lonely-planet-myanmar-burma-11-edition

HistoryMoving armies led by various people – thePyu, the Mon, the Burmese – have swishswashedacross this central plain, the ‘heartof Myanmar’, over the centuries. The areaaround Pyay served as the Pyu capital fromthe 5th to 9th centuries AD; some considerthe Pyu to be founders of Myanmar’s ‘firstempire’, though little is known of this vanishedgroup.Bagan’s burst of energy ran two-and-ahalfcenturies, beginning in 1047 and endingas the pounding footfall of Kublai Khan’sraiders approached in 1287. See p 149 formore on Bagan’s history. The latest empireto lodge in the area is the military junta,which founded the new capital of Nay PyiTaw in 2005.8 Getting There & AwayNyaung U is the principal gateway for Bagan,with a train station, a jetty and an airport. Mostvisitors by boat come downriver from Mandalayor Pakokku. Most long-haul bus routes (egYangon–Mandalay) miss Bagan, instead stoppingat Meiktila. But there are a few direct buslinks between Bagan and Yangon, Mandalay andInle Lake. Trains to the Bagan area are slow andimpractical. The more interesting road routefrom Yangon to Bagan is via Pyay and Magwe.BAGAN%061One of Myanmar’s top attractions, the areaknown as Bagan (pug®) or, bureaucratically, asthe ‘Bagan Archaeological Zone’, occupies animpressive 26-sq-mile area 118 miles southof Mandalay and 429 miles north of Yangon.The Ayeyarwady River drifts past its northernand western sides.The area’s most active town and chieftransport hub is Nyaung U, in the northeastcorner. About 2.5 miles west, Old Bagan isthe former site of the village that moved to 2miles south to New Bagan in 1990. Betweenthe two is Myinkaba, a village boasting along-running lacquerware tradition.Connecting the towns are paved roadsmaking a 12-mile oval. In between andaround these towns, of course, is the bulk ofthe Bagan action: the plain, featuring most ofthe temples, all connected with a vast networkof bumpy dirt roads and trails. At times, you’llbe about a mile from the nearest paved road.This section includes sleeping, eating andtransport options; see p 149 for the historyand descriptions of the temples themselves.GOVERNMENT FEESAll foreign visitors to the Bagan ArchaeologicalZone are required to pay a $10entrance fee, which goes to the government.If you arrive by boat or air, thefee will be collected at the river jetty orairport. You’ll be given a credit-card-sizedplastic ticket embossed with a number,for which you’ll be asked when you checkin at nearly all accommodation. The feecovers a one-week visit, but it’s unlikelyyou’ll be asked to pay again if you staylonger. Entrance fees to the ArchaeologicalMuseum and Palace Site also go intogovernment coffers; see p 21 .2 ActivitiesBoat TripsSunset chasing in Bagan isn’t restricted tothe tops of temples. An interesting alternativeis a dusk boat trip ($10-15) on the Ayeyarwady.The hour-long tours offered bythe boat folk at the Old Bagan jetty tend tocater to package tourists, but drop by to arrangeyour own ride.You can also arrange an interesting boatand taxi side-trip to the mountaintop TanKyi Paya (see p 155 ), one of four stupas thatmarked the original edges of the city. Anotherpossible boat trip is to three templesnorth of Nyaung U (p 165 ).BallooningThe best way to truly appreciate Bagan’s sizeand sprawl is from the basket of a hot-air balloonbelonging to Balloons over Bagan (Mapp 121 ; %60058; www.balloonsoverbagan.com; officein Bagan Thiripyitsaya Sanctuary Resort; per personstand-by rate $290). These magical 45-minuterides over one of the world’s most highly acclaimedballooning spots only run from Octoberto March. Sometimes sunrise flights arebooked up to a month or more in advance,but if there’s space, any hotel or guesthouseshould be able to arrange a ticket.The slickly run Burmese company, ownedby an Australian-Burmese couple and employingBritish pilots and some 80 locals,has five balloons that usually fit eight to 10passengers and a pilot. The experience beginswith a pick up from your hotel in oneof their fleet of lovingly restored, pre-WWIIChevrolet CMP buses partly made of teak.You can have coffee and snacks while watchingthe UK-made balloons fill with hot air,113BAGAN & ACTIVITIESCENTRAL MYANMAR ACTIVITIES