27 Before 27: Bagan, land of 2,200 temples

If you are templed-out from reading all about the Shwedagon Pagoda in my first post about my Myanmar travels, do not continue reading because MANY more are coming your way!

Umbrellas for sale at one of the temples.

On my second day in Myanmar, I took an early morning flight to begin my 4-day, 3-night trip to Bagan. Bagan is located in central Myanmar in what is considered a dry zone. The dry heat could be felt immediately, as the humidity I experienced in Yangon had completely vanished when I stepped off the plane in Bagan. The landscape reminded me a bit of some areas in Texas and the southwest U.S. with sandy, reddish dirt and scrubby-looking shrubs and trees that crackle when the hot air blows through.

The unique thing about Bagan is that red brick and gold temples pop out of the semi-arid landscape. Now, I’m not talking a few temples here and there. Bagan features over 2,000 temples, pagodas and monasteries! The sheer number of temples is amazing; they stretch across the Bagan plains for as far as the eye can see. I tried to take pictures of the expanse of temples but my camera doesn’t do it justice.

Ananada Temple

My trip included visits to several temples and pagodas (including Mount Popa, which included a 700+ step staircase to get to the very top temples!) but also to a monastery to distribute food and hygiene products, a local village to see what life is really like for Myanmar citizens as well as a sunset cruise down the Irrawaddy River. The trip culminated with a candle- and temple-lite dinner and dancing elephant performance. The dinner was like something straight out of The Bachelor-so romantic-and the dancing elephant performance was very unique. I liken the elephant dance to the dancing dragons that you see celebrating Chinese New Year, just with a different animal.

Aside from the beautiful temple visits and chance to see a “real” side of Myanmar, I enjoyed this trip as well as the remainder of my travels in this country because of the people. Myanmar has not been open to foreigners for very long so tourists are still an oddity. I was welcomed whole-heartedly everywhere I went and people were genuinely friendly and interested in me. Despite having a fairly new tourist industry in Myanmar, they are well set-up with nice, cheap hotels and amazing restaurants serving great, safe meals. If you are interested in traveling somewhere in Asia where you won’t be hassled at every stop and instead welcomed to the country, Myanmar has my vote. Visit Myanmar and visit now.