Pagan is usually everyone’s number one reason for visiting Burma. It certainly lived up to our expectations and was an immensely visual delight. …View image… Each temple had distinct features that surrounding ones did not have. …View image… They were built as tributes to the Buddha by kings and merchants to gain merit and resembled castles, fortresses and were easily reached and climbed.

I understand that it is different now. Some have been reconstructed and put “off limits” but all these ruins, on this dusty plain next to the Irrawaddy River was an unforgetable experience.

temple of Pagan, Burma in 1968

And finally, another shopping opportunity. Just in time to ward off the “shakes” from not “hunting” and “gathering.” An artist selling water colors of the Pagan Temples.

Our group snapped up whatever he had to sell – at $5 a picture (of course, they cost $100 each to frame properly at home). They hang in our bedroom and are a constant reminder of Pagan’s beauty. …View image

We were going to return at sunset to the temples, but before that was a Marionette Show. There weren’t any other diversions in Burma at the time, e.g. movies, t.v., only Marionette Shows for entertainment. …View image…

Wonder of wonders, another shopping moment! We traded a pair of bue jeans for this old woman Marionette, crafted out of teak, with complete anatomical, moveable parts! And at my age, 65, I’m starting to notice a resemblance between us!

 

By now, everyone in our group was digging out lipsticks, ballpoint pens, anything to trade and the value went up depending on the label brand names.
Back to the Plains of Pagan. Up a long, complicated stairway, we reached a spot where hundreds of temples, every size and descriptiion were laid out before us. As the sun sank, the temples changed colors from orange, to red, and still later golden. Stunned into silence, all we could do was “ooh” and “ah” during the stupendous color show before us.

Pagan, none of us will ever forget you….