Treasures of Myanmar in a Week – Day 4
Over 10,000 pagodas were constructed in the plains of Bagan during 11-13th centuries. Of them, only the remains of around 2,000 pagodas still survive today. How can you ever decide which Bagan temples are worthy of a visit? Yesterday the staff at the reception of Motel Zein – where we are staying – gave us a map. He helped us plan our day. He marked the temples we should surely visit for sunrise, sunset, and other time of the day. We already had rented an E-bike from the hotel. So we were out today with a map, a plan, E-bike, and helmets – to nail down 8 most interesting temples of Bagan.
Highlights of the Day
- Bulethi Temple
- Shwezigon Temple
- Htilominlo Temple
- Alodawpyae Temple
- Ananda Temple
- Thatbyinnyu Temple
- Lunch at the Moon Vegetarian Restaurant
- Sulamani Temple
- Shewsandaw Temple
- Bupaya Temple
- Bus to Inle
Sunrise at Bulethi Temple
We woke up at around 4.30 AM and somehow managed to get fresh and left the hotel premises by 4.45 AM. It was dark and the air was chilling – do not forget to wear warm clothes.
Waking up for sunrise can be troublesome but trust my words – it’s worth it! Even if waking up gets easier, deciding which temple to choose for sunrise view can get harder. This is because most of the larger temples get immensely crowded. We chose to witness sunrise from the small yet beautiful Bulethi temple. We rode 3 km straight on Anawrahta road before taking a turn toward left where all the E-bikes and cycles were actually taking turn to reach Bulethi temple in few hundred meters.
Check-Out from the Hotel
Most of the hotel or hostel stays in Myanmar include breakfast and the best part if you mention you are vegan, they would provide you vegan options. We rode back to our hotel to have breakfast. We had our night bus to Inle Lake, so it was economical for us to check out before we leave for exploring temples, but we took rest for a while before that.
We checked out at around noon and left our luggage at the reception safely.
Shwezigon Temple
The Shwezigon Pagoda is one of the oldest and most impressive monuments of Bagan, which was just 2 km from our hotel.
Htilominlo Temple
Lanmadaw road runs parallel to Anawrahta road and riding 3 km on it from the Shwezigon temple brought us to a large majestic three-storey structure on the left side – Htilominlo pagoda.
Alodawpyae Temple
On the way to Ananda temple, within 600 m from Htilominlo temple, we stopped by this small yet beautiful Alodawpyae pagoda.
Ananda Temple
The temple is found near the Tharabar gate, the only gate remaining of the original 12 in the old Bagan city walls.
Further ride of 2 km brought us to one of Bagan’s best known and most beautiful temples – Ananda Pagoda. It was one of the first great temples to be built in Bagan and was well preserved until the latest earthquake that put the temple back to restoration mode.
There is a large square room inside the temple where 4 large teak-wooden 9.5 m tall gilded standing Buddha images are placed in arched recesses, each of which represent the four Buddhas that have reached nirvana, namely Kakusandha Buddha (North), Kassapa Buddha (South), Konagamana Buddha (East) and Gautama Buddha (West).
Thatbyinnyu Temple
Within 2 km of Ananda Temple on the other side of the Tharabar Gate, is the majestic Thatbyinnyu Pagoda – towering above other nearby pagodas, which is visible from much of the Bagan plains.
Late Lunch at The Moon Vegetarian Restaurant
We were so much into exploring temples back to back – we realized that it was almost past 3 o’clock, already late for lunch. We were glad that one of the original vegetarian restaurants – the Moon Vegetarian Restaurant – was just few meters away from Tharabar Gate, so we headed there to enjoy vegan food.
Sulamani Temple
After lunch, we rode straight across the Anawrahta road for around 3 km to a large, very elegant multi-storey structure called Sulamani Pagoda.
Shwesandaw Temple
The sun already started setting, we rushed to one of the taller pagodas in the area – Shwesandaw Pagoda – an imposing structure visible from far away rising from the plains of Bagan, and is very popular among tourists for sunset. Our tickets for the archaeological zone were checked here.
Bupaya Temple
We again rode back crossing the other side of Anawrahta road and headed straight to the riverside for around 3 km to Bupaya temple.
Bus to Inle Lake
It was around 7 PM. We rode back to Motel Zein, which was around 8 km from Bupaya temple. Finally we submitted our E-bike to the staff. Our bus to Inle Lake was booked online with Bagan Min Thar bus company and the departure time was scheduled at 8.30 PM. The bus ticket cost around 20 $ per person. The staff of the bus company arrived at our hotel at around 7.30 PM to pick us up, drove us to the bus station along with other guests.
Summarized Tips for Exploring Bagan Temples
Here is a list of cool tips that you may consider while exploring the temples of Bagan if you have only 1 day in hand:
- Nothing can beat the freedom of independent travel with less physical effort, speedy travel, and cheap rental price of E-bike, so make sure you hire one
- Hire E-bike from the hotel you stay or arrange it at night only so that you can ride it to the temple early morning for sunrise
- Research about the temples prior and choose which ones you would like to consider for sunrise and sunset and for other times – you can always consult with the staff of your hotel
- Buy at least one painting from the temple seller – it is worth it!
- Carry water bottles and stay hydrated while getting templified all day
- Dress appropriately while visiting the temples and flip-flops are must in case you have to climb the steep stairs of the temples
NET EXPENSE FOR 1 PERSON (IN USD)
Let us have a look at the expenses of Day 4 in Myanmar – Bagan.
- Overnight bus from Bagan to Inle: 20
- Getting around: 5
- Food: 5
Total expense (roughly): 30 USD
For an overall idea of itinerary and expense of the trip, whether for solo or couple or group of any number of people, feel free to contact me on Contact Us page. You can also have a look at Treasures of Myanmar in a Week – Itinerary and Expenses.
If you are planning for a much-organized, tastefully-curated, stress-free yet exciting vacation, consider booking your holidays at Travel Love Repeat. It is going to be a treat for sure!
Bagan is a truly unique place on this planet. Been in Bagan last February and I can’t believe it’s almost a year now since I was there. I have stayed for 3 days in Bagan and enjoyed E-bike drives among pagodas enormously. Visited both of the Moon Vegetarian restaurants in Bagan too. It seems like the Moon restaurant became an institution by itself in Bagan!
Yes, Moon restaurant was one of my highlights.
Nice one day guide! Definitely keeping it in mind if (when) I ever check out the Bagan Temples in Myanmar. $30 is pretty cheap, but for some reason I thought most places in South East Asia would be cheaper 🙂 Good call on getting up early, but if early is something like 6am in the morning, I think I can manage. Not really a morning person!
Trust me, you would not like to miss the sunrise.
Bagan temples look just so gorgeous. I could see a lot of resemblance to the Thai architecture. Could be coz they have been neighbors. Lovely shots of the Buddhas around. Cheers
True that, Ami.
Beautiful photos of the temples and it brought back so many memories – I visited there 4 years ago. I love the vantage points and camera positons you chose for your photos – it gave an interesting perspective to them like the Buddha statue in the Dhammachakka temple as well as the scale/size of the Thatbyinnyu Pagoda – nice work! Love that the ebikes are still the mode of transport – its so much fun touring around to all the temples — did you also go to many where there was no one around?
Yes, quite a few non-touristy temples we went to.
Wow, $30USD to explore all of those Bagan temples sounds amazing! I have it on my bucket list to ride in a hot air balloon over the temples in Bagan but then to actually walk around them sounds like a great day of exploration. I love learning about the different buddhist temples and why they were created.
Yes, that’s cheap, right? Yet, so pretty!
Loved following your temple trip through the pictures. Great to know you can rent an e-bike to explore. I’m with you and appreciate the independence.
Yes, without e-bike, it would be really difficult to see so many of them in a day.
Based on your sunrise pictures, I’d have to agree with you that the waking up must have been so worth it! ? I just love the white mythological lion guarding the Shwezigon Pagodo! And ALL the Buddha images at the various temples. I’d definitely love to buy one of the paintings for a temple seller ??
Yes, the painting souvenirs are worth.
All of the Bagan temples look exquisite! It is amazing that you got to see so many – and have time to explore and learn about the temples for an affordable price and all in one day!
We finished a lot in a day. I would recommend you to stay one more night.
Bagan looks like a really amazing place. I love exploring temples when we travel. It all looks very good value as well.
You are so true, Angela.
You were able to hit up a lot of temples during your short time there! My stay in Bagan was way too short – I pretty much only had time for one sunrise while I was there, which was beautiful and totally worth it, but I’d love to go back and spend more time there. I flew from Bagan to the closest airport to Inle Lake, which ended up being a nightmare in its own right since my flight got delayed almost an entire day, but I guess you just have to prepared for anything when it comes to transportation there!
Yes, I finished a lot in a day, indeed.
At first when I read that you could visit many of the surrounding temples via ebike I thought wow that must be a lot of cycling around, but I see from your sunrise photos they are actually quite close together! It is very cool that you can visit so many in one day. It was very nice of your accommodations to make suggestions for sunrise and sunset. I think the tally pagoda is my favorite, it is small but very beautiful.
So cool!
I couldn’t believe that there are so many temples there! The view from the temples are awesome. I like the idea to get up early to see the scene. It is a nice budget destination.
Yes, it is very economical.
This is Thai version of India’s Kanchipuram – just filled with hundreds of temples!!!
Its nice of going eco-friendly and hiring the ebike. Planning to take one on my next trip.
I agree with waking up early when traveling. It gives the head start and getting to the spots before crowds pour in.
Yes, you got that right. But Myanmar version, not Thai.
The morning views of Bagan Plains is so magical with all the temples spreading all around. I can’t imagine seeing it in person! Like you, I would rent a bike to tour the temples as well. Seems like it’s the best way.
True that.
Wow, that sunrise at Bulethi Temple was phenomenal and gorgeous! I love that there are so many beautiful temples so close together. Riding the E-bike to see them all sounds like a lot of fun!
True that, Kristy.
It would be such an enchanting tour to visit so many temples in one day. All these Bagan temples are really wonderful with beautiful backdrop of nature. Sunrise with these beautiful temples would be most beautiful thing to start the day. Being vegetarian, I also loved your lunch options in Moon restaurant.
Yes Yukti, Moon was a great place to eat at.