Bagan is the biggest tourist attraction in Myanmar and you can clearly see why as soon as you arrive. It’s the biggest archeological site in the world with over 3800 pagodas but the best thing about it is that people actually live in the middle of all of it and life just goes on as normal among these ancient monuments. You will need to set a few days aside to see it all properly, we allowed ourselves 5 days as we also wanted to incorporate a couple of lazy pool days to shake off the journey and the madness of Yangon. If you have less time, I think 2-3 days should also work.
We arrived in Bagan on the coach from Yangon but there is also an airport nearby which is served by the domestic airlines. Flying is not my favourite thing to do and since we had 30 days in Myanmar it was easier to use the coach. It is a long journey and if you want to travel in comfort you will want to choose JJ Express. Their VIP coaches are of a really good standard, with AC, your own screen, snacks and water on board and regular toilet stops. They even give you a blanket and there is an English speaking attendant on board. Most importantly though, the seats are huge and fold out nicely so that tall people like us don’t have to suffer. Myanmar roads are not the best though so while you are comfy in your seat it doesn’t mean you will get a lot of sleep because of the bumps but I could see lots of people dropped off easily. One thing to consider is the timetable of the bus though, it arrives in Bagan at 5 am so you need to make sure the hotel where you’re staying will accommodate an early check in. Buses from other towns may have a different timetable of course but a lot of them do use the nighttime, I’m guessing it’s because of the traffic.
Before you can get to your hotel you have to endure the taxi haggling process at the bus station. The bottom line is that you will of course get fleeced on the taxi fare because the taxi drivers at the station price fixed the fares to a degree and it will be up to you how persistent you want to be (and how early in the morning it is!). We got quoted a price of 15,000 MMK which is about £7.50 for the 20 minute ride to New Bagan. We then waited around to see if they drop the prices a little but instead ended up sharing a cab with another couple which came out a little cheaper. Just to put things into perspective, an hour long taxi ride to the bus station is Yangon was £5 so you can see how tourists coming to Bagan are being exploited a little here. Still, it is only £5 so not worth losing sleep over, I’m just flagging what you can expect. Once in the taxi, your Bagan experience is then completed by a random stop in the middle of the road by a guard demanding you pay the tourist visiting fee (roughly £12.50 pp). This is genuine and you get a printed pass showing it is valid for 5 days.
All of the logistical challenges aside, what awaits you is a truly incredible and one of a kind experience. The site covers about 12 acres and the best way to actually get a feel for the place is to visit the Bagan Viewing Tower. All the tourist maps and GPS will easily show the directions. The entry costs $5 and is valid for the whole day so you can return later to see the sunset if you like. The view from the Tower really shows you the scale of the area and it’s a really nice experience to just look at the landscape and take it all in.
You are now ready to start exploring the temples. The best way of doing this is by renting an ebike. All the hotels can facilitate one and there are a number of shops in town where you can go too. We got a bigger ebike for the two of us from our hotel for the price of £5 per day which is a steal. Ebikes are big business here as the tourists cannot drive motorized vehicles. Also, most of the smaller temples are located on small dusty roads so completely not suitable for a car.
You need to bear in mind that the temples are a religious place and you will need to cover up appropriately so no strappy tops or short skirts or shorts. Some temples have sarongs you can hire but most didn’t so best to come equipped as otherwise you won’t be able to enter. Also, there is no footwear allowed in the temples so you may imagine what your feet look like after a day of sightseeing in Bagan, especially given that it’s practically a desert! Finally, a good tip here would be to get one of those face masks that you see a lot of in Asia. The area is so dusty that you will have sand in your mouth after 5 minutes on the bike.
There are a number of must see temples which are accessible to cars as well and you are likely to encounter a lot of people there. We started by visiting the big ones and then went a bit off road and saw a lot of little hidden gems. It’s lots of fun exploring on your own and definitely the best way to see Bagan. What you will also encounter in Bagan are super friendly locals who will be keen to show you their village or what they do. Ok, they will most likely take you to a shop so that you can leave some of your cash there, however, unlike in other areas this is an actual place where people live and work so feels very authentic and the two times we ended up visiting such a village we loved every minute of it. It’s so interesting to be able to get a sneak peak of how people live and yes, some of the conditions are very basic and miles away from the world I live in.
Apart from seeing all the temples the thing to do in Bagan is seeing all the temples at sunrise and sunset! We chose the Viewing Tower for sunset since we bought a ticket that day. It was a really lovely place to watch it from but you will have to compete with a lot of tourists for the best spot so you need to get there early, I think we arrived just before 5 PM and the sunset was at 5.50 PM. There are a lot of other good spots to watch the sunset though and we actually loved watching it by the river from the Riverfront restaurant in New Bagan. It’s a wonderful setting with the nearby Lawkananda Pagoda and the river being so still, perfect for photos.
Catching sunrise was a little bit more complicated as there is very little street lighting and if you don’t know where you’re going it can be tricky. We hired a tuk tuk driver to take us to a good spot. I used Bagan Tuk Tuk Group and booked it through their Facebook messenger. It was £7.5o for the 2 hours which I think is good value. He picked us up at 5.45 and we were back for breakfast before 8 am. We were the first people in the spot but soon it was full of people with giant cameras. It was definitely the best sunrise I have ever experienced, it’s all so magical to see it come up and light up all the misty tops of the pagodas. What is also really nice about sunrise are the hot air balloons that go up at this time (we would have loved to do it but given our budget has to last us for the next 3.5 months we decided not to part with the $300 each and watched them from the ground instead).
There are 3 areas to stay if you wish to visit Bagan: Old Bagan, New Bagan and Nyaung-U. All 3 are close to all the temples and in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t matter where you stay as you will need an ebike regardless to get to the temples. We stayed in New Bagan and chose the Shwe Yee Pwint hotel. It’s located off the main road so you get a bit of peace and quiet plus it has a swimming pool to cool off in after a day of sightseeing in the dust. All for about £30 a night so a real bargain. They allowed us to check in early at 7 am too!
Finally, the food. Most restaurants offer the usual mix of Chinese and Thai dishes plus a few Myanmar dishes thrown in like the local, slightly sweet curry or pickled tea leaf salad. We mainly visited the restaurants near to our hotel and I have to say that the best food we had was in the vegetarian place called Moon 2 (yes, there is a Moon 1 outside Ananda Pagoda). It’s a short walk away from the main street and you may need a torch to get there but it really is worth it. We had the best aubergine curry and also a vege Masaman curry there too. Highly recommended!
To sum up, Bagan is Myanmar’s top attraction and you can see why. It’s exotic, it’s full of local culture & tradition, it’s an adventurer’s paradise. It will not stay like this for long either so get your explorer’s hat on and venture out there!