Bagan, the Angkor Wat of Burma

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On December 27, 2006, it is our second day at Bagan, after a good night's rest.

Bagan : Archeological Zone (The Land of Pagodas)
http://www.tourismmyanmar.com/bagan.htm
http://www.terragalleria.com/theravada/myanmar/bagan/bagan.html

Bagan is impressive with its many pagodas, although each one is small and not impressive like the Angkor Wat temples.

We spent four nights in Bagan.

On our third day in Bagan, we hired a ponycart driver to take us to the temples. It was a very enjoyable day. The driver speaks fairly good English, is knowledgeable of the temples (as he had been a monk three times) and is kind to his pony.

Bagan is very dusty, probably more dusty than all the towns and cities that we visited.

I suppose the region is quite poor, and there are many children at the temples, some selling and others begging. Some of the artists make beautiful sand paintings, although every painting seemed to be from the same samples. They have beautiful laquerware. Coasters, in a beautiful container, sells for $1.

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Photos

2006-12-27 11-36-24
Laundry is expensive in Myanmar comparing to other SE Asian countries. They charge by the piece instead of by weight.

2006-12-27 11-48-35
Not too many photos on the first day out. The camera refuses to load my digital storage cards.

2006-12-28 08-39-34
On the second day we hired a pony cart for about US$7.

2006-12-28 08-47-22
Sometimes a temple is built in square shape.

2006-12-28 09-00-04
The Myanmar built this tower just for the tourist. But every tourist refuses to pay US$10 to get up there.

2006-12-28 09-19-08
Kyat Kan Monastery.

2006-12-28 09-22-26
This is left empty after the High Monk died.

2006-12-28 09-24-29
Monks have a better life than most other people. But you need to pay to be a monk.

2006-12-28 11-06-40
Very common to see ox-carts or pony-carts in Myanmar, even in city streets.

2006-12-28 11-56-15
Bagan is littered with pagodas. New ones are still being built every year.