Cycling around the Temples of Bagan

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
6
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
9
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
7
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
7
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
8
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
9
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
80 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
53rd/454
Top 20%
continent
Asia
country
Myanmar (Burma)
Length of time
1-2 days
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$100 (typically $50 - $140)
Time of year visited
October
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Buddhist site Cycling Temple complex
All Tags
Ancient ruins Jungle Local villages Sunsets UNESCO world heritage site
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐⭐

Summary

4000 Buddhist temples scattered across a wide plain in central Burma that is pushed up on 2 sides by the Irrawaddy River and described by Marco Polo as “one of the finest sites in the world”.  Bagan rightly claims its title as the highlight of a trip to Burma, a UNESCO world heritage site and one of the top temple sites in the world.

But, as with giant temple complexes of such fame, my key tip is not to get dragged into the mass tourism of the place.  Instead, try and give yourself an experience that feels more wonder and adventure rather than latest site to tick off on the tourist trail.

To do this, give yourself at least a day to head off on a bike and simply get lost amongst the wonder of it all.  Your guide / hotel can give you the directions for where will have the fewest  fellow tourists at the time of year – usually the Central and South Plains.  This will allow you to enjoy Bagan for what it was like before Burma started to really open up and make you still dumfounded that even with so much variety in so concentrated a place, some temples the size of cathedrals simply have numbers rather than a name.

Getting that feeling of wonder by having some of these temples largely to yourself is what makes this such a memorable experience.

 

 

Highlights

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#1 The view across the lush plain to see thousands of temples sticking out into the distance, many of which glistening in the sun

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#2 Getting lost as you cycle through wide areas with no fellow tourists and crossing temples the size of cathedrals with only a number for a name

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#3 Walking through some of the larger temples to see some of their hidden secrets

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#4 Getting the keys from the "keyholder" with a tea donation and being able to explore some of the smaller temples all to yourself

Travel Tips

Get lost on the first day – when you’re cycling around and getting lost, there will be plenty of temples that you just walk into, but some will have some closed doors / gates.  Usually someone (a “keyholder”) will come up and ask for a very small donation (K500 / USD0.25) for “tea money” to open the temple up.  May even get a story for free 🙂

On the second day, get a guide to take you around the key sites and give you the background on their significance during the 11th and 13th centuries.  Its obviously personal preference, but I love getting lost and enjoying the wonder of it all on the first day and then getting the context and deeper learning on the second once I have a rough idea where things are.

This plain in the centre of Burma is one of the hottest places in the country and can reach temperatures over 40  Celsius / 104 Fahrenheit around April time.  Even in as late as October the temperatures are still often high 30s (97 Fahrenheit), so be well prepared for being out in that all day with no aircon on the bike.

Climb the temples – make sure when visiting the temples to climb up high enough to see over the plain – an amazing sight

You’ll be visiting a lot of temples, so remember to dress appropriately.  Makes sense for sandals / flip flops as you can slide them on and off easily

Ballooning – I never got a chance to do the ballooning, but looks fab.

See if you can combine your trip to Bagan within a 2 weeks itinerary for the highlights of Burma, and you can see the link for the itinerary and general tips on the adventure.

 

Experiences nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

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Machu Picchu
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Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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