Myanmar (Burma) - Days 3 & 4 - exploring Bagan

After arriving by ferry yesterday, and the morning thunderstorms, Dave and I set out by bicycle into the 95 degree heat (we switched to electric bikes after sweating through the first day) to explore some temples in Bagan.

Located in Myanmar's dry central plain, Bagan is an almost endless sea of Buddhist temples.  Chronicles put early settlements in Bagan in the 2nd century C.E. with most of the temple construction occuring between the 9th and 13th centuries when Bagan was the capital of unified Burma.  After the fall to the Mongols in the 13th century, only a small village remained amongst the ruins.  Some of the temples have been worn away to ruins by wind erosion and earthquakes, some have been maintained over the years, and some have been restored (with much criticism of the materials and methods).

The Bupaya (rebuilt after earthquake damage in 1975) was once located near the center of what used to be the rectangle of Old Bagan, but now sits on the river's edge as erosion over the years has reshaped the river's path.