Days 155-157: Bagan
The ancient capitol of Bagan is what initially drew us to Myanmar. The area is covered with thousands of temples built between the mid-9th through the early-14th centuries.
We arrived after a long “express” 9 hour boat ride from Mandalay and took a pair of trishaws to the town of Nyaung U where the budget hotels are located. The area is just hilly enough that our poor drivers couldn’t make it up the hills with a couple westerners and their luggage. We’re sure it was the weight of the luggage that made the difference. We rented a couple bikes to tour the temples including an old Indian beater called a “Hero”, which of course is the one that got a flat.
To visit Bagan everyone has to put US $10 into the generals’ pockets, which is pretty steep considering how cheap everything else in the country is. There is a tremendous variety of architectural styles represented in the temples of Bagan. A devastating earthquake in 1975 toppled many of the temples, but there has been a tremendous amount of restoration work done. In fact, many of the temples actually look new, making one wonder how heavy handed the restoration work was. We’ve read an article by an archeologist who says that the goverment is “ruining” Bagan by inaccurately restoring temples for the sake of making them more attractive to tourists.
There is only one universal rule at these temples: “Foot wearing [sic] is prohibited.” Unlike Buddhist temples in other countries where shoes must be removed before entering the inner-most shrine, one must remove their shoes before entering the outter courtyard of temples in Myanmar. This did a good job of toughening up our tender, western feet. But we still got baked on some of the hotter surfaces.
Who wears the sandals in the family?
Considered the most beautiful and best preserved of the temples at Bagan, the Ananda Pahto is a sight to behold. Its temple spires were gilded in gold to commemorate the 900th anniversary of its construction in 1990. The shimmering spires can be seen from almost anywhere in Bagan.
The temples are spread over quite a large area and look like a sea of spires from above.
A temple framed from one of the many courtyard gateways.
Many of the temples had remarkably well preserved frescos inside considering they were painted 1000 years ago.
While most of the temples had hawker stalls lining their courtyards, this goat herder found a better use for one of the less popular temple’s grounds.
The stucco work on some of the temples was remarkably detailed and in great shape. This is Kala, the Indian god of time and death who devours all in his path. Some of the temples were originally Hindu.
Kelly and Marcus with a view from one of the few temples tourist are allowed to ascend.
A young monk with his alms bowl on the same temple.
Bupaya stupa with a chinthe standing guard. Just ignore the plastic bag in the foreground…
The silhouette of some temples at sunset.
Shwezigon Paya is a huge temple coated in gold – a remarkable sight. The temple was covered in metal “umbrellas” full of bells that rang in the breeze.
What is the story with this bellboy at Shwezigon?
This diorama at Shwezigon depicts the scene of “Buddha subduing Mara”. Mara is the Buddhist version of the devil who was throwing everything he had at Buddha while he was trying to attain enlightenment. Is that the creature from the blue lagoon on the left?
A temple framed a window.
This is the Thatbyinnyu temple and seems to be the one we took the most pictures of since it rises well above the trees.
A couple of readers mentioned they liked the Mt. Kinabalu blog with the timeline. Here’s another one for you, but this time it’s a travel day. Normally travel days are pretty boring, and this one is mostly the same, though it does involve running for a moving bus, a flat tire, miltary checkpoints, and an unintentional mooning.
03:00 Alarm goes off. Marcus turns on the shower.
03:10 Kelly gets up. Marcus is still waiting for the shower to get warm.
03:17 Kelly is packing, Marcus takes a cold shower.
03:40 Kelly exits cold shower.
04:20 Finished packing.
04:25 Head out for 04:30 pickup.
04:26 See mini-chicken-bus reving to go without us, Kelly makes a break for it, Marcus throws room key into lobby with three sleeping people and follows Kel. Mini chicken bus means we share a bench seat that Kelly’s hip to knee is too long to fit in straight so she’s at an angle. The seat is 1.5 persons wide, and Marcus full legs are in the asile spread eagling around another tourists legs across the asile with the same problem.
04:32 Arrive at bus station and ‘organizer’ plays lots of musical chairs but we remain ‘seated’.
04:45 Marcus talks to ‘organizer’ and finds out where the toilets are and heads there.
04:50 Bus engine starts and then starts to drive. Kelly starts yelling – in increasing loudness and higher pitch, “Stop!” as Marcus is not on board; meanwhile Marcus hears, but cannot see, the bus turn on and drive so he makes a mad dash for the bus. Kelly gets every eye on the bus on her, including the driver and organizer’s, but the bus doesn’t stop or even slow. Marcus catches the bus and grabs the arm of the organizer, at which point he lets the driver know and the vehicle slows so Marcus can board. Which he does, out of breath, but still manages a “for fuck’s sake!” [Every other time in every other country, asking the organizer where the toilet is has had them wait for your return – it makes them remember you. Also, the bus was scheduled to leave at 5am.]
04:55 Pick up more tourists at another hotel, no asile space left.
05:01 Roll back to the bus station, and see a very long, height-ordered (tallest to smallest) line of monks receiving alms (rice) from a resturant.
05:07 No change, but we leave bus station again.
05:20 Military checkpoint number 1, no passports checked, but road tax.
05:30 Watch sunrise over palm trees and flat fields.
06:15 Breakfast stop.
06:35 Reboarded, Kelly’s getting vitamins out, and Marcus is standing in the asile as ‘organizer’ tries to put stools in the asiles. Marcus leads a small revolt of the tourists and others who convince the organizer that there is no place for a stool to go.
06:45 On the road again.
07:20 Military checkpoint number 2.
07:32 Drive by a very long line of monks taking alms, despite the bus’ speed, the line goes on and on.
08:30 Kelly’s knees already have bruises forming.
09:00 Military checkpoint number 3.
09:30 Enter a town Thazi (no stops) which means time for Kelly to take a dramamine (motion sickness pill) for the hills to come.
10:15 Bus turns off engine, some of us go to use the toilet, while others (some locals, not all) go to military checkpoint number 4.
10:17 Two locals and Marcus are done using the one toilet outhouse, Kelly is in it, when a strong gust of wind flings the door wide open, exposing her white derriere to the entire line behind her. The next person in line was kind enough to close the door, as with Kelly’s pants down in a squat toilet she was unable to reach the door without, ahem, much more ado. Upon leaving the toilet Kelly thanked the next person in line and was relieved to see it was four women who happened to be behind her line. [One of them did happen to be a tourist we kept running into in the next couple of cities.]
10:19 Kelly and Marcus are on board, the engine starts and the bus starts to drive (slowly) and honk.
10:20 The last folks at the toilet make a run for the bus, and the driver toys with them before letting them board.
10:21 We start to head up the hills.
10:25 Get stuck going uphill behind large military trucks carrying tanks – they were going as fast as the military men walking (slowly) next to them were going.
10:39 Military trucks on wide curve, so we drive over dirt inside shoulder to pass them.
10:40 We immediately pull over at a restuarant and ‘organizer’ starts throwing water on the engine block.
11:28 We all board and the bus drives across the street and puts air in the tire.
11:30 We start driving again, and Kelly determines that there is no comfortable postion when your knees are covered in bruises and there is no physical controtion that will keep them from banging into something constantly.
11:31 Mumble to each other, “living the dream.” And smile 🙂
12:38 Mini chicken bus pulls over, engines off, deboard in the middle of nowhere set of a couple of buildings… we’ve got a flat tire.
12:45 Lot’s of hard and quick work has tire off, and everyone sitting on the ground doing nothing. Kelly’s dramamine is in full force and she can hardly stay awake standing up.
13:05 Mini chicken bus driver returns from nowhere, and there is more hectic work around the tire as it is put back on.
13:18 All aboard and onto more windy roads.
14:15 Arrive in Kalaw and are thankful for life, leg room, and pursuing the dream.
Tags: Myanmar
Kelly & Marcus
August 31st, 2005 at 6:04 am
Who said that travel days are dull? I will assume that that the final destination was worth the trip, and that the trip back was less eventful!
Gotta beware of those toilet stops!!!
Hugs xoxoxo
September 11th, 2005 at 11:39 pm
Hi, Have you had a good trip so far? I’m in 3rd grade and I really like my Teacher. We have a new puppy named “Pretty Boy”. and we are movieng in Oct to Fallbrook. I have a question ..how are you doing? Love, Kyla Pierson
September 12th, 2005 at 9:39 am
I’m one that loves your timelines. It makes your day come alive with reality for me. I’m in awe of how you are able to find guides, buses, and places to stay so easily. At least thats how it looks from the outside looking in. So, once in a while if you could throw in a boring timeline that would be great. Thanks.
Praying for you,
– Bob –
September 14th, 2005 at 5:00 am
Hi Bob – The trick to most of finding the places to stay and buses is guidebooks and footwork. It is fun in small towns to walk from hotel to hotel and find the best value for our needs. Guidebooks help find the right for our budget value deals in large towns. And visiting the bus station can be the best way to find the times and destinations; but guidebooks can sometimes help there too.