11/20: Bagan: A FEW More Pagodas!

We were ready at 8 when we saw our new driver, Paw, arrive to pick us up at the hotel for our half day tour of more pagodas. We had had an unsettling evening and morning though as we learned that our youngest child had driven over a median on the university campus in really bad snow and had totaled the car. We were blessed though that he was fine but I am sure he must have been shaken up. I had had no internet for days on my little laptop computer but Steven had a very short window of time on his iPad when he was luckily able to get through to him and our insurance company using Skype phone. It was hard being half a world away when I just wanted to reach out and hold and hug him.

We asked Paw to stop somewhere so we could buy some apples we could munch on during our outing with him so he dropped us off at New Bagan’s market.

 Food for animals from peanut trees, Paw said.

Our first pagoda of the day was Dhamma Ya Zik located about a 20 minute drive due east from our hotel in New Bagan.

Photos of Dhamma Ya Zik Pagoda:

How fortunate we were to have lovely blue skies our second day of temple hopping as the temples and photos were infinitely more alluring when set against the blue skies and not the overcast ones we'd had yesterday.

People were only praying in front of Buddha they could apply gold leaf to. There were 5 entrances to this pagoda rather than the usual 4. 

The man was counting out tiny squares of gold leaf he was selling .

Right next to it was Ochongyi Pagoda above. Photos of it below:

The entranceway ceiling.

We climbed up to the top and, like a couple of yesterday’s pagodas, we had spectacular views of many of the surrounding pagodas on the plains of Bagan.

Every step we took around the top of the pagoda gave us yet more beautiful views.

We were both so surprised seeing for the first time what appeared to be a cactus tree and not a cactus plant growing by the pagoda as we hadn't known cactus trees existed.

Paw drove us next to Minnathu Village which is located about 3 miles southeast of Bagan proper, i.e. Old Bagan. 

Photos of Minnathu Village:

We took a few minutes to walk around the village and stopped in the courtyard of the local school, above, where we could hear students through the open windows reciting something.

I am sure the bottom photo of Aung San Suu Kyi is familiar to you by now. The top one is of her father, Aung San, who founded the modern Burmese army and negotiated Myanmar's independence from Britain in 1947. 

 Minnanthu Village is known for its silver and weaving.

Steven's nemesis, peanuts. We decided not to stay long to look at the woven items after seeing the nearby peanuts.

Next up was Leymyethna Pagoda, the white one above. The sign below had a different spelling then the official map.

Photos of Leymyethna Pagoda:

Leymyethna Pagoda was very unusual because it was white unlike about 98% of the other pagodas in Bagan. Paw, our driver, told us that it is repainted every year during a festival.  It must have just occurred as the pagoda was almost blindingly white! 

A crumbling monastery beside Leymyethna Pagoda.

We still hadn't gotten tired of seeing gorgeous temple frescoes even though we had seen so many yesterday.

So many of the pagodas we’ve been seeing are very dark inside and you need a flashlight to illuminate the frescoes. Steven had a flashlight with him but he wandered through more quickly than I because I was taking photos and also wanted to make sure I wrote down which pagoda we were at so we might have some chance of remembering it later! An older local man, above, kindly showed me around and, with his flashlight, pointed out things of particular interest and suggested photos I might want to take. We had no language in common but did share a love for beautiful works of art in the pagodas at Bagan.

As we left, we saw a craftsman carving a small Buddha image in front of the temple. He had set up a table there where he displayed his own sandstone carvings and other items. We were thrilled to lighten his load a bit!

Our last glimpse of Leymyethna Pagoda.

Our next stop was at Tayok Pyi Pagoda. Photos of it above and below:

We read that restoration of it had been paid for by ‘Japan Myi Friendship.’ 

Loved the lotus flowers here that had been left as offering to the Buddha image.

I loved walking around the inside of the pagoda as I never knew what lay ahead of me with every step I took and every corner I turned.

I had to use a flash to take these photos of the ceiling at Tayok Pyi Pagoda because the interior was again very dark.

We could see the basket was the perfect spot for carrying the toddler as he couldn’t run away and because his weight balanced out the weight of the wood in the other basket! 

 We stopped at Paya Than Zu Pagoda next. Photo above and below only of it.

Next up was Thambula Temple which dated from 1255:

Nanda Pyin Nya Temple aka Nandamannya Temple was our next stop. No photos were allowed of its interior even though it seemed to contain the same type of frescoes as other temples. I could never understand why and how the government decided which pagodas we could take photos in, as it seemed totally arbitrary. 

Steven walked around the Nandamannya Grotto which was our next stop but I decided to stay above ground having had enough of small, dark spaces for a while.

Photos of Nandamannya Grotto:

He mentioned it was like an underground city with sleeping areas. 

 Photos of Nandamannya Monastery where the Grotto was:

The Grotto entrance was from the third door on the left.

Monks' quarters at the monastery.

Paw took us next to Iza Gaw Na Temple next but we could only walk around the outside as it was locked.

We walked around instead the adjacent shrines which were open. Photos of them below:

Old monasteries in Bagan were always easy to recognize as they were always square shaped.

The sign said 'Welcome to Bagan Archeological Zone,' Paw told us. 

We had seen this sign as we drove on so many of roads around Bagan.

It was after noon by then so we knew we only had time to view a few more temples before Paw dropped us off at the hotel at 1, i.e. the end of our half day tour. We toyed with the idea of keeping him for the full day, i.e. til sunset, which would only have cost an extra $10, but even we were beginning to flag a bit at the prospect of seeing MORE TEMPLES!

Next we saw Thatbinyu Temple which dominated the center of Bagan. 

Photos of Thatbinyu Temple:

Known as the ‘Temple of Omniscience’ Thatbinyu Pagoda is the tallest building in Bagan at over 200 feet. The construction of this temple introduced the idea of placing a smaller ‘hollow’ cube on top of a larger structure whereas the previous temples were just one story.

Thatbinyu's interior was not nearly as impressive or memorable as so many others. It was white and had no mosaics, frescoes, etc to make it stand out in our minds.

A short distance north of Thatbinyu was Thandawga Temple which was erected in 1284.  

Photos of Thandawga Temple:

The Buddha’s hands signify the moment of enlightenment.

Close to the banks of the Irrawaddy River was Gawdawpalin Temple. The twelfth century temple was built to resemble Thatbinyu Temple and it suffered more than any other monument in the 1975 earthquake.

Photos of Gawdawpalin Temple:

It was special being at Gawdawpalin Temple as there were no other tourists there. I loved wandering through the maze of passageways inside the temple and seeing one gold statue after another. 

There were different colored tile floors here, unlike any of the other temples we'd seen. Normally the floors were a nondescript stone or plain tile so these stood out right away.

Next was Mimalaung Kyaung Temple, above, located near the old city’s south gate and erected in 1174. The small, square temple had multiple roofs and a tall spiral pagoda that stood on a 13 foot high plinth intended to protect it from destruction by fire and floods.

Just to the east of Mimalaung Kyaung was Pahtothamya Temple which  dated from before Anawrahta’s reign. Photos of it follow:

The floor to ceiling frescoes were gorgeous; I have long ago run out of superlatives to describe so much of what we saw in Bagan.

The next AND the last temple here in Bagan for us was Nathlaung Kyaung. According to my travel notes, it is a perfect example of the religious tolerance that prevailed in Bagan during the so called Era of the Temple Builders. It is believed that it was constructed in 931 and was dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu.

Photos of Nathlaung Kyaung Temple:

Just in case you were counting, that was the sixteenth temple we’d seen today! There was a very strong smell of doves here so we didn't dawdle here as much as much as we'd have like to.

Steven had long talked to me about the wonders of Bagan but to have spent almost two full days wandering around so many of its temples and some of its monasteries was certainly a highlight of our trip for me.  Seeing over 30 temples in such a short time made it certainly hard to differentiate one from another. The beauty of Bagan is not any one individual temple but rather the enormity of seeing literally hundreds and hundreds of mostly red brick pagodas rising above the plains around Bagan.

Posted on 12/3 from Kathmandu, Nepal.