Temple Hopping in Bagan

After a fun night out in Yangon after a not so fun day, I got some shut eye at the still-somewhat-stinky-from-Durian guesthouse and woke up earlier than the crack of dawn to take a flight to Bagan. In Burma the time on your domestic airline ticket seems to be a suggestion rather than an actual departure time, so it's important that you call and confirm the time of your flight the day before. I found it still did not guarantee timeliness, but what are you gonna do? Basically sit among a sea of foreigners in the domestic terminal in a room much too small while you wait for a man to start yelling frantically and pushing his way through the crowd wielding a large sign to inform you that your flight is ready to board.

A bit chaotic, but it works!

An hour later I was in lovely, lovely Bagan. People go to Bagan to see really just one thing: temples. According to Wikipedia (a source I do not allow my students to use, but to heck with that here), "During the kingdom's height between the 11th and 13th centuries, over 10,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries were constructed in the Bagan plains alone, of which the remains of over 2,200 temples and pagodas still survive to the present day." Yep. Sounds about right. As soon as I left the airport the temples and pagodas started popping up on each side of the dusty road.

After making it to my peaceful guesthouse, surrounded by temples itself, I crashed for a few hours and then took to a bike with a basket - Kosrae style - to start seeing them temples. Of course immediately I got lost, but was happy for it: I biked past a school that was getting out for the day and elicited huge smiles and waves from the female students, all uniformed in white blouses and long, green longhis. Consistently in Burma I felt graciously welcomed by the very friendly people, and especially by the children.

After righting myself I made my way towards the old city, stopping to admire the many temples and pagodas along the way. Some are in better shape than others, but individually and collectively they are stunning, especially when you look out over an entire plain covered in them.  It's hard to describe in words, so here are some pictures:

That's me! JOKES - but it could be. Took this while bike riding myself.

 After a mild (compared to Thailand or Bangladesh) but delicious - and cheap - meal of some kind of fried noodles, prawns and vegetables I went down to see the river and then returned home for the night, tired from all that pedaling and temple hopping. Some beautiful sunsets Burma has!

I loved that manual labor jobs are acceptable for Burmese women! I have not seen that ever in Bangladesh.

View from the roof of my guesthouse.

I awoke early the next morning to go with a driver on a day-long tour of the area to maximize my time there. We started at a fruit and vegetable market  where I relished walking through the packed aisles to see all the women selling their products. As I was one of only a few tourists there, I really felt as though I was getting a vibrant picture of what real life is like. Even though I was there to see temples, the market was probably the best part of my day. I even got to try a sugar apple out of the deal!

The onion lady.

Avocado!!! After being deprived for 6 months in Bangladesh, it was so nice to see my
favorite fruit/vegetable (?)  appear again. 

Spices

In the midst of it all.

Then I hopped back in the jeep for a whirlwind tour of Bagan's most prominent temples and all the ones in between. One highlight was seeing a temple completely covered in pigeons. Another was the reconstructed grand palace - even though it wasn't ancient, it was stunning and completely empty of tourists, minus me. By the end of the day I had gone into probably about 50 temples and seen many more. Whew! Not gonna lie - definitely got a bit tired and jaded by the end. One thing that got old was all the hawkers that set up at each temple, who constantly approach you to buy things. I have a feeling it's going to get even worse in the coming years, so get to Burma now!

Child monks - The taxi driver had to stop for a "child monk crossing" in Yangon, and then I saw many more in Bagan.

Pigeon infestation!

Even Buddha likes to paint his toenails! 

The "new" Grand Palace. It was reconstructed recently based on the plan of the
"old" Grand Palace, discovered at a dig site.

More from the Grand Palace

One funny thing about Burma - people always seemed a bit in disbelief that I was traveling alone, and many asked me "Do you have a family?" which I think is Burmese code for "Do you have a husband?" LOL. It's just not common in this part of the world for a female to travel by herself, even though it's entirely safe most places. And most females my age in South Asia are already married.

And a note about Burmese food - not really my thing. The aforementioned noodle dish not withstanding, I had a few disappointing meals there. One notable experience was the buffet the driver took me to on the tour. Basically you sit down and are presented with about 20 different traditional dishes. The hardest thing for me to stomach was the taste of preserved fish in many of the choices. It's really one of the only tastes that results in that gross "I'm gonna vomit" feeling for me.

The dried-fish-based buffet

Stay tuned for the conclusion of my Burmese travels - Inlay Lake!