Bagan is an incredible place: Thousands of temples are spread over the area that was once the capital of an ancient kingdom. The first day I had rented a bicycle to explore the temples, but I quickly realised that in the mid-day heat an electric scooter was the better choice. I explored many remote temples where I did not see any other visitors for hours!

Temple in Bagan, Myanmar

The train journey from Shwenyaung to Kalaw was an amazing experience: When the train stopped in Aung Ban, the locals where doing all their shopping through the train windows and I watched in awe as the train was loaded up with groceries

Market in Aung Ban

This boat is transporting tomatoes in a channel of Inle Lake. I did a bike trip around Inle Lake and took the bicycle on a small boat like this.

Boat in Inle Lake, Myanmar

Though not far away from Northern Thailand's tourist hotspots by linear distance, Loikaw sees only a handful of foreigners visiting a year: With the border to Thailand closed, this undiscovered backwater is a long distance away from Myanmar's tourist destinations. It took me a day to get here from Inle Lake and on the way back, I spent 16 hours in a bumpy, packed bus to get to Yangon. But the long trip was worth it to get a glimpse of this rural part of Myanmar that is home to beautiful temples like this one. With no tourist infrastructure in place and no option to rent a motorbike, I relied on hitchhiking to explore the region around Loikaw. It was an amazing experience and I met so many incredibly nice people!

Taw Kyat Taung Pagoda near Loikaw

As one of Asia's most known cultural tourist attractions, I expected Bagan in Myanmar to be very crowded, but since there are thousands of pagodas scattered around the landscape, I found myself exploring the amazing area with very few tourists around.

Captured	August 04, 2018
Location	Nyaung-U Township, Mandalay, Myanmar
Camera	BuyNikon D5500
Lens	BuyNikon 18.0-140.0 mm f/3.5-5.6
Exposure Time	1/200s
Aperture	f/9
Focal Length	112mm
ISO	140

Cows in front of Temple in Bagan

Nearby Photos

Temple in Bagan, Myanmar

Market in Aung Ban

Boat in Inle Lake, Myanmar

Taw Kyat Taung Pagoda near Loikaw