Bagan: The Ancient Land of Temples in Central Myanmar

When someone speaks of Myanmar, the first thing that comes to mind are the pagodas of Bagan and this place actually lives up to its name and people’s expectations. This ancient city of Myanmar, located on dry and arid land next to the Ayerawaddy river is surprisingly not a UNESCO World Heritage site as it has all the necessary ingredients.


These 11th to 13th century pagodas were built in plenty during their high time. Today, they exist sprawled on the plains of Bagan for the tourist’s eyes. Some of these temples are really large and spread large areas. When the Anawratha kingdom was in its peak dominance, there used to exist more than 12,000 pagodas. Today, only about 4,000 adorn the plains of Bagan.


Most of the tourists coming to Bagan either stay close to the old city of Bagan, the New Bagan area or in the closest town of Nyaung Oo. While staying in the old Bagan area ensures easy proximity, the costs are fairly. Nyaung Oo is more popular with budget travelers who either hire a bicycle for 1,500 kyat or a horse cart for 15,000 kyat per day.


If you want to do the entire Bagan temple loop, then you need at least 3 full days. But, most tourists coming here stay only a couple of days. Personally, I would recommend staying at least 5 to 6 days and explore some of the less popular, but equally beautiful temples. Sunrise and Sunset is ideal for photography and the weather is also very bearable in this hot and arid terrain.


For those looking to do a whirlwind tour of Bagan, visit the following temples: Dhammayangyi Temple, the largest temple of Bagan; Ananda Temple, the most beautiful temple; Thatbinyu temple, the tallest temple; Shwe San Taw Temple, the famous sunset temple and Bupiah Temple, the river view temple. While most of the tourists throng to the Shwe San Taw Temple for sunset views, I think this temple also makes for a great sunrise view owing to its 360 degree view.


There are many other temples that allow you to climb up and see great views of the plains and the stupas. Most of the temples have blocked the stairs to the top in order to prevent further damage to the monuments. If time is on hand, a good conversation with local Burmese people can lead to a lot of interesting options for fabulous views and photographs.


To visit these temples, one needs to buy a $10 ticket that will be collected at one of the bigger temples. This ticket is valid for a period of 7 days. In terms of other less popular temples, but equally stunning architecture and views are the Thandawgyi temple, Gawdawpalin temple, Shwegugyi temple and the Htilominlo Temple.


It is possible to walk from one temple to the other, but it depends on the temperature as Bagan is known to get notoriously hot during the day in the summer months. While walking allows you to find unknown temples, a lot of tourists prefer to hire a bicycle. If you want a classical experience, take a horse cart after bargaining very hard as the horse cart drivers are known to ask for too much money. There are also air conditioned cars and buses with tour guides if you wish for more comfort.

These ancient temples are one of Asia’s venerable wonders and should not be missed on your visit to Myanmar. The awe inspiring pagodas here weave a certain magic especially during the early morning hours when they appear from the mist. A truly stunning sight.

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Shwe Na Di Guest House: Cheap Budget Accommodation in Nyaung Oo, Burma

Bagan is one of the more popular destinations of Myanmar and hence most of the hotels located close to the temple are moderate to expensive. The budget travelers stay at a town close to Bagan called Nyaung Oo. This is where the bus stand is and this is where one can find a huge variety of budget accommodation. I stayed at the Shwe Na Di Guest House for 6 days and 5 nights. Below review is based on my recent experience of staying there.

1) Like most of the budget hotels in Myanmar, too much should not be expected of this one too. The rooms are spartan, has an old fan and air conditioner and hard beds.

2) The cost in this guest house is very attractive. For $15, two can share an air conditioned room with a shared bathroom. The bathroom has squat styled toilets. The cost for a similar single room is USD 10. The cost for rooms with attached bathrooms and western toilets are USD 20 and 25.

3) Free breakfast is included into the cost of every room. Breakfast includes bread, butter, jam, fruits and tea/coffee.

4) They are one of the fewer guest houses to have free wi-fi and that too in working condition. I was happy to have been able to make daily skype calls, sketchy, but they did the job.

5) Electricity was sporadic in Nyaung Oo, which is how it is in the rest of Myanmar. The guest house didn’t have a backup power generator. So, during electricity cuts, no fan or AC would work. Nor would be wifi work.

6) The best thing about the guest house are the people running it. They are very helpful and try to make your stay as comfortable as possible. They arrange bicycles, horse carts, taxis and even book bus and flight tickets and all this at zero margins.

7) Old Bagan is a one hour walk walk or a 20 minute bicycle ride away. This is one of the tougher parts of the deal, but the good thing is that it allows you to see temples that start right out of Nyaung Oo.

8) The Nyaung Oo market is a 10 minute walk away and can provide an interesting experience.

9) A lot of good, cheap to moderately expensive restaurants are located close to the guest house. This allows you to save on your food bill, which would have been much higher if you had stayed in Bagan.

10) The bus stand is just a 7 minute walk away from the guest house.

Even though the heat and the lack of electricity didn’t go well with me, I liked this guest house and Bagan. The guest house is ideal for budget travelers and backpackers.

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