Bagan (Day 136)
Bagan is the largest UNESCO World Heritage archeological site in the world. There are over 2,000 temples spread across an area about half as big as Washington DC. Many temples are only accessible by dirt road or by foot.
Some are just sitting there in a field of squash.
It was totally normal to come across a temple older than Notre Dame with only 10 other visitors. Or sometimes just a bunch of farm animals.
The most important temples have more visitors, but nothing like what they would have if they were in another country.
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HISTORY
King Anawrahta founded the first Burmese Empire and brought a new religion, Theravada Buddhism, to the land. He built Bagan as his capital.
While Europe was mostly lost in the Dark Ages, Bagan was a shining light of civilization, with thousands of temples, monasteries, and libraries.
Italian explorer and writer Marco Polo came to Bagan in its prime. He visited around 1280, acting as emissary from the kingdom of Kublai Khan, the emperor of what is now China.
Marco Polo described the temples of Bagan this way:
“The towers are built of fine stone, and one has been covered with gold a finger thick, so that the tower appears to be made of solid gold…. They make one of the finest sights in the world, being exquisitely finished, splendid…. When illuminated by the sun, they are especially brilliant and can be seen from the great distance.”
Bagan fell to Kublai Khan’s armies only a few years after, and the great city was destroyed and mostly forgotten for centuries. Today, thousands of temples have been reconstructed, and many more are just lying as piles of stones waiting to be rejoined. But the golden spires of the temples again glisten in the light as they did in Marco Polo’s day.
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EXPLORATIONS
One day, we woke up to see the temples just after sunrise. We walked around a group of temples for an hour with no other people at all.
We saw farmers on their morning walk to the fields between the temples.
Later, we explored some more. If you saw 10 temples in Bagan a day, it would take you over 6 months to see them all…
Sometimes, we had to look around with flashlights. (Some temples were not well lit and did not allow cell phones.) We felt like Indiana Jones!
A few temples had beautiful faded murals.
Our kids were super excited to “make merit” by putting some actual gold leaf on a Buddha statue.
We loved horse cart rides through the temples at sunset. Meandering dirt roads led us from one ancient site to the next.
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HOT AIR BALLOON
Our favorite way to see the temples was by hot air balloon. It is the only way to appreciate the massive scale of Bagan. We got up early one morning for a “just grown ups” balloon trip.
The misty morning added to the magic of the scene.
Some people thought we were crazy to ride in a balloon since our previous balloon ride in Arizona did not end well — a crash landing where other people left by ambulance and Jamie broke his leg. But safety standards have to be better in Myanmar, don’t they??? Surprisingly, that was true. It was much better run in every way. We had some great views and a perfect landing.
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ASTROLOGER
Many Burmese people turn to astrologers for advice about their future. We met up with an astrologer at a deserted 700+ year old temple to hear what the future held.
Hugh learned that:
He will be successful in business.
He should wear the color green.
Hazel learned that:
She could be in the secret service!
She should wear gold chains.
She should not eat chicken until May 1 !
She might marry a family friend.
Ashley learned that:
She should watch out for electric shocks in our house.
She will be pickpocketed!
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