Blogs from Bagan, Mandalay Region, Burma, Asia - page 3

Eerst even kort wat over Bagan. De tempels in deze regio zijn gebouwd tussen de 11e en 13e eeuw. Koning Anawrahta is begonnen met het bouwen van tempels en zijn drie opvolgers zijn ermee doorgegaan. In totaal stonden er op het hoogtepunt ongeveer 10.000 tempels (nu nog 4000). Aan het eind van de 13e eeuw kwam er een eind aan de gloriedagen van Bagan, de ene overlevering zegt door een aanval van de Mongolen, een andere door een burgeroorlog. De tempels raakten nog meer in verval door 11 aardbevingen die het gebied hebben getroffen. Na de grootste aardbeving van 1975 heeft UNESCO ongeveer 1 miljard dollar gestoken in het restaureren van de tempels. Helaas heeft de militaire junta ongeveer 2000 tempels op een zeer controversiële manier gerestaureerd sinds 1995, zonder hierbij rekening te houden met de ... read more

And so our journey through the furnace of Myanmar continued, we flew from the delightfully named Heho and touched down in the less easy to say Nyaung U airport. The reason for arriving at this odd sounding place was it was the local airport for the famed archeological area of Bagan (the Angkor Wat of Myanmar or so they say). One tip to remember if you ever find yourself arriving in Nyaung U is they will not let you leave without buying a ticket for said famed archeological area, so have some cash handy! Luckily we had enough Kyats (not the meowing kind, sorry, terrible joke..) lining our pockets and were allowed to exit the airport to face the customary battle of the taxi drivers, whom were all very keen to take our fare. Bagan is ... read more

We spent four days in Bagan and I could've easily spent another four. Regarded as one of the best “lost” ancient cities in Asia. Some even say it's better than the lost temples of Angkor in Cambodia, one of the wonders of the world. Before we arrived we'd heard it was a $25 entrance, a kick in the teeth if you're travelling on a budget. To be honest the entrance fee was justified...there's 2000 temples in (I think) a 25 square mile radius. We paid $6.60 for the temple in Yangon and there's only really one temple there... Had the temples in Bagan been in a city and had separate entrance fees etc then it wouldn’t have been that good. Both me and Dave aren't really temple people (are there any?), as far as I'm concerned ... read more

Asarranged, Mr.Noproblemwaswaitingformeoutsidethehotelattheappointedhour. Offwewentalong a divided highway toll road until we turned off and headed into the hinterland. We traveled across a vast prairie through small provincial towns. Oxen power and horse-drawn wagons were the norm. Herds of goats, sheep and cows browsed through the dry grasses and several times we had to stop for them to cross the road. Honking the car horn at them had no effect except to calm the nerves of the driver. There were a lot of transport trucks of all shapes and sizes plied the road to the horizon. Some of these trucks are powered by single stroke engines, which replaced the original motor when it gave out. These trucks make a lot of noise and spew a choking black smoke. Even when I donned a mask, I spent half the ... read more

Day 13-Monday-January 25- When we arose early this morning, we could see about 15 hot-air balloons in the hazy distant sky. After breakfast we departed the boat to board minivans with 4 to a car and drove up a long dirt road to the town of Tant Kyi Taung, famous for its impressive Tant Kyi Taung Pagoda. This prominent Burmese Buddhist pagoda near the historic city of Bagan was built in 1059 by King Anawratha. The pagoda is believed to house four of Gautama Buddha’s teeth, donated by King Vizaraba of Sri Lanka. The pagoda is 90 feet tall. It is said that this is the location where the royal white elephant bearing the tooth relics rested for the second time. There were beautiful views of the Ayeyarwaddy River and Bagan. Before we drove back to ... read more