Amazing Journey to the Ancient City of Bagan

Bus ticketing office

Upon arriving in Yangon, Myanmar, we immediately bought roundtrip bus tickets to Bagan. There are several bus ticketing offices right across the Yangon Central Railway Station. We chose to travel the next day and fortunately, there were still tickets available.

We opted for the VIP or First Class bus (JJ Express). It costs 18,000 kyats ($18) one way. It's more expensive than the regular buses, which costs 15,000 kyats. But it was one of the best decisions of our trip. The bus trip will take 9 hours, including at least 2 bus stops for meals and restroom break. The reclining seat was very comfortable and snacks were served. You will also be provided a thick blanket (to be returned after the trip). Drinks were also given, including water, coffee or soda.

JJ Express First Class bus

We arrived in Bagan around 5:30am. It was a chilly morning and we had to wear our jacket. Dozens of people would greet the passengers- all asking if we want taxi or tours. We talked to one person who offered a one day tour of Bagan via a horse cart for 25,000 kyats ($25). We haggled and finally agreed to 20,000 kyats ($20).

The horse cart was a good choice for us, since we were 3 in the group and the cart, I guess, can only accommodate 3. Plus touring via horse cart gives a different effect, it's as if you're indeed travelling in time with thousands of old temples around you. It would be faster to ride a taxi, but we weren't really planning to go to all temples, so a horse cart is a good option to relax and enjoy the day.

The horse cart driver was the one who decided where to go, since we weren't sure what are the best temples. We had at least 10 temple stops, with some stops having more than 1 temple. The driver would just wait on the cart, while we tour the temple at our own pace. We also left our bags in the horse cart. We ate lunch at a Myanmar restaurant. It was worth 3,500 kyats per person. We also opted for a short boat tour of the Irrawaddy River.

Bagan is such an amazing and memorable place. Thousands of temples literally scatter all over the city. There are temples you can climb, some are big, but there were also many that are small. But the most impressive is that all of them are really old. Some have been repaired, but you can still sense the feeling that Bagan is such an ancient place, especially if you're on top a temple and see all these stupas dominating the skyline.

We stayed in Bagan for just one day. Arriving at 5:30am, we left for Yangon 8pm that same day. It was tiring, but fun. Would love to go back to visit the other temples we haven't been to.

Some tips:
1. Bring water. It's very hot and you will surely get thirsty. There are, however, some food stalls in some temples.
2. Sunblock lotion. Since it's hot, a sunblock lotion would be a really great idea. A cap or sunglasses would also be nice to bring.
3. Do not wear shoes. All temples require you to be barefooted. Might as well just wear slippers. Expect your feet to be very dirty by the end of the day.
4. Wear something comfortable. It's whole day trip under the sun, better wear something you can comfortably move around in, but not to revealing. People might stare at you if you wear really skimpy shorts.
5. Temples are for free. We never paid anyone to enter any of the temples. There will be some who will ask money for you to climb the temple, etc. We never gave in. But there are legitimate donation boxes in many of the big temples.

Check out the photos below:

The first set of temples we saw (and climbed)

On top of a temple

Inside one of the temples

Ancient temples

We took a short boat tour of the Irrawaddy River

Temples everywhere

Monk doing a selfie :)

Fullhouse on top of a temple, waiting for sunset

Bagan sunset

For more information about Myanmar, read the other blog posts on the topic.
Part 1: Trip to Myanmar 2014
Part 2: Myanmar on a Budget
Part 3: Amazing Journey to the Ancient City of Bagan