MM · Mandalay Region · 21.17°N 94.86°E

bagan

Brick temples and pagodas spread across a wide plain beside the Ayeyarwady.

Best time
November to February is cool and dry, the best time for cycling between the temples. March to May is fiercely hot, worst in April and May. June to October is the rainy season, though Bagan sits in the dry zone and gets less rain than most of Myanmar.
How long
2–3 days
Getting there
Fly direct to Yangon (about 2 hours 45 minutes from KL), then about 1.5 hours on a domestic flight to Nyaung U, 15 minutes from the temples. Malaysians can visit visa-free for up to 14 days. Myanmar is 1.5 hours behind KL.
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MM · Mandalay Regionbagan21.17°N 94.86°Egowherelah.com
Dear group chat,Brick temples and pagodas spread across a wide plain beside the Ayeyarwady.— gowherelahTo: whoever’s drivingBaganMM, Mandalay Region
KLbagan
≈ 2,137 km from KL, as the crow flies
Bagan Sunset

Photo: Gordon Johnstone · CC BY-SA 3.0

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Photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited on each.

More than 2,000 brick temples and stupas, built between the 11th and 13th centuries, scattered across a dusty plain beside the Ayeyarwady. The temples came through the 2025 earthquake with only minor damage and the site is open; foreign visitors are few, and most of the crowds now are Myanmar holidaymakers.

Makan

  1. Burmese curry setA curry with rice and a spread of small side dishes, soups and salads.Map ↗
  2. Lahpet thokePickled tea-leaf salad with fried beans and peanuts.Map ↗
  3. Tamarind flakesSweet-sour tamarind sweets, served after meals and sold as Bagan's souvenir.Map ↗

Things to do

  1. Ananda TempleA white, gold-spired temple with four tall standing Buddhas, one facing each direction.Map ↗
  2. Shwezigon PagodaA gilded stupa in Nyaung U, the model for many later pagodas across Myanmar.Map ↗
  3. Dhammayangyi TempleThe biggest temple on the plain, a massive brick pyramid with sealed-off inner corridors.Map ↗
  4. Sunset from a viewing moundClimbing the temples is banned, but the official viewing mounds give the classic view over the plain.Map ↗
  5. Myinkaba lacquerware workshopsFamily workshops where bowls and boxes are built up layer by layer, then polished and engraved by hand.Map ↗

Good to know

  • Hire an e-bike or a driver to get between temples; the plain is big and hot. Foreigners pay an archaeological zone fee on arrival.
  • The UK advises against all but essential travel to Mandalay Region, which includes Bagan; flights and hotels are running.
  • Halal food is limited. Fish and vegetable curry sets are the easy fallback.

Last checked October 2026. Things change, so check opening times, fees and transport before you go.