Not sure that words can describe this. The layout of Bagan includes 3000 temples over 40 square miles and virtually every one has a Buddha in it. There were 4000 until 1975 when a major earthquake leveled 1000 and damaged the majority of them. That should have made my thesis! That’s for you Bob…
The Burmese kings of the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries built these temples to solidify Buddhism in the region. Many of them have been refurbished after 1975 and tourism has only been opened in Myanmar since 2010. That’s when the name was changed from Burma to Myanmar, they changed the flag, and the ruling government changed from a military regime to a democracy. Aung San Soo Kyi was also released from house arrest and now holds public office. You can almost see Myanmar changing before your eyes, but at this time, it has an amazing, almost untouched feel. Nowhere is more like this than Bagan.