Bagan (Bagan vs Mrauk U)

This feels almost blasphemous to say, but I was actually kind of disappointed in Bagan. Yes, it was beautiful and I was definitely impressed and I had a good time, but I almost felt like it was more beautiful in photos than in feeling.

Maybe it would have been different had I visited Bagan and Mrauk U in the opposite order, or maybe it was all of the people back home who had raved to me about Bagan that set my expectations too high, or maybe it was the two days already spent visiting temples in Mrauk U, or maybe it was the large crowds vacationing for Myanmar's Independence Day, but honestly, I found myself very done with Bagan by the end of Day Two. I didn't meet anyone this trip who said that they had spent more than two days visiting the temples or wanted to spend more than two days visiting the temples. 

I've engaged in the Mrauk U vs. Bagan debate with a few other travelers who have visited both, and we all agree that it's comparing very different things, but here are my thoughts on this comparison.

Bagan has many, many more temples and the temples are much, much larger. It's not even comparable in terms of size and number. The temples in Bagan are also spread over a much greater area: 26 square miles compared to 2.7 square miles. Mrauk U was easily walkable so I could roll out of bed and walk to a sunrise vista in ten minutes. In Bagan, everything is a fairly lengthy bike ride away, at least from Nyaung U, where I stayed.

In many ways, Bagan felt a little overwhelming. It's like comparing the Prado in Madrid with San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art. Of course, the Prado is hands down the more important art museum, but it's so huge and packed with so many important pieces that it's almost too much for a short-term visitor. Where to start?

But the SFMOMA is small enough to be completely seen and appreciated in one day. Mrauk U is small enough that you can actually intimately see and appreciate everything in two days. With Bagan, there were still many areas I didn't have the chance to explore, and I know I ended up glossing over some of the important things I did see, but there was no way to see and absorb everything.

Bagan was also so much more touristy. There were tourists everywhere in Bagan, whereas in Mrauk U, I would see other tourists at breakfast and then everyone kind of disappeared. For the rest of the day I might not see another tourist for almost the whole day. I felt like I was exploring in Mrauk U. In Bagan, I felt like I was constantly just trying to escape the crowds. At Bagan, there were huge crowds at the more important temples. At sunset and sunrise in Bagan, there were hordes of tourists jockeying for position hours beforehand at the choice spots. In Mrauk U, at sunrise I was sometimes alone or with maybe three other people. At Mrauk U's most famous sunset spot, one day there were no other tourists.

Sunrise or sunset? I think sunset, but I woke up for so many it's hard to remember!

The hot air balloons at sunrise 

One of my favorite things about Mrauk U is that it's still a regular small town. Visiting the temple area is visiting a small farming community. People graze their cows in front of a pagoda. Kids play soccer in front of a stupa. You see regular rural life happening around you. In Bagan, all of the people who used to live and farm within the Bagan temple area were removed and relocated.

Tourists at Shweseedaw, one of the most famous sunset spots

Mrauk U is so low-key. I think this will change quickly as they are finishing paving the last 22 miles of the road between Sittwe and Mrauk U, and I heard they are also building an airport nearby. I get the sense that even a few years ago, Bagan was very different.

Sunset at Pyathada. I guess they got rid of the goat herd trails

The Lonely Planet, published in 2014, said of Pyathada Paya at sunset, "[It] is the adventurous option, east of Myinkaba on goat-herd trails." We went there and it was definitely not an adventurous option anymore. We were joined by at least ten tour buses parked right out front.


In Mrauk U, there is so little tourism infrastructure that it can almost be frustrating. We had to really ask around to find a guide to bring us to the Chin villages. I don't remember seeing anyone selling a souvenir on any of the Mrauk U temple grounds. There were a couple of stands outside the Sittaung temple, but that was it. In Bagan, temples are filled with souvenir hawkers and you're constantly approached by people selling things.

Sunset on Bagan

What I did appreciate about the tourism infrastructure in Bagan were the pretty restaurants clearly geared towards foreigners. It was so refreshing to relax in a leafy garden setting decorated with atmospheric lanterns and yes, eat a banana pancake... sometimes it can feel so predictable to be a Westerner traveling abroad.