Bagan, Myanmar

So much has already been written about Bagan, the sheer number of stupas and pagodas, the age and importance of the site and of course the view from "sunset temple", one of the two pagodas which most people seem to climb at sunset to get the all-important photo off the site, the skies turning shades of pink and orange and red and purple, creating a truly majestic backdrop for the overwhelming number of stupas which seem to sprout from the ground all over the site. It really is a remarkable sight, there is no way that vision will ever leave my memory. Some of the stupas and pagodas are quite small, humble structures, some huge, majestic things that you can circumnavigate, each side containing its own paintings and differently coloured and dressed Buddha icon. Some of the oldest are crumbling and falling down, but there are efforts to preserve and rebuild them. The important thing about seeing Bagan is to make it the last stop on your tour of Burma because by the time you get there, you will be encountering the phenomenon known as temple burnout. There are just so many of them, and they really are everywhere in such seemingly random places like in the middle of a field añd in the middle of a street. An alien would be forgiven for thinking that they are naturally occuring, just shooting out of the ground on hilltops and in fields and cities. You will have seen all the temples you can manage and there is another one just waiting on the next corner. These are beautiful things, and the first 100 or so will occupy as much space on your camera as the women carrying small houses on their heads and monks and the landscape if mot more. If you see atBagan at the beginning of your trip, you will likely mot care if you see another temple or pagoda ever again, and that would be a real shame because part of the joy of travelling in Burma is the discovery of all the wonderful structures of worship and devotion. Each one has similar contents but the hand positions of the Buddhas mean something different, thus giving different meaning to each temple. Many of the older ones have painting onthe walls that can be faintly made out, and itfeels like you have made a step onto the past, watching monks chanting and praying in front of the figures of Buddha and seeing devotees rubbing gold leaf on the idols. I do wonder what the actual Buddha, the former Hindu prince Siddhartha, the man who gave up the love of worldly things or Maya, and sat beneath the Bodhi tree for six years meditating would have made of all the religious trappings, gold, gems and huge temples, the poor spending ill-afforded money on offerings and gold leaf. It seems the exact opposite of what he was all about really, but I don't understand the religion, so I am really not qualified to speak on it. We took a horse and carriage around old Bagan in the morning, before it got too hot. It's a wonderful opportunity to go slowly around the town, seeing the shops and homes as well as the temples. There 's even a Buddhist retirement commmunity. I once again recommend going on the computer and finding pictures of Bagan and hopefully the pictures will speak louder and more eloquently than I can.