The Plains of Bagan | Myanmar (Burma)

Jan 12

One of the highlights from my trip to Myanmar, and one of the main attractions, drawing visitors to the country, is the ancient city of Bagan. This is pretty much an archeological zone located in the Mandalay Region. There are several ways to get here from Yangon, but the most common for the tourist is the bus or a short flight.

The archeological site is surrounded by small towns and villages, which I certainly visited, and I’ll post photos soon. But the center of the action happens in the plains, around and between the towns there is an area of about 16 square miles with over 2,000 pagodas and buddhist temples. Most of them were constructed between the 11th and 13th centuries during the golden era of the Kingdom of Pagan, this area used to be the kingdom's capital, and it was called Pagan.

I spent 3 nights here, chasing amazing sunsets and sunrises, and wandering in the villages, but the colors and views from the different temples is something that I’ll never forget. Watching dark skies turn orange, and blue skies go dark, surrounded by the endless silhouettes of the temples in the distance, is a very unique and spiritual experience very difficult to describe.

So I leave you with some of the photos taken there, hoping that they do justice to the incredible Bagan.

View of the Sulamani Temple in Bagan, Myanmar (Burma) it is located close to the village of Minnanthu. This is one of the most visited temples in Bagan. It was built in 1183. (Daniel Korzeniewski)

Sunrise over the famous temples and pagodas in Bagan in Myanmar (Daniel Korzeniewski)

View of the Tha Beik Hmauk Gu Hpaya and Sulamani temples over the plains of Bagan in Myanmar (Burma) (Daniel Korzeniewski)

View of the Dhammayan Gyi Temple at dawn in Bagan, this is the largest of all temples and it was built between 1167 and 1170. (Daniel Korzeniewski)

View of the Thatbyinnyu Temple in Bagan, Myanmar (Burma) . This is one of the visited temples in Bagan. It was built in the mid-12th century. (Daniel Korzeniewski)

Sunrise over the plains of Bagan with view of the Dhammayan Gyi Temple on the left. (Daniel Korzeniewski)

Shilouette of temples over Bagan in Myanmar during twilight. (Daniel Korzeniewski)

View of the sunset on the plains of Bagan from the Pyathada Phaya temple. (Daniel Korzeniewski)

View of the Thatbyinnyu Temple at twilight in Bagan, this is the tallest of all temples and it was built in 1144 (Daniel Korzeniewski)

I almost forgot to mention, another thing really worth trying here is the hot air balloon ride, the company “Balloons over Bagan” provides an excellent service, the vistas from up there are great, and you can appreciate the majesty and vastness of the area from an unique perspective.