Myanmar 2001: Bagan

Bagan – Monday, February 12

At 5:00 in the morning I left for the airport. The hotel’s regular driver hadn’t arrived yet so the doorman walked out into the dark street to look for a taxi. He had to go down to the first major intersection, but finally he found one. As I hopped in he said, “I have already paid him.” The Yoma advertises they supply transportation to and from the airport and they were as good as their word.

Along the way the most interesting sight was out near Shwedagon Paya where I saw a line of barefoot monks heading out to beg for their morning meal. There must have been 50 or more of them in a straight line, young and old alike. They walked with grace and patience, each carrying his large, black begging bowl.

At the airport it was pure chaos. There are three domestic carriers in Myanmar and each had a flight leaving within minutes of each other. In addition, there was a multi-step check-in process that wasn’t very clearly marked. In the end I made it onto a little 48-seat prop plane for my flight to Bagan. Soon after we took off the sun came up filling the cabin with soft, pale light.

In Bagan I paid the $10 Archaeological Zone fee and then got a taxi to my hotel, the Thande. While I was checking in the desk clerk asked to see the Archaeological Zone ticket, making sure I had one. Finally, I dropped my bag in my room and walked outside the hotel gate where I rented a horse cart for the day for $10. I had picked the Thande mainly because it was on the edge of the Archaeological Zone, close to all the major sites.

I asked my driver, Song Song, to show me to the best known payas. I figured I would get an overview today and then rent a bike to see some of the lesser known ones. Song Song hitched up his horse and we set off.

I immediately learned two things about horse transportation: first, it’s a pretty rough ride. The cart had hard wheels and I could feel every bump in the road. Also, the cart rocked with every step the horse took. Second, I never realized how much gas a horse passes. Sitting directly behind one, you can’t miss it. Now, I can see why cars have largely replaced horses.

Song Song was an excellent guide and over the next few hours I saw six of the best known payas. Bagan is reputed to have 2,000 of these temples built between the 9^th and 13^th centuries. They range in size from a few big enough to cover a football field to others no larger than a small house. Inside they all have at least one statue of Buddha and most had many more.

The stone exteriors are often ornately carved and some have painted frescos inside too. You can climb to the top of a few and from there you can see payas in every direction: more than you could count. It’s a truly marvelous sight. Bagan is one of the least known of the archeological wonders of Asia and it is certainly worth a trip to Myanmar to see it.

We spent most of our time off the road following small, sandy tracks from paya to paya. Before you enter you remove your shoes: you must go barefoot in all of the payas. Inside the entrance of the more popular ones there was always a collection of vendors selling tourist trinkets: lacquer ware, brass bells, t-shirts and postcards.

The vendors were persistent, but friendly. After they realized I wasn’t going to buy, they would often sit and talk with me. They always wanted to know where I was from. Sometimes they would tell me about the day’s business or facts about the paya. I found that a little patience went a long way with the vendors – they are, after all, only trying to make a living.

After three hours of riding in the rocking cart and walking barefoot over rough stones, Song Song suggested we have lunch. “Do you want Myanmar or Chinese food?” he asked and then quickly added, “I know a very clean Myanmar place.” I hadn’t tried Myanmar food yet, so I figured this would be a good opportunity.

We headed back to the east edge of the Archaeological Zone, near the Tharaba Gateway, to a little thatched-roof place called Golden Myanmar. After Song Song tied up the horse, we sat down at a plastic table in the open-sided restaurant. Along with our drinks, the waiter brought about 10 small dishes. As he sat each down he told us what was in it: eggplant, mutton, beef, some kind of little fish, chicken and loads of vegetables, most of which I have never seen or heard of before. There were also two plates of rice and two bowls of soup.

All the dishes except the soup were cold, or more correctly, room temperature. All the dishes I tried tasted strange to me and I didn’t particularly care for any of them. The fact that they weren’t hot made then seem greasy. In addition, many were flavored with some kind of strong fish paste.

The soup was the best of the lot, but oddly I thought it tasted something like horses smell – or maybe I had just spent too much time behind one. Later, I prayed to the travel gods that I did not get food poisoning – I’m very wary of food that isn’t served hot. Luckily, nothing bad happened.

Back at the hotel I asked other travelers what their experiences had been with Myanmar food. It was the same: many little dishes of cold food. I decided that this meal fulfilled my obligation to try Myanmar food and from them on I stuck to my favorites: Chinese and Thai.

In the afternoon, after the horse had rested, we set out again to visit a few more payas. First, we stopped at one in Myinkaba, a little village just south of the Archeological Zone. There I saw a huge statue of Buddha set in a tiny room. It was designed to show how the builder had felt when he was held in captivity.

Myinkaba is also known for its lacquer ware shops. Song Song stopped at one (Maling Aling Myin) and I was given a tour. I was shown how the lacquer was hand-applied to a bamboo frame and then slowly dried in a cellar. Various intricate patterns were then incised on the surface and more colored lacquer was applied. The finished cups and trays were both magnificent and cheap, so I bought a few.

We finally ended up at the Shwesandaw Paya. It’s one of the few tall payas that you can climb and a favorite place to watch the sun set over the Ayeyarwady river. Consequently, there were lots of tour buses, taxis, horse carts and bicycles there. It’s a steep climb to the top and, by sunset, it was crowded with tourists. I had gotten there early and staked out a good spot next to a couple of Canadians who were making a multi-month visit to Asia.

After sunset I had Song Song drive me to the River View restaurant in New Bagan for dinner. He wanted the outrageous sum of 2000 Kyat for the extra ride there and back. Somehow I let him talk me into it. That was half again what I paid for the whole day. The restaurant was only about a 25-minute ride from the hotel.

The food at the River View was pretty good (Chinese) and there was a little dance and musical show. It was all outdoors with a great view of the Ayeyarwady river. After dinner, as I worked on my journal by candlelight, I became dinner for the local mosquitoes.

It was a pleasant ride back to the hotel with the clip-clop of the horse and Song Song humming a little tune. I decided to have another beer at the hotel’s bar – a pleasant end to a great day.