Against all odds I arrived in Bagan, aka Indiana Jones Playground, to find myself in a desert. I didn't know SE Asia had a desert. Some people say the military salted the land so nothing could ever grow here, drive the people out, and destroy the monuments. Seems unlikely unless they were airdropping tons of salt daily, it's a massive place.

For the 5km into town the taxi drivers offered an astronomical 5000 kyat a head, and I found 2 others going to the same hostel. We called the hostel and they sent a cab for 8k total. While we were waiting, the guy said 4k a head, then started to get pissed and tell us our taxi will get lost, and continued to harass us even after it arrived. It's a shame, as so far it was the only ripoff experience I've had so far. Anyway, after a curry lunch and renting an E-bike it was off to see some of Bagan.

Bagan is weird. As you can see from the photo, it is impossible to see everything. It's like Ayutthaya or Sukhothai on steroids, with some 3000 temples, and hardly any tourists in sight. And with so many, 9/10 times I had the entire place to myself. Basically Bagan is like this - you wake up before dawn, rent an e-bike, drive out to one of the many temples, climb to the top, and catch the sunrise. Then it's a day of you driving around the desert, seeing something interesting, playing on it for a bit, and occasionally stopping by the side of the road to pick up water and snacks. There are 3 towns around Bagan in a triangle shape, with small villages of a couple dozen people dotted around as well. So, if you break down, you're never more than a short distance away from help. The first day I saw, climbed on, and explored more ruins than I ever have, including Angkor Wat. You can really go hours without seeing people if you want, so you straight up do feel like Indiana Jones. I was hoping I would find some golden idol I could replace with a bag of sand, but no such luck.

Looking for a change in pace, the next morning some of the hostel goers and I shared a taxi to Mt. Popa. A giant, vertical cliff that sticks out like a pillar from the landscape, someone decided to put a shrine on the top, because Asia. They said there were 777 steps to the top, but it actually didn't seem like that many. Along the way there were monkeys. Godamn monkeys. And cats, it's like a contest to cram the most asshole animals in one place. The top is just a standard shrine, not much else. It's about the journey, not the destination, right? Back to town, we ate at Weatherspoons, which per these Dutch guys in Yangon, was "the third best burger in Asia." I think it's because in Asia there's no burgers for comparison besides McDonald's, but yeah, still a pretty darn good burger. After hitting a few more temples on the way back, that was it for Bagan. I guess I didn't really have much to say about it, but it was still my favorite part of the trip. It's a physically exhausting place, the sun and heat really get to you after a while. I think I need a vacation from my vacation, because besides drinking enough water to fill a lake, and reducing the world's sunscreen supply by 10%, it's basically like Angkor Wat without the tourists. As Myanmar continues to open up, in 5 years this place will be full of tourists and unrecognizable. I was lucky to be able to see it when I did.