Heading back to the hotel from a great sunrise experience at U Bein Bridge.










Breakfast at the hotel.










After breakfast, we took a taxi over to our first sight in the city for the day; Mandalay Palace. This was taken on the walk in.










The Mandalay Royal Palace.










Mandalay Palace.










Walking around the grounds.










Red building.










Some of the structures weren't in the best condition, but still interesting none the less.










Next up was Kuthodaw Pagoda. There are 729 of these marble stupas on the grounds.










No shoes allowed in the area.










Each stupa contains one of these slabs. It's said that when put together, these inscriptions make up the world's largest book.










Kuthodaw Pagoda.










Shwenandaw Monastery, built in 1880.










The monastery is known for its teak carvings.










Inside Shwenandaw Monastery.










Quick walk over to Sandamuni Pagoda.










Similar to Kuthodaw, there are countless stupas on the grounds, albeit larger.










As Mr. Bald from Youtube 'Bald and Bankrupt' would say, the language of squiggles.










Stupas.










One could easily get lost in here.










We also headed up to the top of the hill for an overview of the city on this hot February afternoon.










A massive lunch for less than a McDonald's meal in the US.










After the late lunch, we took about an hour to rest at the hotel before heading back to the airport for the short hop to Bagan.










The Myanmar National Airlines ATR-72 that took us to Bagan.










Our hotel was a short 10 minute drive to the airport.










Butter chicken masala and chili chicken for dinner.







Day 4



We secured some escooters from the hotel early in the morning and headed out for sunrise at the famous Bagan temples. The government has recently closed most of them, but there are still a few hidden ones that are still easily accessible.










Sunrise in Bagan.










Balloons rising.










If you're able to splurge on the hot air balloon ride, I'd venture a guess that the view is quite incredible.










Balloons.










The remainder of the day was spent riding the scooters around to the thousands of different temples.










Buddhas of varying sizes were inside each temple.










Ananda Temple, a standout due to the white color.










The scooter for the day.










Bagan is rather arid, but every once in a while you'd come across these colorful trees.










Shwesandaw Pagoda with the dreaded scaffolding.










Welcoming and colorful shade.










Some curry for lunch.










Overlooking the dried river basin.










A confined buddha.










Varying sizes, remember?










One of the few remaining climbable temples.










I wonder how long it would take to visit every single one...










This one seemed off the beaten path as there was no one here when I arrived.













Prayer.










Cruising along.










Some of the temples were more commercialized than others.