Timeless Charm of Old Bagan: A Journey Through Ancient Temples

• Helloမင်္ဂလာပါ
  [mingalarbar]
• Goodbyeသွားပါ
  [swarrpar]
• Yesဟုတ်ပါ
  [hoatpar]
• Noမဟုတ်ပါ
  [ma hoatpar]
• Please/You're welcomeကျေးဇူးပါရှင်
  [kyei zu ba shin]
• Thank youကျေးဇူးပါ
  [kyei zu ba]
• Excuse me/Sorryစောက်ရှင်ကြီး
  [saw ba shin dji]
• How are you?ဘယ်ဘက်လဲခင်ဗျာ
  [be ba let kan pya]
• Fine. And you?အဲ့နဲ့ကြီးလဲ
  [eh ne dji le]
• Do you speak English?အဂၤလိပ်ထွက်လဲခင်ဗျာ
  [a gu leht kwat kan pya]
• I don't understandအဲ့မှာကြီးလဲ
  [eh ma dji le]

• I'd like to see the menu, pleaseမီနူးကြည့်တယ်
  [menu gwe tay]
• I don't eat meatငါမတော်ကြည့်တယ်
  [nga ma tau gwe tay]
• Cheers!သွားပါ
  [swarrpar]
• I would like to pay, pleaseငါပေးခဲ့တယ်
  [nga pe hte tay]

• Help!ဘားကြီး
  [bha dji]
• Go away!ချက်ကြီး
  [chay dji]
• Call the Police!ရတနာန်းလဲ
  [ya ta na lamya]
• Call a doctor!အဆူချက်
  [a su chay]
• I'm lostငါမှာကြီး
  [nga ma dji]
• I'm illငါနားကြီး
  [nga na dji]

• I'd like to buy...ငါဝယ်လို့ရယ်
  [nga wai lo yae]
• I'm just lookingငါရယ်ကြည့်ရယ်
  [nga yae gwe yae]
• How much is it?ဒီလာထဲကြည့်ရ
  [di la hte gwe]
• That's too expensiveဤလာမကိုကြည့်ရ
  [i la ma kwe]
• Can you lower the price?ငယ်တော့တဲ့ကြည့်ရ
  [nga tau te gwe]

• What time is it?ဘယ်ချိုင်းလဲခင်ဗျာ
  [be chone let kan pya]
• It's one o'clockတစ်ချိုင်း
  [tachone]
• Half past (10)ဆယ်ဆယ်
  [say say]
• Morningနန်းကြီး
  [nan dji]
• Afternoonညန်းကြီး
  [nya nan dji]
• Eveningညန်းလွန်း
  [nya lwan nan]
• Yesterdayမနေ့လွန်း
  [mane lwan nan]
• Todayယနေ့
  [yaney]
• Tomorrowမနက်ခင်
  [man khan]
• 1တစ်
  [tachone]
• 2နှစ်
  [hna chone]
• 3သုံး
  [sone]
• 4လေး
  [lay]
• 5ငါး
  [nga]
• 6ခြောက်
  [chauk]
• 7ခွေး
  [kau]
• 8ရှေ့
  [yey]
• 9ကိုး
  [ko]
• 10ဆယ်
  [say]

• Where's a/the...?ဘားမှာလဲ...?
  [bha ma le...]
• What's the address?လိပ်စာလဲခင်ဗျာ?
  [leiksa le kan pya?]
• Can you show me (on the map)?ငါကျောက်ပို့ရယ်လဲ
  [nga kau pyu yae le]
• When's the next (bus)?နောက်ကြီးလဲခင်ဗျာ?
  [nak dji le kan pya?]
• A ticket (to ....)လိုင်းစာ
  [loangsa]

Bagan, formerly known as Pagan, was founded in the 9th century as the capital of the Pagan Kingdom. Old Bagan served as the heart of this kingdom, where the first monarchs established their rule and began the construction of temples and pagodas that would later define the skyline of the region. The introduction of Theravada Buddhism during this time greatly influenced the cultural and architectural landscape.

The 11th to 13th centuries marked the apex of Bagan's power and influence. King Anawrahta, who reigned from 1044 to 1077, played a pivotal role in the expansion of the kingdom and the construction of significant monuments in Old Bagan, including the iconic Ananda Temple, which remains a masterpiece of early Bagan architecture. This era is characterized by the prolific building of thousands of temples, reflecting the kingdom's wealth and devotion to Buddhism.

In the late 13th century, the Mongol invasions led to significant upheaval in Bagan. By 1287, the city faced destruction and loss of power, resulting in a decline of the once-thriving kingdom. Many temples fell into disrepair, and the population decreased as people fled from the invading forces. The legacy of this period is still visible in the ruins that dot the landscape of Old Bagan.

During the British colonial period in the 19th century, Bagan became a site of archaeological interest. British explorers and archaeologists began formal documentation of the temples and pagodas, leading to early conservation efforts. This attention brought a renewed understanding of Bagan's historical significance, although many structures faced neglect due to lack of local governance.

The 20th and 21st centuries brought both challenges and revitalization to Old Bagan. The devastating earthquake in 1975 caused significant damage to many temples, prompting international efforts for their restoration. UNESCO's designation of Bagan as a World Heritage site in 2019 has further highlighted the importance of preserving this cultural treasure, fostering a blend of tourism and conservation aimed at protecting Old Bagan's rich heritage.

Old Bagan is accessible from various neighborhoods in Bagan. If you are coming from New Bagan, you can take a short taxi ride or rent an electric bike, which takes around 10-15 minutes. If you are arriving from the airport, taxis are available to take you directly to Old Bagan, typically taking about 30 minutes depending on traffic.

Old Bagan is best explored on foot, by bicycle, or by electric scooter, allowing you to enjoy the stunning temples and pagodas at your own pace. Bicycle rentals are widely available, and there are designated paths for easier navigation. Local taxis can also be hired for longer distances, although many areas are walkable.

Old Bagan is generally safe for tourists, but it is wise to take standard precautions. Avoid wandering alone at night, especially in less populated areas. While serious crimes against tourists are rare, petty theft can occur, particularly around crowded sites. Be cautious of your belongings and avoid displaying valuables.

In case of an emergency, dial 192 for the police or 199 for medical assistance. It is advisable to have travel insurance that covers medical emergencies. There are local clinics in Bagan, and pharmacies are available for minor health issues. Familiarize yourself with the location of the nearest medical facility upon arrival.

Fashion: Do dress modestly, particularly when visiting temples; avoid shorts and sleeveless tops. Religion: Do respect local customs; remove your shoes before entering pagodas. Public Transport: Do be patient and respectful; don’t engage in loud conversations. Greetings: Do greet locals with a smile and a nod; a handshake is also acceptable. Eating & Drinking: Do try local cuisine and drink plenty of water; don’t eat in sacred areas or litter.

To experience Old Bagan like a local, consider hiring a guide for a deeper understanding of the temple complex's history. Visit the local markets for fresh produce and handmade crafts. Attend a sunrise or sunset viewing at a pagoda for breathtaking scenery without the crowds. Engage with local artisans, who are often eager to share their stories and crafts.