4 Days in Mandalay & Bagan: Exploring the Ancient Capitals

Where to Stay in Mandalay?

Day 2: Exploring Sagaing on a Motorbike

I woke up at 4:30 AM and met the guy from the airport shuttle, whom I hired to drive me around for a day, at 5, right on time. We began the journey right away and after a 30-minute drive, we arrived at U Bein Bridge, the longest teak bridge in the world.

While its record-breaking status was impressive, what intrigued me more was the opportunity to observe how people relied on this bridge for their daily lives.

People going about their lives, monks walking, locals exercising, fishermen fishing. Although I missed the sunrise due to the clouds, interacting with and observing the locals was just as rewarding.

After spending about an hour at U Bein Bridge, we head over to our next stop, Mahamuni Buddha Temple. There's a museum that explains the birth of Buddha and his influence on many countries in Asia. It's very informative.

After the temple, we continued our journey across the Irrawaddy River to Sagaing Hill. While it wasn't as impressive as I had expected, I did spend a peaceful hour there, enjoying my packed breakfast. There were no tourists around, not even local tourists, which was awesome!

After spending some time at Sagaing Hill, my moto-taxi driver insisted on changing my plan to show me other temples that he said I might like, which I thought was a little too generous. However, as an innocent traveler in 2013, I went along not thinking much of it. In retrospect, I think he did that as a way to try to gouge more money from me at the end.

We stopped for some street food as it was approaching midday, and I was getting pretty hungry, especially since I had started my day early and my packed breakfast was rather small.

Since we had plenty of time left before my flight to Mandalay, my driver suggested taking me to Inwa, an ancient imperial capital of Burmese kingdoms from the 14th to 19th centuries.

At first, I thought he knew the way, but we stopped at every turn to ask for directions. In the end, we followed some monks who were headed the same way. It took us almost an hour to reach the Bagaya Monastery in Inwa, but it was well worth the trip. Bagaya is another beautiful teak wood monastery, with intricate carvings and a striking tiered roof that completely blew me away.

As I walked inside, I heard chanting echoing through the corridor. I continued further and stumbled upon a classroom full of young Buddhist monks. In rural areas of countries like Myanmar and Thailand, much of the education relies on temples and monks providing free lessons, which was the case here. What an incredible surprise that was!

After two hours there, I left and headed to the airport. My guide asked if I wanted to grab lunch and mentioned he knew a cheap place near the airport, so I decided to go along with it. This is where things got interesting.

Apparently, the restaurant was his parents' place, and it wasn’t that cheap. I ended up paying US$3 for a plate of rice with a few types of meat and chicken, which is pretty expensive for Myanmar. Trust me, I live in Thailand and a local dish should not cost more than 1.5 USD in 2013.

When it came time to settle the payment, he told me the agreed price no longer applied because we had gone off course. Most of the temples we visited were his idea, and he should have told me about the price increase beforehand. In the end, I had to pay him US$37, and I left feeling a bit bitter.

So for those of you who are planning to hire a local motor-taxi to take you around Mandalay, I recommend you stick to your original plan and not go along with whatever they suggest, no matter how hard they insist.

I flew out of Mandalay with AirMandalay, and within 30 minutes, I was greeted by this beautiful view of Bagan. "Finally, the highlight of this trip has come", I thought to myself.

Immediately upon arrival, I had to pay the entrance fee for Bagan of 25 USD as I exited the terminal. My ride, organized through the hotel, was waiting for me and the driver took me straight to New Park Hotel in no time.

The reception asked for my ticket for registration, and of course, this was the first time in my life I instantly lost it. It was only a 10-minute drive from the airport, and I somehow lost the damn ticket 😅. Because of my stupidity, I had to pay an extra US$25 for a new one. I ended the day US$25 + US$25 poorer, but I still had high hopes for the next day.

Day 3: Exploring Bagan on a Bike

I woke up super early, rented a bike, and rode around Nyuang U. My first stop was the Shwe Zi Gon Pagoda. Nothing special here, in my opinion. Just a golden pagoda, like you see all over Myanmar.

These temples aren't on the map I bought, but they are just as stunning. Some are hidden deep in the jungle, and you wouldn't have noticed them if you hadn't ridden a bike. I can't stress enough how important it is to ride a bike in Bagan. If you're here, rent a bike!

I felt like Indiana Jones, exploring these lost temples. There was no one around in most of the remote temples I visited. It was truly a memorable experience.

Here's me with my companion for the day 😂.

This is the Htilominlo Temple, one of the largest temples you will find in Bagan. It is also the closest big temple around Nyaung U vicinity, where I was based.

I found this little remote temple, all to myself. I also discovered a secret passage leading to the top, offering a stunning view of the scale of Bagan. The passage was narrow and steep, and I had to squeeze my body in to reach the top. When you're in Bagan, be sure to watch out for these hidden passages, you might be rewarded with a view few will get to see.

Here's the Ananda Temple, a massive structure with four towering statues of Buddhas, each standing at 9.5 meters high. It's another of my favorite temples in Bagan.

After a few hours exploring the outskirts of Bagan, I finally made it to the Old Bagan district. This is where the ancient capital city originated and where you will find the highest concentration of temples and pagodas that Bagan is best known for.

Another temple with a secret passage leads to the top for a sweeping view of the Bagan plain. As you can see, the view in Old Bagan was absolutely incredible!

Next up, I rode to Shwe San Daw Pagoda, which is where I should have been at sunrise because this is one of the most popular temples to climb up for sunrise and sunset.

This temple looks more like a pyramid than a temple, but still impressive nevertheless. It took me ages to get here. I biked through a maze of sand tracks and fields for hours, eventually ending up in a cactus field tended by the locals nearby.

It gave me the sense of adventure I have always been looking for.

I was lost in the middle of nowhere under the scorching heat, but I felt grateful. It was the most fun I’d had in years, being lost in Bagan gave me the sense of adventure I had always been searching for in life.

And here's the last temple I visited: the Sulamani Temple. It was a whirlwind of a day, full of adventure, exactly what I was looking for when I first planned my trip to Bagan. This place exceeded all of my expectations, so much so that I ended up being back in Bagan again 3 years later in 2016, just to see the incredible sunrise again.

After the whole day of biking around Bagan, I went back to the hotel, packed up, and got ready to say goodbye to it all and headed back home 😥.