Bagan

Our first stop in Myanmar following the requisite ingress via Yangon was to see the temples of Bagan.  Bagan is located in the middle of the country and it is home to a collection of approximately 4000 ancient temples (called pagodas). The temples are situated in a 16 square mile area.  This made it a good spot for visiting by bicycle. 

The temples were built over a couple of hundred years during the 1200-1300’ish timeframe.  We elected to fly up to Bagan from Yangon in order to avoid the 11-hour bus ride.  Myanmar in general is not an easy country to see by ground transportation.  Not unless you have a lot of time to spare.  We got no protest from the kids on the avoidance of the bus ride.

There is no questioning the spectacular nature of the temples of Bagan. However, whether it was due to being “templed out” after 8 weeks in SE Asia or perhaps being unfairly positioned following the visit to Angkor Wat, we were a bit underwhelmed.  It kind of reminded me a bit of seeing a site like the Eiffel Tower: “OK. Nice. Now what?”

Bagan certainly qualifies as a ‘must see’ in Myanmar. Two full days there seemed like plenty to do it justice.