Bagan - One of the Archeological Wonders of Asia & One of Sam's Exotic Travels

At the time Europe was building cathedrals, Myanmar was building temples in Began - thousands of them. From the 11th - 13th century, Bagan was the cultural center of SE Asia. All good things must end, and Bagan’s days of glory ended when it was overrun by Chinese Mongols in 1284 and it appears the city was just deserted. The 2,200 + temples remaining today are testament to grander days and the remains are considered one of the most, if not the, important archeological sites in Asia.

Visiting Bagan reminded me of an old English fairy tale - that of Jack and the Beanstalk.  In the story, Jack sells the family's cow for a handful of magic beans.  On finding out, his mother tosses the beans out of the window.  In this variation of the story, the Giant who lived in the clouds is the one who made the trade and his wife, angry with what he had done, tossed the beans through a hole in the cloud.  Everywhere a bean landed below, a temple grew - thousands of them.  Anyway, I may have an active imagination, but the layout of the temples is as random as if locations had been decided by some such occurrence.

Click below to view:

•  Bagan Highlights - posted to Flickr! - Viewing albums on Flickr is a little tricky.  The easiest way is (1) open the set and then (2) choose Detail view  in the lower left corner.  This will open the set so you can see a larger thumbnail of each photo and its description.  If you do this, you can quickly view thumbnails and expand to see enlarged views for any and all pictures.  I would also appreciate any comments you might have and your vote for your favorite photos.

www.flickr.com

Want to see more of Bagan?  If so, just click on any of the following links below:

•  Ananda Pahto

•  Dhammayangyi Temple

•  Shwezigon Pagoda

•  That Byin Nyu Temple

•  Other Temples

•  U Ba Nein lacquer ware factory

•  People of Bagan

•  Other

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Copyright notice
Please note that all photographs and text appearing on this site are the exclusive intellectual property of Sam Stearman. No images are within the Public Domain, and no image use is permitted without the written prior authorization of the copyright owner.  If you see any pictures you would like to buy, all the thousands of pictures on this site are available in high resolution digital format, suitable for framing, use in magazines or advertising.  Email me if you would like to know more.

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This site was last updated 08/14/06