Bagan: The City of the 1000 Pagodas

If you ask me about my favorite destination in Asia (after Japan, of course), I'll recommend you Myanmar (former Burma).

It's a new destination and because of that it is still very well preserved and you won't see so many western restaurants and new buildings replacing ancient constructions... Well, there are some exemptions. But generally speaking, it's authentic. 

Bagan

Bagan is a must see. It's known as the city of the temples.

Unfortunately the temple's restoration was a disaster.  Experts claim that they didn't pay any attention to details. Besides that, some tycoons connected with the regime, got authorization to destroy some temples in order to build a resort with luxury facilities (namely a golf course and swimming pools) and an awful 61 meter watchtower in the middle of the site. Based on these facts, UNESCO didn't recognize Bagan as a World Heritage Site which is really sad but understandable.

Bagan

From the almost 10.000 religious sites (monasteries, temples and pagodas), just 2229 temples and pagodas still remain in an area equivalent to 20 square kilometers. Most religious sites were destroyed during the many earthquakes that occurred in this area for the last 100 years.

Bagan

We went there during low season when it rains most. It was incredible hot all the time. Best time to go around and visit was during the very early morning and early evening (no public illumination).
Hotels in Myanmar can be very expensive mainly because there aren't too many, particularly with western standards.
During our trip we stayed in better hotels than we are used to. Basicaly because there is no mid range hotels, just very poor accommodations or very pricey ones.
We learned with our friends's experience. They were trying to save money and they didn't realize that travel on a budget in Myanmar is kind of hard. After a couple of days they got very sick with no medicine and they didn't enjoy their time at all.

Bagan

We spent more money in 5 days in Myanmar than in 15 days in Vietnam or in Thailand.
Many areas in Bagan are just reachable by bike or cab. We don't bike, even if we did it would be hard to ride in the muddy unpaved paths.
It was difficult to book a cab through the hotel. They were charging high fees and there was a schedule that the union (did I already express my love for unions?!) imposes to start and finish the service. But we were able to find a guy willing to ride us around on OUR schedule, starting early to avoid the hottest time of the day. It wasn't cheap but it was better than the previous quotes.

Bagan

Our driver was polite and punctual and drove us in really remote and badly shaped unpaved roads. This way we could explore much more.
We had all our meals in an awesome restaurant close to Ananda temple called Star Bean. The chef and his brother are great to talk to and they are knowledgeable about food. The chef used to work for a luxury restaurant. I highly recommend their tea leaf salad. They also bake delicious bread.

Bagan

Some of the temples and pagodas are closed. You have to find the person that has the key to open it for you. And some of them are really dark and you'll need a flash light to appreciate the murals and all the details.
One of the most spectacular murals is the one of the Portuguese traders in the Ananda Ok Kyaung.

Bagan

People are very kind and willing.
This is an amazing country to visit. In some sense I feel bad saying that because crowds of tourists can create lots of issues and in the end it will loose some of its authenticity. And because travelling to Myanmar also means that we are directly funding the regime that is committing the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya people.