As one of the top highlights we had been looking forward to in this trip, Bagan warmly welcomed us with 40+ degree temperatures. Due to the heat, the first day we decided to have a taxi driver bring us to the main temples, and thereafter the next days we took electric bikes to visit the ones that were less famous and return to the favorites.

The beauty of Bagan has a lot to do with its 10,000+ Buddhist temples, pagodas, and monasteries built between the 9th and the 13th centuries. As they are concentrated in a relatively small area of flat land with little vegetation, one has the impression of being constantly driving by temples. Also, they come in all shapes and sizes, and often are in large collections so you have a wonderful assortment of different size temples. Their reddish-orange coloring and narrow peaks are very beautiful, and especially when climbing on some of the bigger ones, the panorama is just spectacular. Also several have nice paintings on their interior walls, telling stories of their past and depicting their god, Buddha.

Our stay in Bagan also included a day trip to Mt. Popa, a very tall limestone rock with a temple on the top. The limestone has a peculiar formation as it is a large rectangular shape jolting out of the mountain. Although we found the view from below quite nice, seeing this massive limestone and golden temple, we were not too fond after having climbed the limestone itself. There were many more monkeys than expected, and aside making the ground very dirty they love to steal anything that resembles food, even plastic bags and bottles. So yes, after having seen the temple, we were quite happy to head back to the monkey-free area of Bagan ;-).

In addition, being our first week in Myanmar, we started taking for the first time in our trip anti-malaria medication, as recommended by our doctors. Unfortunately, we began to feel its negative side effects. For a few days we were both in bed with very sick stomachs and slightly depressed, two fantastic side effects that apparently are common in more than 1 out of 10 people! Therefore we found ourselves in a situation where, or we stopped taking our medication with hopes of getting better, or we started considering to leave the country earlier than planned. Luckily, we took the first option and… it worked! We definitely started feeling better and we got back on our feet.

The next day we waived goodbye to the lovely people working at the guesthouse we were staying in, and jumped in an 11-hour bus ride towards our next destination: Lake Inle.