A Passage to SE Asia: Began - Part 1

Monday, April 4, 2011

We flew from Rangoon to Bagan on a two-engine turbo-prop.  Its about 375 miles and less than an hour flying time.

This is the dry season as you can see.  During the rainy season, these fields are green.

Hundreds of thousands of tourists file through this small airport every year.

This postcard best describes Bagan better than I can ever do.  There are two preeminent ancient religious cities in SE Asia:

Bagan in Burma and Angkor Wat in Cambodia.  For many visitors, Bagan is more extraordinary because of its wonderful

panoramic views.  

Scattered across a vast plain, thousands of exotic Buddhist temples dot the landscape over an area of 16 square miles.

The majority of these structures were built in the 11th - 13th centuries.  During that time, Bagan was the capital of the

First Burmese Empire.