Ah, Bagan! We spent 2 nights on the Irrawaddy Explorer docked at Bagan. Old Bagan covers about 20 sq miles (Roger's guess) and it is a forest of pagodas dating from the 11th to 13th centuries. It is an archeologist's and artist's dream come true. Of the original 10,000 pagodas, about 2,200 still survive. This was the center of the Pagan Empire. It is absolutely magical. Most of the pagodas have lost their original plaster coating and are terracotta color. Some have refurbished and are ornately colored. All are stunning.
Coming by oxcart to the site, we climbed to the top of Phya That Gyi, the most significant temple of the area and watched the sunset from the roof.
The next day, we toured the Bagan market in the morning. Then we cruised across the river, loaded into a van and drove to a mountain top pagoda. There we watched the sun set across the river on Bagan.
If we were planning another trip to the area, we would station ourselves in Bagan, bicycle down its quiet lanes, explore its little villages and basically spend more time there. It is special.
The following day, January 4, we had a morning walking tour through Salay a small British colonial port town. The highlight of this walk was a 19th century teak monastery (now a museum) with beautiful wood carvings and Buddha statues of various sizes and poses.
In the afternoon, we cruised down the river.
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