Bagan is one of the couple top sites to visit in Burma because of its over 2000 temples that are from the 8th century.
All locals must visit the "nat," or animist spirit
before entering the Bagan old city temple area.
Tourists love slowly cruising the thousands of temples via horse
Many of the temples were ruined in an earthquake so were rebuilt looking more new,
with newish bricks like this one
I've never seen so many different Buddhas in one city.
When they make Buddhas, they make them with "Burmese" features.
One Buddha was made for China, and it was being delivered to China
It fell off the cart and no one could get it back on the cart.
The local Burmese Buddhist priest said the Buddha wanted to stay in Burma.
So, they kept the Buddha, even though it had the features of a Chinese man, not a Burmese.
Check out the earlobes in imitation of the Buddha above
There were a few glorious, huge temples in Bagan.
One was called Ananda.
Click HERE for a video of Buddha's facial metamorphosis in Ananda temple.
I love that Burmese lettering.
This girl stopped and I asked her some questions outside a temple,
using our guide as an interpreter.
She explained that she's 12 years old. I asked why she wasn't in school.
She said her parents couldn't afford school for both she and her brother,
so they told their children to choose who would go to school.
The girl said her older brother could go, since he was older and more ready to school.
Now, she had to resort to a life at home of domestic duties, like carrying water.
In Burma, even though elementary school is free, there are charges for things like
uniforms, a bike to ride to middle school, and miscellaneous charges.
So, many kids still cannot go to school even though it's free.
I know I sound like Save the Children, but I found out that
it only take $50 per year to make sure she goes to school.
I wanted to pull it out of my pocked and give it to her,
since her bright, friendly eagerness to learn was so clear on her face.
This was one of my many moments of wanting to sponsor or adopt Burmese
kids struggling all over Southeast Asia.
Myo, our guide extraordinare, introduced us to her daughter and
brought us to her home! She fed us many mangoes and showed us her life.
We were so appreciative, since usually we just get shallow touristy
taste of life in Burma.
Even the monks wanted pictures with Boom and his entourage
Two of my favorite Buddhas ever, I'd spotted jogging through the Bagan temples that morning
Riding the horse carriage through the temples at sunset
We climbed up to the top of this temple. I meditated some, and we watched the sun set.
Sun setting over thousands of temples, glowing red like the sun
June 10, 2011
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