Land of 4,444 Temples

---

So arriving at 1am in bagan was definately an experience and one we even enjoyed. The whole reason we had included Burma in our trip was for this place. Emma had googled it to death and regailed me (and anyone else who would stand still for 2 mins) with facts about how it had the most temples per square whatever anywhere. I of course had forgotten all of this until the bus ride there and despite our strong views that we had seen enough temples to last a lifetime we were both giddy and excited when in the distance we saw golden glows outline in a myriad of coloured lights. It was like an horizion dotted in golden Christmas trees.

As we drove ever closer they passed and we got to the center of town and were plunged into near pitch black. We were staying in Nyuang U which was some way out of Bagan but still boasted it's fair share of temples. We were met at the bus stop by a group of hotel proprieters, or at least the unlucky sod who had to sell his hotel to tired travellers in the dead of night.

We chose a place from our guidebook and two young lads who were riding trishaws. Walking anywhere in the dark would be dangerous so we reluctantly agreed to let them cycle us and our bags to the guesthouse. It wasn't far but with our bags we must have easily doubled their weight.

We accepted a room with little fuss and as the power was out accepted a portable lamp gratefully. Within minutes we were asleep and did not wake until the lights came on with the electricity in the early hours. We took a well deserved lie in that morning however and skipped our free breakfast.

Bagan was not a big place in terms of shops and business. It was mainly dust roads and temples. The best way to see the temples - according to our accomodation - was to hire a horse and cart to take your round. They offered us one to go and see the sunset that evening and with no better plans we said yes. We spent the rest of the day in nyaung u finding out where we were based and how to get away as would inevitably doing in the next 4 days.

When it came to the horse ride we were a bit aimless and didn't really know where we wanted to go and so ended up being taken to one of the best for a sunset and just being left there for a few hours to wait. It was impressive and one the biggest with a clear view to the mountains where the sun would go down.

Next to it was a building that housed a huge lying down Buddha that some local kids took us round whilst they simultaneously tried to sell us postcards. They were very persistant with this taking the time to ask our names and all about us. They even followed us up the steep steps to the top of he paya (another word for temple). We were resolute in saying no and eventually got a little annoyed when they wouldn't go away or stop chanting our names.

'A little' is an understatement.

Leaving by one of the back roads we decided to wander round and see some of the smaller temples dotted around as our guide had left us ages till sunset. We went into a few smaller ones and explored until we decided to turn back and get ready for the sunset.

The paya we had originally been at was now swarming with tourists and it looked like the uppermost levels were already full. Not seeing the point of cramming ourselves in we decided not to go back to this one and instead settled for the smaller one we were next to and that had nobody else on it.

We were actually the only people in sight when we turned our backs on the tourists and their SLR cameras flashing away already. It was really nice and peaceful sitting on top with the odd horse and cart or man with cow going past and although the dust meant we didn't see the sun go all the way down it was a sight to remember.

After a few quick poses on top we braved the gauntlet of postcard kids and got back to our driver and eventually our hotel. That night we went to the best Indian in town and despite the comparitavly high cost treated ourselves.

The meal was a curry Thali which basically means all you can eat rice and condiments. I had had one of these on our journey to Bagan and it even involved unlimited mutton curry. This one came served on a banana leaf with dollops of condiments including - mango, tamarind, mint yoghurt, tomato relish and pickled something. With it was a never ending supply of chappatis (which I put to the test) and a chicken tikka and mutton masala. Not as tasty as mandaly but still beter than any we've had in he UK.

Andy really did put the unlimited chappatis to the test and it was really funny watching the mounting horror on the faces of the restaurant staff as he just kept on eating them showing no sign of stopping. He is very talented..in his own special way.

The next day we decided to go for the slightly cheaper option than the horse and cart and rent some bicycles for the day. The night before however we had found a shop that sold litres of rum gin and vodka for the ungodly price of $1.50 and so we didn't rouse from our slumber until a bit later in the day. It was really nice gin.

Due to Bagans dusty openness this mean that by 11 it was too hot to stay out of shade (It reached 43C + most days and even the locals were complaining. It was scary hot - the kind of hot where you think, yep Im going to die soon.) and it stayed this way until after 3. So we took the bikes out then and cycled to old Bagan to see some more payas and stupas. The ride wasn't too arduous as once you picked up speed the ups and downs on the road made it fairly easy going.

No it was hellish! I managed to invent a new shade of puce on my face!

We arrived in old bagan dodging the cattle herd as we entered the walls. Old Bagan used to be populated by locals but they were focibly moved to New Bagan to make way for tourists and hotels. We would hear lots of people telling us of this and whiltse few openly complained they always talk of old Bagan as their real home.

We went to a few of the top 5 temples and met a lady at one who happily showed her the strange face paint a lot of the female population of Burma wore. It was made by rubbing tree bark in water and gave a beige paste that when applied to skin acted as a moisturiser and sunblock. Emma left with a chunk of the bark and a mucky looking face.

We also went to a stupa by the river and cycled around aimlessly getting a little bit lost until emma started to worry about the light going and getting stuck. We had pulled over and a local on a bike with a kid pulled over to help us. He pointed us in the right direction for home but also offered to take us to a monastary to see the sunset. He assured us it was on a well lit road and so we followed him.

The monastary was a great place to see the sunset from and gav a panoramic that really summed up Bagan. It was a flat roofed building so you could turn 360 degrees and see temples in every direction. The view was amazing and we played a quick game of how many can you count before the light went.

The man who had taken us up here was an artist and he told us a little about his life as a fisherman and how now the tourist trade was more profitable. He was suffering at the moment as it was low season but was teaching his younger brother (the kid on the bike) to paint. All the paintings were very intricate and he explained which of the intricate designs were copied from temples and which were originals.

We did end up buying one from him that depicted buddhas foot - don't ask why. He left before sunset and we left shortly after to return the bikes and find somewhere cheap to eat.

Thankfully we found a painting that we liked because this guy was either a really good actor with a solid sales pitch or was genuine. Either way we were happy to pay $5 for his painting.

We found a place that had cheap grub and chuck Norris films on - Emma enjoyed the line "I don't tread on toes I tread on necks". (It became my catchphrase for a while.) We had noodles and standard cheap fare but did return for lunch one day to sample mash egg and tomato (good uni food again).

The next day we were too hot and a little bit hungover again and so did very little. We wandered around some temples nearby and had a nice curry and claypot meal for tea. We also booked an early morning horse and cart ride to take us to some of the harder to reach places.

We awoke early had our egg on toast and the 3in1 coffee mix that was like mud after some of the java we had in Vietnam and Laos. We set off to see some more temples well aware that we were getting close to being templed out and not caring much about each different one.

The first few we went to were smaller ones that housed some paintings that had remained really well preserved. They depicted the life of Buddha and what we were told was the Buddhist equivalent of Romeo and Juliet. We were shown the "new" temple which was basically a watchtower that cost $10 to enter and just gave a good view.

One of he temples had a monastary attached that was dug underground to keep the monks cool and we got to go around it and see their living quarters - very bare. The next stop we were told was a local village where we could stop and meet some locals.

We were sceptical about this as thought it could seem a bit staged but the girl who met us was really nice and let us grab a drink before taking us around her village. She showed us how they made cotton and peanut paste and then took us to the family house to see her family.

The most dominating personality in this family was by far the elderly grandma who was sitting making cotton and smoking the most ridiculously oversized cigars ever. They were the size of a tv remote and she knocked the ash into half a coconut shell. She was 72 and although she still looked spritley enough her skin had taken the brunt of this smoking habit and she resembled crumpled up tracing paper left out in the sun.

After seeing a bit more of the village we bought some scarves from them and accepted a cigar and bit of cotton thread as a gift before getting back on our cart for more temples.

For the most part these began to blend into one but there were some highlights. One had the biggest platform on top and we burnt our feet running across it. Another had been built because the king at the time ha found a ruby in the sand at that site. In one we met a girl who was obsessed with Emma's silver toe ring and a man who had notes from loads of currencies around the world. Emma was getting rid of her ring anyway and so gave it to the girl - she was made up.

We headed back soon after this on the pretence that the horse looked hot and tired. In reality it was us who were tired and we scrapped off an evening of temples in favour of a really early night as our bus to Inle Lake left at 3 am. After a cheap meal we hit the hay alarms set for 2:30 am.

Getting up at 3am is never fun. It's even less fun when you know you are going to be stuck on a minibus all day hot an sweaty and possibly overcrowded. We waited almost an hour and started to panic until the bus trundles round the corner. It was empty apart from two westerners. Good start. To make things even better a guy from our hotel came running out with two plastic bags. Inside - toast bananas and a boiled egg. What a good start to the day.

The bus did fill up a bit more but we managed to keep two seats to ourselves and even get a bit of sleep. As time went on we filled up and what with locals falling asleep on us or smiling manically we gave up and moved next to each other.

The road took us through some beautiful mountains and countryside and we spent a lot of the time looking out of the window. This served another purpose as it kept a look out for gangs of kids splashing water through the open windows. We started out good natured but soon our aching backsides and frazzled nerves began to wear thing. Would we make it to Inle safe and dry?

Ahahaha your such a corn-ball...that has got to be the worst cliff-hanger ending ever!

---