So it occurs to me that here I’ve been prattling on about Bagan, and outside of the fact that you’ve figured out from these posts that Bagan is in Myanmar (Burma), many of you probably never heard of the place.

Let me just say that as a potential World Heritage Site (which it might have been, had there not been certain, er, mismanagement along the way that resulted in a few horrendous structures that were allowed to be built and renovations that were more or less botched. More about that later.) this is right up there with Angkor Wat and Machu Picchu.  Second to none. Mindblowing.

Bagan is a plain of about sixteen square miles located along the Irrawaddy River somewhat south of Mandalay. On this plain, over four thousand religious structures (stupas and temples) have been identified, all built between the 11th and 13th centuries AD, when Bagan was the center of a great empire. These structures, mostly still evident, are now in various states of preservation, reconstruction, and ruin. Of the palaces, mansions, farmhouses, cities, villages, markets, shops, and factories that must once have existed side by side with these religious structures, nothing remains. They would have been built of wood. Which burns.

Close to sunset of our first day in Bagan, we climbed to the second level of the Tayoke Pye Pagoda (one of the few that are considered safe to climb) to watch the sunset. Considering that it was monsoon season, the sunset wasn’t bad, with late afternoon golden light settling over the plain. We had the temple to ourselves.

The ruins of Tayoke Pye Pagoda show something of the character of the historic structures.

Notice the plants growing out of the stonework and masonry. This kind of structure and decay is typical of most of the temples in the region (which have much of value that could and should be preserved).

And as these views from the temple’s second level show, this one is surrounded by hundred (thousands, actually) of others, many of them just as amazing. Sixteen square miles of them, set into the most idyllic countryside imaginable.

Oh, and yes, there was a sunset (of sorts), a romantic rising of the mists over the plain.