Bagan: The City of The Enemy Crusher

After taking a nap and grabbing breakfast at the hostel, we were ready at 9:00am to start our adventures in Bagan.  We had read the Lonely Planet Guide book (or should I say – the illegal version we downloaded from the internet and printed!) and they recommended horse carts as the best means to see all of the pagodas.  We arranged with Zolack and his horse Bo Bo to spend the day exploring the pagodas and seeing the sights.  

BAGAN!

The ruins of Bagan, a city formally titled Arimaddanapura (the City of the Enemy Crusher), cover an area of 16 square miles.  The majority of its buildings were built in the 11th century to 13th century, during the time Bagan was the capital of the First Burmese Empire.  

The most interesting fact: “Due to the earthquake in 1975, there are only 2,217 pagodas left in Bagan, in contrast to more than 5,000 during height of the political centre.”  So, although these pictures cannot possibly capture the 2,200+ pagodas that are left, can you imagine what it would have been like with over 5,000?!

Suba and I taking in the view from the top of one of the 2,217 pagodas in Bagan!

 One common misconception is that Bagan is advertised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Although an application was submitted, UNESCO does not designate Bagan as a World Heritage Site mainly because the military junta (SPDC) has haphazardly restored ancient stupas, temples and buildings, ignoring original architectural styles and using modern materials which bear little or no resemblance to the original designs. The junta has also established a golf course, a paved highway, and built a 200-foot (61 meter) watchtower in the area which certainly doesn’t assume ancient traditions and culture!

I’m not really sure how I can describe Bagan.  It is like gathering all of Europe’s medieval cathedrals in Manhattan, throw in a bunch more, sprinkle some gold over it, and you start to get a sense of the massive temple-filled plains of Bagan.

I can’t tell you how many we went to – I lost count after fifteen.  Each one was different, massive in size, and had unique architecture and stone carvings in the walls.  While we were thankful for our Lonely Planet guide because obtaining information in Myanmar is extremely difficult (most probably the most difficult country I have ever travelled before), we didn’t want to do everything by the book.  One thing that made “Ashley and Suba’s Adventure Guidebook” was taking a nap on the cliffs of one of the pagodas with a beautiful view and breeze.  Lonely Planet should add this as a ‘Should Not Be Missed’ attraction if you ask me!

We sat on top of another pagoda at dusk, and watched the sun set over the tops of hundreds of pagodas.  The scale was absolutely breathtaking.