At about 6.30am we
met the e-bike guys from last night out the front of the hotel and
got a quick lesson in using them, before heading back inside some
breakfast in the hotel (we were under the impression that it wasn't
included, but the woman at reception insisted and we weren't about to
turn it down). We then hopped onto our bikes and rode out to the
temples.
Bagan is an ancient
city that, from the ninth to the 13th century, was the
capital of the Kingdom of Pagan, which essentially formed the basis
of modern Burma/Myanmar. At its height, from the 11th to the 13th
century, more than 10,000 Buddhist and Hindu temples, pagodas and
monasteries were constructed on the Bagan plains, of which the
remains of more than 2,200 temples and pagodas now survive – the
largest and densest collection of such structures in the world. Many
were reconstructed under the orders of the military regime in ways
that have horrified historians, but there's no denying that the site
is incredibly impressive – certainly up there with Angkor Wat in
Cambodia.
As many if the
temples are still in use – and the whole site has great general
religious significance (the Burmese apparently believe that all
temples are sacred, visitors are asked to respect the local
sensibilities of worshippers and remove their shoes and cover up –
no shoulders, no above-the-knee shorts or skirts – when they visit
the temples. Sarah's only below-the-knee clothing is a pair of jeans,
so we wrapped her pashmina around her shorts when visiting a temple.
Many of the
structures have internal or external stairs up to some sort of
terrace area, where it's possible to get some glorious views over the
plain, with the domes and spires of numerous temples and pagodas
poking up over the treeline. They're linked by dirt roads of varying
width and quality. Most are potholed, but many also have patches of
deep sand, which require rather more skill to negotiate than either
Kate or I possess, and on several occasions we both lost control of
the bikes. Thankfully, we rarely got going fast enough for it to be a
problem (more of which later).
It's low season at
the moment, so there aren't many people here with us – we're often
the only tourists at the smaller temples. However, when we pull up,
we're often quickly joined by a local, keen to show you around and
then casually bringing out 'their' special sand paintings (which are,
of course, identical to everyone else's).
We spent the morning
making our way from temple to pagoda to temple to pagoda, climbing up
and down and exploring inside, where many have towering statues of
Buddha. We eventually ended up at the 12th century
Shwezigon Pagoda, a huge circular gold leaf-gilded stupa surrounded
by smaller temples and shrines. The sun was properly beating down by
now and our bare feet were scorched by the concrete around the
temple, but thankfully, they had laid mats around the outside so we
could make a circuit in relative comfort.
As we left, Kate and
the girls stopped to have a look at some of the lacquerware stalls
that had been set up in a long covered walkway leading to the pagoda.
Lacquerware is a real thing around here, and there are some lovely
little boxes on sale for next to nothing. On the way up, one of the
women on one of the stalls had insisted on pinning little butterfly
brooches on us all and naturally, when we returned, she 'claimed' us
all as hers. But Kate and the girls weren't keen on her merchandise,
and when they moved away to browse the other stalls, the woman got
increasingly irate, telling Kate that it would bring bad luck on her
if she bought anything from someone else (which she did, bad luck
notwithstanding).
Meanwhile, I sat
outside on a shady bench near the bikes, where I was joined by a
couple of local women, who wanted to know where I was from and so on.
As we chatted, we heard some sirens approaching, and then watched as
a large military convoy dove past. When they had gone, one of the
women said, 'I don't like them' with a look of great distaste on her
face. You're told it's best not to discuss politics with the locals
as it can get them into trouble, but this woman was openly dismissive
of the military regime and clearly looking forward to the upcoming
elections, which are due to take place in November.
We had lunch in Old
Bagan and then visited a few more temples. Then, as the afternoon
wore on and we got worn out, we headed back to the hotel, where I had
a short nap, before we all headed back out for sunset. There are a
few taller temples to which tourists flock at sunrise and sunset as
they offer the best views over the plain. We were still a bit early,
so we stopped off at a little group of smaller temples to kill some
time. As I was walking around taking photos, a young guy rode up on
his motorbike and started chatting to Kate and the girls. When I
rejoined them, he told me that it was possible to climb the larger of
the temples. Expecting him to show me a set of stairs, I was slightly
taken aback when he began clambering up the outside, using a series
of projecting bricks and ledges to haul himself up. I followed close
behind him and then gingerly made my way around the roof, looking for
good shots. He pointed out the Shwesandaw Pagoda, one of the largest
of the temples with five terraces around the outside. It's a real
dawn and evening draw, with coachloads of tourists climbing to watch
the sun go up and down – apparently there can be several hundred
people on the terraces in high season.
When we were back on
solid ground, he asked us where we were going to watch the sun set
and we said we would probably head over to the Shwesandaw Pagoda. He
said that he knew a better temple nearby and offered to show us the
way, so we hopped aboard our bikes and followed him down a rough
track across some fields to a medium-sized temple nearby. He called
out to a local boy hanging out near another temple and the child ran
over with a key that opened a gate for us so we could climb some
internal stairs to the roof. Once we got up there, our 'guide' showed
me how to climb even further up onto a little ledge around the dome
of the stupa, from which vantage point I took far too many photos.
When dark began to
fall in earnest, we climbed down, bid our guide farewell and we rode
back to the hotel and then out to the Black Rose for dinner. We
dropped the bikes off on the way back, replacing them with another
pair for tomorrow.
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