Other than Shwedagon, the large gold temple in Yangon, the ancient Burmese capital of Bagan is a uniquely Burmese wonder. Somwehere between 2,000 and 3,000 (we heard a range while there) stupas of varying size, age, and repair dot the landscape. We spent the first of two days on the ground, visiting a handful of significant temples; significant either architecturally, or because of uniqueness of Buddha images, or for sunset views (see? More sunset viewing…). I have to admit it’s difficult to keep track of all of the temple names and, really, at the end of the day I’m not sure it matters all that much. Here are a few photos of some of the highlights.

Pretty early on in the day it became clear to us that, at least for us, what’s special about Bagan isn’t any particular temple, or even the chance to climb around on some of them — but rather the view of all of the brick, stucco, and gold spires dotting the landscape. Hence, we were most excited for the next morning, when we’d have this view from the basket of a hot air balloon.