The 3000 temples of Bagan, Burma.

Bagan is a town in central Burma, and it is the home of over 3000 ancient Buddhist temples. It´s a surreal collection of kitsch modernised pagodas and old hidden secrets. Bagan is on almost everyone´s list when visiting Burma, and unfortunately these fields are pretty filled up with retired tourists on group trips. Luckily, as independent travellers you can chose to go wherever you want to - and for us it meant to hire bikes and to keep a safe distance from big groups of people.

I really wanted to catch the different lights of Bagan, from dusk till dawn, “on film”. This meant forcing myself out on the bike at 4.30 a.m, to find a good spot to see the first glimpse of sunlight touching the temples. Mid-day was well spent on a sunbed poolside, before continuing the search of good viewpoints for sunset.

It´s a real treasure hunt to cycle along the dusty roads to hidden temples, finding the right spots where the natural lightning is perfect, and to search for “keyholders”. The keyholders will lock up the temples and often light the inner labyrinths with candles so that you can climb and explore the insides of these sacred sites. Most of the temples remain unlocked, so you´re free to explore all on your own.

Stay away from the tourist traps, and Bagan will be such a magical treat!

 

 

The young keyholder of this temple. 

Twilight and sunrise 

 

"It is not down in any map; true places never are", Herman Melville.

KLEM

AK

Streets of Yangon, Burma.

Although Yangon is no longer the capital of Burma, it is still the biggest and liveliest city in the country. One of the things I appreciate most while traveling is to simply wander around the streets of new places - with local teahouses, food stalls and restaurants as mandatory stops.

Rumours have it that Burma is unlike any place you know about, and I had absolutely no idea what to expect arriving in this mystical country. After a couple of days strolling the streets of Yangon, I´d say that the city is a fascinating mixture between different places. It´s lively neighbourhoods, colonial buildings and decaying facades remind me of the streets of Cuba´s Havana. The small food stalls and the cuisine bring me back to Vietnam, while the people are as friendly and curious as the Lao´.

A mix you can´t dislike.

The Burmese, men as well as women, are often seen in their traditional colourful skirt, the longyi. Women have their faces smothered in thanakha (traditional make-up), and it seems like everyone has got their teeth busy chewing kun-ya ("betel nut"), as blood-red juice is dripping from all mouths. It sure is a unique sight!

Yangon is bursting with food vendors, monks, children and businessmen from the early hours of sunrise till late. When the sun goes down - grill markets, pagodas and neon lights from flashing shopping malls light up the streets, and it´s a great opportunity to enjoy some Burmese snack and drink beer with the locals!

Here is a first taste of amazing Burma, presented through the streets of Yangon:

 

Get your palms red by this little old man. 

 

Painting chess boards

The areca nut

Kun-ya in the making: areca nut wrapped in betel leaf. Everyone chews! 

 

Street food

Sugarcane juice in the making

 

By Night

And as the authors of my LP guide book put it:

"This is Burma. It is quite unlike any place you know about" wrote Rudyard Kipling in 1898.

 How right he was: more than a century later, Burma remains a world apart. 

KLEM

AK