temples : Similar to Type II except with a ribbed, bowl-shaped disc interposed between the dome and the finial.
Shwezigon Pagoda
Type of monument : Type II Temple
Location : Northwest of Kyanzittha Umin near the bank of
Ayeyarwaddy River
Region : Nyaung U & Wetkyi-In
Built by : King Anawrahta
Date : A.D 1076
Monument Number : 1

Next : Bagan (Part 2)
Thagya Hit Temple
Type of monument : Type II Temple (Kundaung Pauk Gu)
Location : West of Wetkyi-In Village
Region : Nyaung U & Wetkyi-In
Built by : Unknown
Date : 13th Century
Monument Number : 249
Thagya Pone Temple
Type of monument : Type II Temple (Kundaung Pauk Gu)
Location : West of Wetkyi-In Village
Region : Nyaung U & Wetkyi-In
Built by : King Kyansitthar
Date : 13th Century
Monument Number : 235
Shwe Laik Tu Temple
Type of monument : Type III Temple (Kundaung Pauk Gu)
Location : Northeast of Htilominlo Temple
Region : Nyaung U & Wetkyi-In
Built by : Unknown
Date : 13th Century
Monument Number : 259
Htilominlo Temple
Type of monument : Type II Temple (Kundaung Pauk Gu)
Location : South of Bagan Nyaung-U Main Road
Region : Old Bagan
Built by : King Nadaungmya @ King Zeya Theinkha
Date : A.D 1218
Monument Number : 1812


Next : Bagan (Part 3)
I crossed the road once again planning to head towards the Mya Zigon temple but on my way there I noticed a flurry of red robes making their way up a trail. I found this to be somewhat perplexing at first as the monks were heading towards the banks of the Irrawaddy River and there was no obvious temple in the vicinity as far as I could tell. So spurred on by my curiosity, I decided to just follow them.The narrow path lead to a scattering of small wooden huts with numerous monks mingling about leaving the area splashed with red. As I entered the clearing, a hush seemed to descend on the place as the monks stopped what they were doing and just stared at me. As you can expect, having 20 or so bald monks stare at me in absolute silence left me feeling incredibly disconcerted. I didn't hesitate for a moment and just carried on walking pretending that I knew what I was doing and where I was going. Doing so just lead me right to the banks of the river itself. The monks were still staring at me most likely wondering if I was lost so I just took out my camera and began to take photos of the river. After a while things started to go back to normal and the monks carried on with whatever they had been doing before my arrival.Soon after, the monks seemed to start to move towards one of the larger huts and since the hut was on stilts and elevated, they were forced to climb a wooden staircase before entering the building. A slow drone of deep, resonating chanting seemed to materialise in the air that emanated from the hut and as I looked around, the clearing that had been filled with monks earlier was now almost entirely empty. I spotted another trail heading West and decided to follow it.I came upon a scattering of tiny temples on the side of the road that were labelled with numbers and that seemed to have not had any specific names assigned to them. Each one of the temples were unique and built slightly differently from the others. The only thing that they seemed to have in common were the seated Buddhas in each of them. The Buddha seemed to always be with its legs crossed in the lotus position and with the left hand in the lap indicating a meditative state, and the right hand outstretched and almost touching the ground. This hand position was supposed to represent the time soon after Buddha's enlightenment when he apparently was calling to the earth to witness the new 'state' that he was in.The feeling I got here was of utter tranquility. There were no obtrusively garish renovations that detracted from the agelessness of the temples and there were no bustling crowds of touts selling their wares and tourists talking to each other loudly and obnoxiously. The grass and weeds here were overgrown and seemed to help bridge the gap between the the natural and the unnatural, screaming loudly (and proudly) of the inexorable power of nature as it begins to swallow up the buildings when left unhindered....only now was I truly beginning to feel and appreciate the remnants of a lost kingdom.Minochantha Temple
Type of monument : Type II Temple (Kundaung Pauk Gu)
Location : South of Bagan Nyaung-U Main Road
Region : Old Bagan
Built by : King Kyansittha
Date : A.D 1112
Monument Number :

Next : Bagan (Part 4)
Ananda Temple
Type of monument : Temple based - Indian Style Structure
Location : Southeast of Tharabar Gate
Region : Old Bagan
Built by : King Kyanzittha
Date : A.D 1105
Monument Number :
Ananda temple is considered to be one of the finest, largest, and best preserved of all the Bagan temples. The temple houses four 9.5 metre standing Buddhas that are supposed to represent the four Buddhas who have attained nirvana, with each one of them facing one of the cardinal points of the compass. The Buddhas that face north and south are both original and are in the position of 'dhammachakka mudra', which is a hand position that is supposed to represent the Buddha's first sermon. The Buddhas that face east and west however are replacements of statues that had been destroyed by fires. The former holds a small sphere between the thumb and the middle finger and is said to represent an offering of dhamma as a cure for suffering. The latter however is in the position of 'abhaya mudra', with the hands outstretched to indicate a lack of fear.



Next : Bagan (Part 5)
Shwesandaw Pagoda
Type of monument : Type II Pagoda (Zedi)
Location : Northeast of Old Bagan
Region : Old Bagan
Built by : King Anawrahta
Date : A.D 1057
Monument Number : 1568
Next : Bagan (Part 6)
The Ride Back
The bike ride back to the hotel was a short 5 kilometre ride through absolute darkness along Anawar Road. I took extra care to stay well out of the way of cars considering that I had absolutely no lights on the bicycle to speak of. The harsh sun had also left me pretty sunburnt which, compounded with the lack of sleep and the full day of cycling, had left me absolutely exhausted. I also found myself to be pretty famished by then since I had not had lunch so I made my way to a small restaurant called 'Spice' and ordered some fried rice (MMK2000) before heading back to the hotel.I personally find that restaurants that are recommended by tourist guidebooks like Lonely Planet are always filled with tourists and that the rates tend to go up because of the popularity. I tend to prefer eating at places that seem to only have locals as I don't really see the point of travelling when you are still surrounded by languages and cultures that you are already familiar with. Don't you agree?*I spent just over MMK100000 for the entire day out in Bagan - Coffee MMK200, beverages x2 USD4 (MMK5300), fried rice x2 MMK4000, accommodation USD35 (MMK46430), bicycle rental MMK1500, entrance fees MMK15000, and the express bus from and back to Yangon for MMK30000. This is much higher than my normal daily expenditure when travelling and I have to admit that I could have saved quite a lot on the accommodation had I looked around a little more.