Beautiful Bagan

Bagan and its temples was the part of the trip that I was most excited about. And though Inle was a close second for scenery, Bagan delivered. In its day, there were more than 12,000  monuments in the area and as many as 3 million people when in the 12th century Bagan was the largest city in the world. Wars and natural disasters have taken their toll on the area but 2,500 monuments, including temples, pagodas and monasteries still dot the landscape across the flat lands on the edge of the Irrawaddy river. The sights in all directions and light are just breathtaking. 

Our amazing hotel was situated right in the middle of it all, with layers of red peaked roofs in all directions – I counted 30 temples and pagodas layered towards the river within eyeshot of the pool. The hotel has a 11 story tower from which we were able to enjoy sunset and sunrise views in all directions. Wandering down dirt roads that wind through the various monuments is reminiscent of my 2001 trip to the temples of Angkor Thom & Wat in Cambodia. Both the sights here in Bagan and those in Cambodia are certainly on my list of wonders of this world.

On our final night of the over-the-top trip that B&R put together we boarded a boat and enjoyed a champagne transport out to a sandbank in the middle of the river for one final amazing meal and memory to cap off the amazing adventures in Myanmar.

One of our first views and it's magical 

Narrow, steep and dark, but worth braving the possible cobras that lurk – Myanmar has the highest death rate at 1,000 people per year

But the dark & damp was worth it to enjoy our stunning first look at the peaked monuments

Kristin enjoying the view

Peaked roofes for days

Dad heads back down – fingers crossed no cobras

K & me on top of the temple

Beautiful scenery as we bike our way around

Most of the open temples house huge buddha statues in various positions 

Mom & dad outside one of the temples near our hotel – dad wearing his longyi

Settled into the hotel the sun starts to dip and light and temples reflect in the pool

Layers of backlit peaks and the Irrawaddy in the deep background

Dramatic light changes as the sun drops towards the mountains above the river

We woke early and returned to the tower as the fog laid low and the sun was working its way up

Were up early enough to catch the balloons lift off near the famous golden Shwezigon Pagoda

And also see the light start to catch the Eastward facing walls of the structures

Lighting up the larger ones like fire

Amazing how they spread out after taking off so close together

I know I've posted many, many pics but each view is as dramatic as the last to me

Even views on the walking paths at our hotel

Visiting a local market the scene is similar to what we saw in Rwanda

Produce is weighed with traditional balance scales, including the areca nut seen in the whicker basket in the foreground

The men wrap the nut and other various items for the chew in these betel leaves

Mom & dad decked in longyi outside one of the temples

I went in search of an original buddha and found this young specimen 

And then some older ones

Nothing refreshes a hot bike ride like a fresh coconut

Back on the dirt for our final push back to the hotel for some massages

Sun dips behind the far hills over Bagan

A surprising scene on our last night as we pull up to a desolate sandbar on the Irrawaddy river

The B&R crew put together quite the ambiance 

K & me posing where we could find some light

Mom & K at dinner

No celebratory departure is complete without dancing with a she-he

Mom meditating before the final domestic flight from Bagan to Yangon

A Burmese coffin