The endless temples of Bagan

One of the highlights from my trip to Myanmar, and one of the main attractions, drawing visitors to the country is the ancient city of Bagan. This is pretty much an archeological zone located in the Mandalay Region. There are several ways to get here from Yangon, but the most common for the tourist is the bus or a short flight.

Temples of Bagan

The archeological site is surrounded by small towns and villages, which are also very interesting. But the center of the action happens in the plains, around and between the towns there is a large area with pagodas and buddhist temples. During the kingdom’s height between the 11th and 13th centuries, over 10,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries were constructed in the Bagan plains alone, of which the remains of over 2200 temples and pagodas still survive to the present day. It is seen by many as equal in attraction to Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

I spent only one night here, chasing sunset and sunrise, wandered in the villages, but the colors and views from the different temples is something that I’ll never forget. Watching dark skies to turn orange, and blue skies go dark surrounded by the endless silhouettes of the temples in the distance is a very unique and spiritual experience very difficult to describe.

So I leave you with some of the photos taken there hoping that they make justice to the incredible Bagan.

Morning sun and mist over the temples of Bagan

Balloons taking off in the misty morning

You can climb to a few of pagodas. This will soon change.

Pagodas, trees, plains and palm trees

If you want a different look, you can go for a sunrise balloon ride

Gawdawpalin Temple built between 1211-1235

Everywhere you look, you see temples/pagodas everywhere

Dhammayangyi Temple is on the left

Schwezigon Pagoda

Nat Taung Kyaung Monastery (built in 18th century) is one of the oldest monasteries built in the region. It is built out of Teak wood