Bikes, Balloons & Thousands of Temples

Bagan, Myanmar is the site of over 3000 Buddhist temples. How did so many temples pop up in such a small town? Well, it used to a much bigger town, capital of a kingdom and home to about 200,000 people many many years ago. 

Back in 1000 AD (or so), they converted to Theravada Buddhism, but, being new to the religion, they didn't have any Buddha statues, texts, relics, or other good religious stuff. 

So, championing yet another of the world's "peaceful" religions, they got together an army, marched into the neighboring territory, and pillaged all the religious booty they could-- scripture, statues, even monks-- and brought it back to Bagan.

Buddhism has a caveat similar to "indulgences" of old Catholicism, wherein worshippers can secure "merit" towards better reincarnation by doing good deeds or building shrines or temples. One easy way to get merit that we have seen is to buy a caged bird (cages chokful of sparrows are at temple entrances) and set it free. Forrest points out that whoever put all the sparrows in the cage is either not a Buddhist, or is coming back as a frog.

This merit system likely contributed to over 3000 temples being built in Bagan between 1000-1300AD. The city that once surrounded them is long gone, leaving a vast plain of religious history. 

We have found rental bicycle a good way to tour the Myanmar countryside, and you can get a bike for a day for $1.50. Granted, the brakes probably won't work and the frame will probably be bent, but it's still a good deal. 

Visiting in and around the temples, you see many Buddha statues, many offerings and worshippers (a handful of the temples are still in use), and many spectacular views. You must take your shoes and socks off to get your feet appropriately filthy at each one. 

We were able to visit, tour & climb on about 10 temples by bicycle. But we wanted to see ALL the temples. 

At sunrise, we climbed into the basket of a red hot air balloon and sailed over the plain of thousands of temples at the mercy of the wind and the pilot's merit. The flight was graceful and spectacular-- She must have freed a few sparrows.