Bagan
Oh Bagan... How much I contemplated back and forth whether I should skip you... Insane, I know! But Bagan is the one place in Burma where ALL the tourists go (every international photo you see, the cover of Lonely Planet - Bagan) that I heard the magic is kind of ruined - but then on the other hand, so would every 'wonder of the world' be in that case, so I went and I have to say I'm happy I did! The history of Bagan as the ancient city that holds over 3000 temples that dates back from 11th to 13th century wins over the amount of tourists, and even though there are a lot of people there, it is always possible to find your own temple to sit by since there are SO MANY!
So, I arrived here on Monday afternoon and spent three days just WALKING, I don't think I've ever walked this much as I did here, and I walk 10 km a day in Sweden! Most people rent motorbikes (can't drive, sigh) or bicycles, but the temples are so spread out over miles of land with sand and bushes that I found it most convenient to do it by foot! It was truly magical to stroll around these temples with original paintings inside some of them that are over a thousand years old! Here are some photos from day one!
So, I arrived here on Monday afternoon and spent three days just WALKING, I don't think I've ever walked this much as I did here, and I walk 10 km a day in Sweden! Most people rent motorbikes (can't drive, sigh) or bicycles, but the temples are so spread out over miles of land with sand and bushes that I found it most convenient to do it by foot! It was truly magical to stroll around these temples with original paintings inside some of them that are over a thousand years old! Here are some photos from day one!