From sunrise to sunset among the ancient temples of Bagan

in #travel5 years ago (edited)

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When I planned my trip to Myanmar, the ancient temples on the plains in central Myanmar was a “must see”. In Bagan, my voyage of discovery began with a balloon flight at sunrise. Then I continued on a bicycle and ended the ride just before the sunset. Certainly the most “historical and religious” day I had during my visit to Myanmar. Temples, stupas and pagodas from sunrise to sunset. What a day!

Bagan is one of the worlds great religious and historical sites. The ancient buildings are spread out on the plains of central Myanmar. There are still around 2000 temples, stupas and pagodas, which makes the city of Bagan one of the most important and remarkable archeological sites in South-East Asia. Entered UNESCO’s World Heritage list in 1996.



On the way to the temples

A brief introduction to the history of the city: Bagan was the capital of the first kingdom in Myanmar, built from 10th to 14th century AD. The kings of this city build more than 6000 temples. Today almost 2000 of them are still here. From around 1050 to 1100 the city was larger than ever. It covered more than 40 kilometers, which made it one of the largest cities in the middle ages. It was 15 times bigger than London, at the same time! It was also the time of transition from Hinduism to Buddhism.





The day started with pick up at my hotel at 05.00 o’clock. It was still completely dark. As we arrived at the site where the flight started we got coffee and some biscuits, while the balloons were getting ready. But once they started to rise, along with the sun, I forgot all about being hungry! The sight of the temples from above. The balloons floating quietly. The absolute silence of everyone in the basket. We just looked beneath us, as we were floating over the plains. The only noise was the sound of the gas let into the balloon now and then.



Stupas on the central plain



Sitting in the temple



Sulamani Phato – one of the most sophisticated with a lot to see inside



Sulamani Phato - contains splendid stucco on the inside walls.

After a solid breakfast I started my bicycle ride from temple to temple. Some are only small stupas. Some are large temples, which took time to explore. More than 300 temples contains mural paintings. This is quite unique for that period in South-East Asia. Many inscriptions on stones are still there, telling the story of the city.



Shwesandaw Paya

The last temple of the day was Shwesandaw Paya. It was late in the afternoon, just before the sun was setting. I did not wait for that. No streetlighs and no light on the bicycle either, I did not take the chance of not finding my hotel.



Shwezigon Paya - the main reliougs temple in town

Some time around 1280 Bagan’s decline started. What exactly happened? The historians disagree. According to legend, the city was abandoned after the destruction of many temples. This means the city was already abandoned when the Mongols took over. Others says that the city was never abandoned at all….. But people started to move back when the British established themselves in the area in the late 19th. Century. Some temples are still in use which gives a feeling of Bagan being “alive”.

Before going to Bagan, I had already been visiting Angkor in Cambodia and could draw a lot of parallels to Bagan. A large part of South-East Asian history fell into place after visiting Bagan. My journey was now completed.


Please check out other photos from Myanmar at Inle Lake here:

https://steemit.com/photography/@digi-me/a-day-on-inle-lake


U.J

Kristiansand, Norway

All the photoes are mine, Ulla Jensen (flickr, Instagram and facebook)

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really great read and I love the images :)

Thank you so much :)

Lovely travel article, Ulla! So many amazing photos, as well.

I suggest you replace the tags nature and life by @travelfeed and @archisteem.

They might like and resteem your post.

Also, consider including it on the SteemIt World Map

It's a very cool project and @steemitworldmap might like your post, too.

Keep up with the good work!

Thank you very much :) I am grateful for all advive you give :)

You're welcome. We all need to help each other out, around here.

Thanks again :)

Dear @digi-me,

Thank you for the submission for our project – 1001 Places to Remember. Let us go through the content and will make an announcement soon for the posts which will be winning the rewards as well as qualify for the publication.

Stay tuned and Steem on!

Sincerely from,

@archisteem and team

I went to Bagan this August, such a fascinating place! I didn't get the chance to do a balloon ride, but I rented a scooter and explored the temples for 3 days. I absolutely loved it!

Agree with you. I loved it too. Could go again. I stayed for 3 days as well in Bagan. On my arrival day, I only explored the temples in Old Bagan, where I also stayed at a hotel. Second day I did the balloon flight and temples on the plain nearby. On the last I went to Myaung U. Also Yangon, Mandalay, Kalaw and Inle Lake :)

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Sounds like a magical trip. I did not know about the history of Bagan. Interesting to discover that it was Hinduism before converting to Buddhism. I'll have to bookmark this along with Inle Lake. Really informative post and lovely pictures. Was it difficult getting around Myanmar?

It was. Interesting country. Both history from the past but also the present. When they converted to Buddhism, the have stayed as a Buddhist country since then. It was not so dificult to travel around. We booked flights and hotels ourselves. Only the trip to Inle Lake we booked through an agent because the hotel was on the lake and we needed at boat to take us around. Also in Bagan I prebooked the hot air balloon flight. But going around, renting bicycles etc. was quite easy :)

Good to know. I often go to Bangkok to visit my family so I always try to visit another area near there. Myanmar has been one place I have been wanting to travel to. Thanks for all the tips.

You can fly directly to Yangon from Bangkok. I did that :) Then you book flights within Myanmar . It is a beautiful country :)

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