During Myanmar adventure tours, a trip to the picture perfect and iconic Bagan is a must do. From temples and pagodas to what to pack for a Bagan adventure, here-under is what you should expect in a perfect Bagan visit. Travel to Bagan with: Indochina travel
Visit a temple or pagoda every sunrise and sunset
Although not all sunrises and sunsets are equal, most in Bagan are incredibly magnificent. Let’s try squeezing in a few sunrises and sunsets during your travel to Bagan Myanmar. One of these sunrises and sunsets is outstanding and postcard worthy, it is still well worth your time. Since the sunrise balloon rides are immensely popular for traveling to Bagan, they are equally as wonderful to see as balloon after balloon drifts over the temples. Don’t hesitate to have a hot air balloon ride on your bucket list!
Stick around and explore the pagodas and temples after sunrise
It is absolutely understandable that the moment when sun rises there is a mass exodus of crowds. They come back to their hostels/hotels/guesthouses for breakfast and some well deserved naps as typically. A Bagan sunrise requires a middle of the night wake up of call. The perfect opportunity to catch some amazing light in the now deserted temples is the post sunrise hours. An ideal post sunrise photo opportunity!
Temple Sellers
It is not difficult to meet the elephant pant and souvenir sellers that frequent all sunrises and sunsets and in between period of the most popular temples and pagodas in Bagan. Don’t be surprised if you meet these young kids who have extremely polished sales techniques making you feel like there is a need to get at least one item from every single one. A firm NO goes a long way to being left alone to enjoy the experience if you do not feel so.
Families who look after the pagodas and temples
It is the families who live on nearby land and are entrusted with the key to the temple that open and close the temples and pagodas. As giving them a tip for opening for sunrise and staying open for sunset is considered a kind gesture, it is custom to do so. In addition, their children request a present and illuminate the dark stairways with candle light. Without their services, your sunrise and sunset experiences would be a very different experience, it is custom to give a little. Myanmar tour pakages
Mind your head!
It is no doubt that the majority of the temples were not constructed for anyone over 5 feet high. To get to the top, mind your head and expect to squeeze through really small spaces. There are often some climbing involved in reaching the prime positions for sunrise and sunset and sometimes incredible heights have to be scaled. Though you are not a huge fan of heights, there are many protective walls which make your experience much easier!
Bring a torch or a headlamp
It is essential to have a torch or headlamp to successfully navigate the dark temple stairways as well as the pre-sunrise and post sunset Bagan roads and sidewalks as a significant portion of Bagan adventures happen around sunrise and sunset or in the dark to put it more bluntly. On the top of your packing list should be a flashlight.
Conservatively dress for pagoda and temple visits
In spite of the high temperatures, most of Burmese conservatively dress and cover their legs and shoulders. Your attire of choice should be T-shirts, elephant pants, long skirts and knee length shorts. To enter the temples and pagodas, they are strongly encouraged and often enforced. You may also see vests tops and short shorts, however, it is wise to keep in line with the locals.
Flip flops are essentialAll pagodas and temple require their tourists’ bare feet and the easiest option is flip-flops when travel to Bagan Myanmar. Maybe as it is no fun messing with shoelaces in the heat and dust, you will notice that all Burmese’s feet are adorned with flip-flops. To clean off said feet after a barefoot visit to the pagodas, cleansing wipes are also useful.
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