Bagan Off The Beaten Path

As you can see Bagan airport is quite "kitschy" but I guess is Ok in context.

Unlike Mandalay and Heho it actually has a shop where you can buy last minute souvenirs etc. I guess this is because it does have a fair bit of traffic going through it.

Many people will include a visit to the Nagayon Guphaya in their itinerary of Bagan, and rightly so (see seperate tip), but if you travel just a couple of hundred yards further on you will come upon this little gem whch seems to be totally devoid of tourists.

Rather prosaically known as temple 1185, alternatively Lay Myet Hnar temple, it is not really remarkable except for the fact that it is only one of eight in the whole complex of thousands of temples that features the five places of importance in Buddha's life depicted around the inside of the builidng.

Tablets outside indicate that the entire place was renovated in 2001 with Korean money. I found it quite relaxing here and there are no vendors. The old chap who looks after the place is friendly enough, although he speaks no English and, indeed, seemed quite surprised to see me. Worth a look.

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For me one of the greatest delights of the whole Bagan region is the ease with which you can find yourself totally alone, visiting small temples or groups of them with not another soul in sight.

This small group was a good example of this. Although I was there in high season, and this place is no more than 500 yards away from the justifiably much-visited Upali Thein and Htilimino there was only me and my bicycle there.

Of the history or significance of the complex I can tell you absolutely nothing. An extensive Internet search has failed to turn up anything, there are no explanatory signs at the site, and there was certainly nobody to ask. Indeed, if any readers can shed any light on these temples, I owuld be very grateful. Although probably relatively unimportant, the tranquility of the place and the beautiful foliage (see photo) made it one of my favourite stops on my days journey.

If you want to find them yourself, they are just off the Nyaung U / Bagan road, on the North side about 500 yards past Upali Thein

While the volcanic cone can be climbed by means of a path beginning at the monastery, it should be attempted only by the physically fit. The mountain rises about 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) above the surrounding plain, and given the hot, dry climatic conditions that prevail in central Myanmar, the ascent can be arduous. On clear days, however, the view from the top across the vast dry plain is the most beautiful panorama that can be seen in central Myanmar.

Mount Popa, 1,518 meters (4,981 feet high, is located about 50 km (31 miles southeast of Bagan. It's a one hour car trip from Bagan village, or a fatiguing bus trip requiring transfers in Nyaung U and Kyaukpadaung. Overnight visitors can stay at the ancient Popa monastery at the foot of the peak, however. During the month of Nayon (May/June) the annual Festival of the Spirits is held here, and it is said that at that time the abbot of the Popa monastery runs the largest hotel in the whole of Myanmar.
(c) www.myanmar.com

In 442 B.C., a great earthquake roared through central Myanmar - and from out of the barren Myingyan plains rose Mount Popa. Volcanic ash on the mountain slope gradually became fertile soil, and the peak blossomed with flowers of many colors. (Popa is the Sanskrit word for "flower.") For the inhabitants of the surrounding regions, the "sugar-loaf' peak becaml regarded as the home of the gods, the Mount Olympus of Myanmar. Alchemist and occultists made their home on the mountain slopes, and others were con vinced mythical beings lived in the woods and among the flowers. So it was a matter of course when Mount Popa became the focus of national nat worship and the of ficial home of the Mahagiri Nats during the reign in Bagan of King Thinlikyaung.

(c) www.myanmar.com