Bagan is no less than a Wonder of the World.
Words can not express, superlatives come short. The splendour of Bagan is simply stunning, amazing. It is arguably the most exciting place in Asia and it stands at least next to Angkor or the Chinese Wall in level of wonder. The pictures shown on this website only show a part of the enchantment that is experienced when you are on the site in person. During my holiday in Myanmar, I spent 6 full days in Bagan: 2 days with a horse cart, 3 days on the bicycle en 2 half days resting, reading, writing and wondering about this place and its history.
In Bagan today, there are approximately around 2300 pagodas, monasteries, ordination halls, libraries, caves of all sizes and shapes, mostly built between the 11th & 13th centuries in a period of just 250 years. by bricks, woods, sandstones, and stuccos, are overwhelming in an area of 40 square kilometers. Bagan was founded by the Burmese King Anawratha with a total of eleven kings throughout the dynasty. The conquest over Mon kingdom in 1057 was a turning point in Bagan's history, entering into the temple building era as the southern school of Buddhism was introduced by the Mon people and many of the skilled artists and architects were imported from India. In 1287, Kublai Khan's Mongols invaded Bagan but did not destroy the city. It eventually let to the desertion of the city as the kings of Myanmar continued their kingdoms in and around Mandalay.
Very special is the fact that a European had travelled to Bagan just before the Mongol invasion: the Venetian traveler Marco Polo. He left a famous description: “The towers are built of fine stone, and one has been covered with gold a finger thick, so that the tower appears to be of solid gold. Another is covered with silver in a similar manner and appears to be made of solid silver. The King of Bagan caused these towers to be built as a monument to his magnificence and for the benefit of his soul. They make one of the finest sights in the world, being exquisitely finished, splendid and costly. When illuminated by the sun they are especially brilliant and can be seen from the great distance”
Today, a glimpse of what Marco Polo has seen in 13th century might be seen in present day Sagaing, near Mandalay.The glory that was Bagan once was still remains and can be easily reconstructed in your mind, the paintings in the Bagan Museum may be helpfull with that.
Bagan offers 3 places to stay: New Bagan, Old Bagan and Nyaung U. The Lonely Planet guide describes the latter as a place where not all the lights go out after dark, there is still some activity at night. Reason for me as a solo traveller to stay there - and I did enjoy it. The food and the beer is great but September brings very few tourists so you have to be able to enjoy yourself. Another thing is the importance to bring a torchlight, because in 6 of the 7 nights I stayed in Nyaung U the power failed.
Links
http://wikitravel.org/en/Bagan limited but useful information.
http://www.ancientbagan.com/ a very informative site with the temples nicely ordered.
http://www.myanmar.com/places/bagan.html this is what the Myanmar government says about Bagan, beware, but it seems oke.
http://www.google.com type Bagan for a wealth of information