Once we’d taken enough of the sunrise, we returned to the taxi to quicken the time of getting to the hostel and catching up on sleep. Unfortunately, with the early arrival we found ourselves waiting a little while until a room could be available, although it didn’t feel like too long after we walked into town to find a couple of phone cables (due to me leaving ours back in Yangon). A strange thing to see when talking to the local men is that their mouths seem to be filled with blood. I assumed it would be down to a lack of access to drinking water and proper dental treatment but it’s actually got nothing to do with it. What actually causes the red substance in their mouth is a nationwide addiction to betel quids, a combination of Areca nuts, cured tobacco wrapped in a lime-coated betel leaf. The popular chewing parcel creates the red saliva that you’ll find coming out of most of the men’s mouths as they spit it to the ground.
Bagan can be split into areas of old and new, due to close links to the country’s ancient culture. One of the key features of Bagan’s ancestral background are the temples or pagodas which can be found in the archaeological area. It’s easy enough to access with a rented electric scooter for the day. Many of the pagodas were destroyed and severely damaged in 1975 during one of the earthquakes that Bagan has endured up to that point. Most were restored in the 90s by the military but the more modern architectural design as well as the installation of a new golf course, paved highway and watchtower meant that that it was only until 2019 that the city finally won the designation of a UNESCO heritage site.
Although each miniature temple is frequently visited, it feels almost abandoned of any human presence, with most of them being occupied by cobwebs and birds nests. Some are off limits due to damages caused by another earthquake in 2016. One group of pagodas that we came across even seemed to be watched over by some sort of gatekeeper. It turned out to be a pretty accurate description of his role in the area, as he held the key to one of the temples that was locked up to keep unsupervised people out. The reason for this was due to the age of the structure; dating back to the 11th century and containing some original paintings.
The man wasn’t opposed to people visiting the archaeological site but he certainly wanted to show those that were interested in the history of it. Apart from the faded images hidden in the dark walls, there were statues of Buddha further inside, something that can be found in nearly every temple that can fit one, except this time the gatekeeper explained to us more of the story of Buddha as well as the reason for the various positions you can find the God in.
We rode to different locations, even partaking in the popular cosmetic method of Thanaka, a paste that is formed from ground up bark and pasted onto areas of the face for a variety of uses, including protection from the sun and exfoliating the skin. We visited a small percentage of the 2200+ temples including one of the larger ones that attracted more tourists due to its sheer size. You can appreciate all of the golden temple glistening in the sun and even acquire some gold leaf to place onto a smaller statue, with a different area of the body providing different blessings and offering merit such as the feet, heart and back.
Due to the lack of tourism in some parts of Myanmar, it’s not uncommon to have locals, especially young teenagers come over and ask for a photo. It certainly throws off anyone who expects they’re taking a photo for them instead of WITH them but after the first couple, it’s something you come to expect in different areas of the country. Locals will most likely stare at you when they’re not coming over to say hello but a quick exchange of smiles confirms that they’re simply curious rather than suspicious.
The newer parts of Bagan have everything you come to expect from a more traditional city, with a number of restaurants catering to a variety of dishes. One particular favourite was the local Weather Spoons which apart from the novelty name provided plenty of delicious options, including Myanmar dishes and Western. The staff can always identify which customers are British as well, because they’re the only ones that are taking photos of the sign. Once we’d enjoyed a few days in Bagan, we moved on to another intriguing part of Myanmar, Inle Lake.
Writer Pending 