The Beguiling Temples of Bagan, Bagan, Myanmar (B)

There are places that are slow-burners. Places that don’t seem to register with you when you first arrive there – but, then, after a while you start to figure them out and you realise why they mean something special to you after all. And usually, that happens when it’s time to leave for somewhere else!

The people we met, the wonderful staff at our guest house and, of course, the incredibly evocative temples and stupas of this historic ancient city, dazzled us from the moment we arrived. And that particular moment was at Bagan bus station at 05:30 following the overnight bus journey from Yangon – all 12 hours of it.

Our guest house owner had sent her brother to pick us up in his truck-cum-taxi and we were soon scuttled off in the back on the short journey to the village of Nuang-U and our accommodation for the next three nights – Saw Nyein San Guest House. We’ve been lucky enough to stay with some wonderful, yet simple guest houses and homestays, but Saw Nyein San was right up there with the very best of them. For a country where tourism is still fairly new, owner Nyein’s natural warmth and attentiveness put some other hosts we’ve encountered in other countries to shame. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).