bagan: temple overload and sweat stains
it's hot here. like, really hot. i just checked and it's 30 degrees but feels like 33, hope you like that kind of thing. we're in this ancient city called bagan in myanmar, and let me tell you, it's a temple bonanza. thousands of them. more than you can shake a stick at, seriously. the plane ride was long, then a taxi, then a tuk-tuk. now i'm just sitting here sweating and wondering if i'll ever feel dry again.
so bagan's this old capital from the 9th to 13th century. some king unified myanmar back then and built over 10,000 monuments. ten thousand! now only about 2,200 are left, but that's still a ton. they're all over these flat plains near the irrawaddy river. someone told me that climbing most pagodas is banned since 2019 after an earthquake messed things up. which sucks because the views are supposed to be killer. now you can only climb a few, and they're packed. we tried shwesandaw-nope. too many people. so we just wandered around the bases instead.
the geography here is weird. it's a dry zone shielded by mountains, so no rain. lots of sun. and heat. so much heat. if you get bored, luang prabang and siem reap are just a short drive away. okay, maybe not a drive, but they're sister cities or something. we didn't go, though. too hot to move. we hired a taxi for a few days. he took us to ananda temple-carvings were cool-and that huge buddha. then we saw some ruins with scaffolding. preservation work after the 2016 quake. they did some 3d scanning. fancy stuff.
the city's split into old bagan, nyaung-u, and new bagan. we stayed in new bagan. hotels are newer, but who cares? you'll be outside anyway. biking was too brutal. sunscreen was my best friend. the temples are all different sizes and styles, but after a while, they blur together. then you spot one with unique details and it's like, oh yeah, this place is special. sunrise is supposed to be magical when the light hits them right. we dragged ourselves out once. worth it? maybe for five minutes. then slept in the next day.
food? nothing stood out. hotel restaurant had burmese stuff, but it was just... okay. maybe we missed the good spots. someone told me the local cuisine is unique, but we didn't find it. maybe next time. if there is a next time. the heat's relentless. pressure's 1012, humidity 62. feels like walking in soup. overall, bagan's overwhelming but memorable. if you go, bring a fan and skip the climbing. the temples are enough without the sweat stains.
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