Our time in Bagan was marked by some of the hottest weather I’ve ever experienced, at around 110 F / 43 C and extremely humid. Even now, as I write this, DC has just gotten out of a “heat dome,” so my weather app has been giving me dire warnings and the newscasters are offering up tips on how to stay cool, and it feels positively mild in comparison to Bagan.
This was exacerbated by the fact that the temples we visited required us to take off our shoes. Not just at the entrance to the temple, but at the entrance to the temple complex, so we had to walk across brick or tile that had been baking in the sun. Or rather, run across it to try to keep from burning our feet. Trying to take pictures in front of the temple required sprinting out, standing as long as you can while you tried to smile and not grimace, and then sprinting back to try to get back to a shady area before it got too painful. Exhibit A:
The temples were beautiful. From the 9th to 13th centuries, Bagan was the capital of the Pagan Kingdom, which was the first empire that began to unify the areas of Southeast Asia that now make up Myanmar. During this time, the region was home to over 10,000 temples! About 2,200 still survive to this day.
Bagan is definitely the most well-known area for tourists to visit in Myanmar. Back when there were actually tourists going to Myanmar, they would do hot air balloons over the area, which I think would be a great way to see the temples. Alas, we were seemingly the only tourists around, which meant it was just us and the monks who were there for worship.
While I often love going to the non-touristy places, this one did have the unfortunate side effect of making us the target of every vendor in the vicinity. I felt for them. They were so excited to see a group of tourists, but even if you usually buy a lot of souvenirs (which I don’t), there’s only so much you can bring home with you from a place. Bagan had some very interesting handicrafts. We visited several artisan shops in Inle Lake and Bagan, and some of the items they were selling were truly cool and unique. I ended up buying a few pieces of artwork that I’m excited to frame and get up on my walls!
I loved the art on the walls of the temples. I haven’t seen this sort of art on other Buddhist temples – there are paintings on the walls in Bhutan, but that’s a very different style. One of the temples had art that was so old and sensitive to light, they had us use flashlights to see it.
As part of our efforts to get out of the heat, we spent a lot of time in the pool at our hotel. Not just in Bagan, but almost every night we would go to the hotel pool as soon as we were done with dinner. Outside of the temples, that’s one of my strongest memories of Bagan – having drinks in the pool and finally feeling cool.
Bagan feels not dissimilar to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. It has a lot of temples clustered together and there’s visit structure of going to see lots of temples and finding the best place to watch the sunrise or sunset. The temples of Siem Reap are a lot denser than the ones in Bagan and there are, of course, a lot more visitors there.
And now, for a collection of my stranger pictures from Bagan:
(1) the Nuclear Catastrophe Overcome Pagoda, which is presumably not one that was built in the 9th century. Tragically, I have no other information about what this is or why it’s here. We went past it and I managed to snag a picture of the sign.
(2) Very old chairs that you absolutely can’t sit in.
(3) A bus that says County Road Take Me Home, as proof of just how far that song has spread in popular culture. I found it very charming.
One of the highlights in Bagan for me was going in the horse-drawn carriages, which was a nice change of pace. We went past a lot of beautiful temples and pagodas in a more leisurely view than we had from the bus.
Our first night in Bagan, we had sunset at a viewpoint where we could see a lot of temples. On the second night, we went to a temple that overlooked the river. This trip had some fantastic sunsets all around!
Outside of the heat, Bagan was great. I’m not sure I would recommend a visit in late May – the heat truly was oppressive. Go in a different season. I can’t remember the last time I’ve sweat that much. But Bagan is absolutely worth the trip. And with that, we were off to the last area of our itinerary, Mandalay! (and no, it’s not just a casino)