Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
EXPLORING BAGAN
The
architectural background
to the temples of Bagan is covered in detail in Contexts,
which provides a fuller overview of the various styles and features of the myriad monu-
ments and their historical context. The
history
of Bagan is also covered in Contexts.
ITINERARIES
There are endless different ways of tackling the temples of Bagan, with monuments
clusteredsothicklyonthegroundthatfixingonaparticularitineraryisamatterofpersonal
taste rather than practical necessity. It's best to take your time - rush at Bagan, and you're
likely to become rapidly templed out and terminally stupa-fied. You'll need at least
three
days
to get to grips with the major monuments, and getting on for
a week
to properly ex-
plore all the places covered below. A thorough investigation of the whole site could take
the best part of a year.
Havingsaidwhich,afewpointersmayproveuseful.Themonumentsof
OldBagan
make
a logical starting point, the site's densest and most diverse collection of temples includ-
ing the landmark Thatbyinnyu and Gawdawpalin along with a host of other fascinating
buildings. The temples of the
CentralPlain
- including the stunning Shwesandaw, Dham-
mayangyi and Sulamani - will fill a second day, perhaps with the Mingalazedi and Dham-
mayazika Pagoda included, while a third day can be spent exploring the area
between
Nyaung U and Old Bagan
, particularly the magnificent Shwezigon Pagoda and Htilo-
minlo Paya, and the mural-covered Upali Thein and Gubyaukgyi Paya. A further string
of temples stretches south of Old Bagan through
Myinkaba
village to
New Bagan
, and
there's another cluster of absorbing little monuments around the village of
Minnanthu
,
somewhat off the beaten track, and a perfect place to escape the (admittedly quite modest)
crowds.
It's also worth remembering that there are
around two thousand further temples
not
coveredintheaccountsbelow,andit'salsofuntoleaveyourguidebookinyourhotelroom
and go off exploring where the fancy takes you - and you're more or less guaranteed to
have most places entirely to yourself.
PRACTICALITIES
Many of Bagan's less-visited temples are kept
locked
, particularly those containing delic-
ate murals or valuable artefacts. In most places someone will magically appear to unlock
the temple for you; occasionally you might have to ask around to find the keyholder. A tip
of around K500 generally suffices.
A decent
torch
is pretty much essential if you want to properly appreciate Bagan's many
remarkable temple murals. If you don't have one, you can sometimes borrow one from the
