The Glory and Fall of the Bagan Dynasty - and how to experience it

Before we make our journey to Bagan, we need to understand its history so that we can better appreciate the “ruins” we are looking at. I promise it’s very interesting and I’ve tried to condense it as much as possible.

There were 2 dominant empires flourishing in SouthEast Asia from the 9th to 13th centuries; the Khmer empire (occupying Cambodia, Thailand, Laos) and the Pagan Dynasty in Myanmar. The core and capital of the kingdom was located in the area that is now called “Old Bagan” on the banks of the Ayeyarwady River.  Construction of the city started over a millennia ago but it wasn’t until King Anawrahta in the the 11th century that the city started expanding and flourishing.  During this time, there was a religious transition from Hindu to Theravada Buddhism, in part, thanks to the Buddhist Monk (sent by the Mon King of Thaton) to advise and convert King Anawrahta.  Over 10,000 monuments were built to honor Buddha; their architecture getting more intricate and compelling over the years. To say that King Anawrahta was an extreme devotee is an understatement.  Legend has it that King Anawrahta ordered the Mon King to hand over the sacred Buddhist texts and relics in his possession. When he refused, Anawrahta marched his army against the Mon Kingdom killing thousands and stole 32 sets of the Tripitaka (the classic Buddhist scriptures), the city’s monks and scholars, and, for good measure, The Mon King Manuha himself.

As powerful as the Pagan empire was, its glory was brief and it came to an end in the 13th century. Historians disagree on exactly what happened to cause Bagan’s decline but the Myanmar people believe it was due to a constant onslaught of Kublai Khan’s Mongols that destroyed, ransacked, and looted the city.

Unlike other ruins and archeological sites in Southeast Asia, what remained of the City of Pagan was protected by the Bamar people and became a vital site for Buddhists followers (especially during pilgrimage). During and after the British occupation in the 19th century, farmers had moved back to “Old Bagan” building their villages and farming around the temples. In 1990, the military regime forcibly relocated residents 2.5 miles South of the main archaeological zone to what is known as “New Bagan."

Today, with ~2,000 pagodas and monuments remaining, the Bagan Archeological site has become an important source of tourism for Myanmar. With much interest, the government is pushing for recognition as a “UNESCO World Heritage Site” and is actively restoring the temples damaged by the 2016 Earthquake. 

So now that you’re up on the history – how do you get there?

After spending a couple of days in Mandalay we took a short flight with KBZ airline to the closest airport: NYU. You can also fly from pretty much anywhere in Myanmar including Yangon and Inle Lake. An important note is that once you land you have to pay the Archeological site entrance fee valid for 3 days of $25,000 Kyat p/p. There are ATMs at the airport if forget to bring cash.  Make sure to keep this ticket handy as you need to present it at the entrance when you visit the “top temples”.

For $10 we had our hotel, Aye Yar River View Resort, arrange transportation from NYU to Old Bagan. In order to be closer to the temple district we opted to stay in Old Bagan.  New Bagan is home to most of the hotels, guest houses, and restaurants, but you won’t find a “temple view room” there.  The hotel is beautiful with Bagan inspired architecture offering river view rooms, extensive spa service, and a full menu restaurant, however, it is currently under renovation and this was annoying in parts.

The archeological site is extensive and requires multiple days to explore.  A great way to cover ground is by e-bike or electric scooter(a less loud motoconcho if you will).  The hotel arranged a full day (including helmets) for $12,000 kyat (although if you go to town you can find it for way cheaper - around $4,000).  It gives you the chance to see the sites at your own pace and venture to the more remote areas.  We stopped at the top 5 temples and a quite a few less frequented ones.  We saw people crammed on buses (as you’d expect for places that cater to Asian tourists) but also found more intimate options like biking, horse-drawn cart, and horse back riding. We covered the temples we wanted to see, and more, in a day and a half but you could easily spend 3 days exploring.

So which ones should you not miss? The most popular temples are:

- Thatbyinnyu Temple
- Ananda Temple
- Shwesandaw Pagoda
- Gawdawpalin
- Shwezigon Pagoda
- Dhammayan Gyi Temple
- Sulamani Temple

They are all different and special in their own way, demonstrating varieties of 12th century architecture, tall golden Buddhas, and murals and paintings. The temples don’t have much information in English so if you want to understand more about each one of them then we recommend hiring a guide easily done online or with your hotel. 

Besides visiting temples, there are just a few other things you could do in Bagan... Follow the Tern so you dont miss out on future posts. 

Around Mandalay City

Mandalay Hill

A popular activity when in Mandalay is heading up Mandalay Hill for the sweeping views of the city.  At 790ft, the “hill” offers a panoramic view of Mandalay from the Sutaungpyei (wish-fulfilling) Pagoda. Built in 1052, this pagoda has been a significant pilgrimage site for Buddhists. There are several legends about this place – the coolest is the story of “the Prophesying Buddha” who visited the hill and predicted a great city would be built at the foot of the it where his teachings would flourish. Near the summit there is a gigantic golden Buddha standing with his right hand pointing towards the city.

How to get here? You can take a cab followed by an escalator or climb 1,700 covered steps passing through multiple buildings, shrines, buddhas, and shops – barefoot. We neglected to ask our “tuk-tuk” driver to take us to the escalator so you can guess which way we went. We had just pulled our shoes off when our “companions” joined us.  This site is a common place for locals to pick up tourists to practice speaking English, and being that it’s slow season, we were an easy target.  Po, a novice Buddhist, and his friend kept us pretty entertained as we climbed, almost enough to forget about our sore legs and filthy feet.

Mingun Village

Mingun village (or Min Kun), located in the Sagaing region north of Mandalay City, is home to several sites including: Hsinbyume Pagoda (the white temple), Mingun Pagoda, and Mingun Bell (the second largest bell in the world). To get here you can hire a driver (about 1.5 hours to cover the circuitous route from the city center) or cross the river by ferry (about 1 hour).

The awe-inspiring Mingun Pagoda is a massive unfinished solid brick monument that was intended to be 500ft high housing important Buddhists relics. Using mostly slaves and war prisoners, King Bodawpaya of the Konbaung dynasty started construction in 1790 and supervised the construction himself.  When finished, the stupa would have been the tallest in the world. During construction, however, a prophecy was born that predicted the termination of the Kingdom if the stupa was ever finished. The pagoda was stopped at 162 ft height with a girth of 450sq ft. Today, a small shrine with a Buddha still serves as a place for worship and meditation for the Myanmar people, especially during pilgrimage.

We visited at the end of the day (just before sunset), and were fortunate to be the only ones there.  It sits ominously staring at you, daring you to not be impressed by its ancient, broken, and unique beauty. You can see the damage (giant cracks) from the earthquake in 1838 that shook the heart of the country and kingdom. It stands there defiant of nature and men, reminding the Myanmar People of their past and heritage. This was personally my favorite pagoda in the whole country – a mixture of power, culture, religion, and superstition. I wished we could have climbed to the top for the undoubtedly amazing view but the staircase has been closed since the 2011 earthquake for safety reasons.

The Mingun bell is housed in its own building a short walk from the Pagoda. It is made of bronze and stands about 12ft tall and 16ft wide weighing around 90 tons.  It’s the second largest bell in the world but I personally found it underwhelming – I was expecting more of a presentation.  Nevertheless, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to ring a 12ft bell.

Nearby you also find Hsinbyume Pagoda which was built by King Bagyidaw, successor to the late King Bodawpaya. Constructed in 1816 to honor his late wife, it was badly damaged by the major earthquake of 1838. We didn’t have the time to go inside but it is supposed to be worth-visiting.

Overall, I think 2 days in Mandalay City is enough to cover the sight-seeing and activity highlights.

Are you planning on going anytime soon? What are your thoughts?

Keep an eye out for our upcoming post on where to stay and eat!

The Uncommon Irrawaddy Dolphin

Our second day in Mandalay was off the beaten track. I had done a lot of research about wildlife watching and conservation is Myanmar and most of the expeditions I found were very new to tourists and involved multi-day trips to Northern forests and “hard to pronounce” mountains in search of the endangered tiger… While I was eager to journey where no one would understand a word of English, I learned from local rangers that the wildlife has become difficult to find due to aggressive poaching. That’s when I discovered we could see the endangered Irrawaddy freshwater dolphin. I first learned about them when I lived in Laos (there is a small population that lives in the great Mekong river) but never had the chance of seeing the elusive cetacean…. Until now!

The Irrawaddy dolphin can live in both salt and fresh water but there are just 3 exclusively fresh water populations: about 100 individuals in the Mekong river, about 50 in Mahakam River in Indonesia, and about 70 live in the Ayeyarwady or Irrawaddy River in Myanmar. This mammal is related to the killer whale, its color is gray, can weigh up to 400 pound, and measures 2.7 meters.

The Irrawaddy Dolphin Project offers multiple types of tours including day and multi-day options on their slow boat. We booked the “introduction” day trip and were picked up at our hotel early in the morning by our guide Chit and taken to the jetty to board the slow boat. We had a “room” with a day bed downstairs where we could relax, read and nap, and the upstairs had a table, seating, tea, and snacks. We were the only tourists that day so I had the opportunity to grill our guide about dolphins as well as practice my Burmese while we slowly sailed up the river. We learned about the declining population, major threats to their survival (including electric fishing, giant nets, noise pollution, disease, lack of food, and boat traffic) and unique behavior.

The population in Myanmar is famous for having developed a symbiotic relationship with the fisherman of certain villages along the Irrawaddy River – they participate in cooperative fishing. Through coordinated signaling, dolphins aide fisherman to locate and catch fish. As seen in the video below, a fishing boat stops next to a sand bank where dolphins corral the fish and then give the “queue.” With a flip of a tale, the fisherman knows where and when to throw his net. The fact that dolphin and fisherman have developed a language of calls and signals is amazing. This rare behavior has been practiced for over 100 years and this dolphin species is just one of three in the world that does it (one in South America and another in Western Africa). The other groups of Irrawaddy dolphins inhabiting the Mekong in Laos and the Mahakam river in Indonesia do not show this behavior as far as I know.

The original article can be found here.

We had the chance to meet and travel with the “dolphin whisperer” who has been featured in many documentaries about his relationship with the local dolphins. Ironically, the dolphins were uncooperative that day – they didn’t respond to our repeated attempts to fish with them. Nevertheless, it was an incredible encounter to travel up the river with them and it made me feel like I was also part of a special tradition.

People are starting to realize how important the dolphins are for the health of the river and its ecosystem. I’m afraid this practice will slowly decline as small-scale net fishing becomes more difficult. We highly recommend this eye-opening experience that benefits the locals as well as the dolphins, and I hope that it raises awareness on all sides.

Have you seen fresh water dolphins before? Where? Have you taken this tour? What did you think? Please feel free to comment below.

More Info
The Irrawaddy Dolphin Project
World Wild Life - Irrawaddy Dolphin

Myanmar - Inwa City

During our first day we decided to visit the Ancient Inwa City.  I was craving to see some old architecture from the Burmese empire and eager to get out of the very populated Mandalay City. We hired a private driver for $40 for the entire day (arranged last minute from the hotel we were staying at called the Hotel by the Red Canal which I highly recommend).

Our driver, Thura, didn’t speak much English but had a good sense of the “must see” places as he took us to the Golden Leaf work shop, a wood carving shop, and a silk shop without our request as we headed outside of the city. We stopped for a few minutes to see how the gold is “smashed” with bamboo sticks and leaves to make the thin leaves people will buy as offerings for the Buddha during holidays. You can also buy gold covered souvenirs and decorations here.

Our favorite was the wood carving shop, filled with different sizes and shapes of Buddha, window and door frames with intricate patterns and designs telling a story or describing a scene. We didn’t take pictures here but made a mental note of where to go when we were ready to purchase a standing buddha for the house we are remodeling.

The ancient imperial capital of Inwa is a good hour car ride south from downtown Mandalay, making it a popular day trip for tourists. It’s a series of archeological sites in between rice fields and villages where you can get glimpses of the former grandeur of the Burmese kingdom (or Kingdom of Ava, the name by which Burma was known to the Europeans) where it sat for 360 years, from the 14th to 19th centuries until it was finally abandoned after being destroyed by a series of major earthquakes in March 1839 and before the British occupation.

We didn’t tell our driver which pagodas we wanted to see (more out of ignorance than anything else), he just took us to the ones he understood to be the highlights. We bought the “entrance ticket” for 10Kp/p at the first one which is good for the entire city and lasts 5 days. We visited around 8 pagodas with the time we had, none of them walking distance under the 30-degree Celsius heat (we were so happy we had a car!) and they weren’t crowded since it was already the afternoon. You can also hire a horse cart to visit the main pagodas for around 10K. I personally didn’t want to be exploiting a half-starved horse in the middle of a super-hot day. There are stands outside the pagodas where you can buy jewelry, paintings, souvenirs, and food. Some vendors are more aggressive than others but we just ignored them.

Important to note that you have to be conservatively dressed to be able to enter, can’t show knees or shoulders – pants or long skirt with a t-shirt (not tank top) should be fine. Also, it is very important to know that you have to take your shoes and socks off to enter the pagodas and they aren’t well maintained or cleaned, usually with a few inches of dust and dirt on the floors. We were ill prepared and had tennis shoes on so it was a little annoying to have to take them off and on at every site. We recommend wearing flip flops and carrying wipes with you to clean your feet after each site.
We visited the 4 most popular sites and a few other less frequented:

The Solitary leaning 90 feet Nanmyin tower (nothing special about it, you can’t go up since it’s about to collapse), and sadly is the only building that remains from King Bagyidaw’s palace complex.

- Bagaya Monastery made out of teak wood, impressive wood posts and door frames

- Buddhist temple Me Nu Oak Kyaung, the brick monastery was the largest site we visited

- Yadana Hsimi pagoda with the big tree and the Buddha under its canopy

- Our driver also took us to the less visited, Italian designed fort next to the river and to a group of smaller pagodas located behind Bagaya Temple: Winkabar, Myinmotaung, Lawkaduthamaraung and Kyaunglain pagodas. They have staircases that you can climb to the top for a delightful view.

- My favorite site gave me a sense of both sadness and wonder.  Le Htat Gyi Paya Pagoda is too far to be visited by horse-drawn cart, but I think it’s worth the visit. You can still see detailed architecture framing the entrances, large pieces of the temple that fell during the earthquake longing to be reunited, and you hear long forgotten stories in the wind as it passes through the ancient structure.

We ended our day in the Amarapura region, with a sunset at the U-Bein bridge, the longest pedestrian teak bridge in the world. More of a tourist trap than anything else, I was underwhelmed by the hundreds of people pushing their way through the bridge for a perfect selfie and the merchants trying to sell you something. I was happy to return to our hotel where we rewarded ourselves with an amazing dinner at the Spice Garden restaurant, ranked as one of the top restaurants in the city.