Upon arriving at Nyuang-U, the bus station that leads to Bagan, we were immediately faced with numerous touts trying to sell us their taxi, bicycle, trishaw or horse carriage into the town. It was 3am and we were still quite groggy when we arrived in Nyuang-U and I didn’t like how pushy the locals were. In the end, we settled for the trishaw because it was the least expensive. However, the poor guy had to peddle quite hard and there was one part when he could not take it anymore, so he asked us to alight and walk while he pedalled up the slope. The journey from the bus station to our hotel took almost half an hour and we could see the other tourists who decided to take the taxi zooming past us. At the entrance to the town, all vehicles had to stop for the foreigners to pay US$20 to enter the Bagan archeological area. It is really expensive and there was no discount, no bargaining for student visitors. They just assumed that all tourists who visit Bagan are rich. When we reached our hotel, we could not check in yet because all the rooms were full. We left our bags at the reception and decided to walk to Old Bagan to catch the sunrise.

early morning glow of the temple

We were walking for an hour and a half before we finally reached the Shwesandaw pagoda which is the tallest and most famous one in Bagan. We had to ask many people along the way for directions because it was very dark and we did not know the way. This pagoda contains a series of five terraces, topped with a cylindrical stupa, which has a bejewelled umbrella. There were already many tourists on the top of the temple, ready with their camera and tripod stands, waiting to capture the best sunrise pictures. However, to our disappointment, the sun did not rise as it was a cloudy day. We only witnessed the sky turning bright without the yellow glow of the sun lighting up the horizon as I imagined.

saw this cute boy, his brother and a dog at Ananda temple

The ancient temples that spread across the enormous plain of Bagan (Pagan), numbering over 2000, provide one of the most breathtaking sights in the world. Amongst the most popular destinations in Myanmar, Bagan is on the itinerary of almost every traveller – with good reason: the vast, grand scale of the exteriors contrasts with the extraordinarily intricate detailing of the temple interiors to make for a truly unique experience. They combine to form one of the richest archaeological sites in Asia and provide views quite unlike anywhere else on earth.

One of the beauties of spending time in what is now officially called the Bagan Archaeological Zone (which also comprises four main settlements) is that, once you have paid your $20 entry fee, you have the freedom to explore this vast and fascinating area at your own leisure (the ticket is valid for five days). Bagan is in general more touristy and possibly less of the ‘real Myanmar’ than other parts of the country, but despite obvious sales ploys such as the multitudes of children selling hand-drawn postcards, you will rarely suffer the hard sell – and the locals remain warm and friendly.

We decided to walk around the temple complex which was really huge. For breakfast, we ate mohinga (curry noodles with egg) at a local market (50 cents only). There were many temples which started to look the same after a while. We visited Anada temple which had some reconstruction on its facade. Another temple (which I forgot the name) left me with bad impressions because we stepped on bat shit yikes. We had to take out our shoes before entering each temple and there was a section of the temple with a high ceiling and it was quite dark. We stepped on something damp on the ground and realised the horrible stuff, so gross.

so many sunset watchers at Shwesandaw temple

In the afternoon, we were tired from walking and decided to check in at our hotel. After washing up and a short nap, we realised that the weather in the afternoon was quite good. I consulted my friend who told me to rent an electric bicycle to watch the sunset. We had contemplated walking back to Old Bagan, but the thought of walking 15km to and fro was too much for us to handle. So we went out to the streets to hunt for an ebike with a good price, finally managed to settle on one that was 6usd for the evening. We cycled back to Shwesandaw pagoda, and this time there were even more tourists. Lo and behold, the sunset was amazing and it made up for the non-existent sunrise that we saw this morning. With our ebike, it was also more convenient to drive around, but we had to return it at the end of the evening and rent it again the next day. Running out of Burmese kyat, we had a simple dinner of super oily fried rice at one of the local stalls.

finally got to see my sunset