So here I am, sat high up on a Buddhist temple, watching the stars come out, with a golden Pagoda lit up in front of me and a scattering of other spiritual beacons shining across the plane.
I'm in Bagan: a magical expanse of Buddhist appreciation, with more than two thousand temples, pagodas and shrines littered across the flat, lush green plane. Buddhas are everywhere, big and small, golden and plain, some surrounded by beautiful faded murals, others sharing their home with bats and pigeons. The peace had just been somewhat shattered however by some terrible, and terribly loud, music coming from the nearby town of New Bagan.
I arrived in New Bagan bright and early at 4am after taking a night bus from Kalaw. The bus left an hour and a half late but still somehow got here on time. Not the most comfortable of rides but managed a few hours sleep. Enough to get me through a day of cruising around the roads on an electric scooter (the de facto mode of tourist transportation around here), a little motor cross on the dusty side tracks, watching the sun rise from another majestic temple and watching the sun go down from my current seat of contemplation.
The e-bikes are fun. They don't go very fast but they're quiet and obviously emission free so a nice way to cruise around and relax into the ride. There aren't exactly any major highways you need to open up the throttle on.
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