2012-01-02
Bagan is 26 square kilometers of temples, from around the 11th century. The sheer vastness of it is jaw dropping. Most of the temples are small to medium size with a few very large ones scattered around as well. I was very disappointed to ride my bike up to the big temples and find them packed with tourists and souvenir shops. The shops and tour buses were even located inside the temple walls. The upper levels of the large temples had been cordoned off and couldn't be explored. I was, however, able to find medium size temples that were deserted and explored their dark and sometimes semi-hidden passages. Sitting atop a lonely temple and looking out to the field of pagodas below was quite a unique and wonderful experience.
My friend Chris had a terrible run of frustrations including breaking his camera lens, being kicked out of a hotel even though he'd been told he had a room, and battling the dark ages internet connection to book flights, only to get network errors and no tickets.
I got food poisoning on one of my last days and was quite glad to be leaving the country and leaving Asia and returing to a land of toilet paper and clean tap water. Eating cold curry that may or may not have been sitting out for hours or days is an experience I was happy to leave behind.