October 2, 2015: Bagan, Myanmar —ÌýBetween the 11th and 13th centuries, in today's Mandalay region ofÌýcentral Myanmar, flourished an intellectual, religious kingdom calledÌýthe Pagan Empire (the "P"Ìýhas been switched to a "B"Ìýin some modernÌýspellings). For about 250 years, a prosperous city here had aboutÌý200,000 residents. These people built religious monuments on a massive scale: By the 13th century, more than 14,000 full-sized BuddhistÌýtemples, pagodas, and monasteries were crowded in an area smaller thanÌý40 square miles.
Invading Mongols eventually collapsed the kingdom but the monumentsÌýremained, and more than 2,000 of them still stand around modern-dayÌýBagan. It is among the world's most significant archaeological sites.ÌýIt's stupefying. I could see the spires sticking up even as my propÌýplane landed this morning, and I was never out of view of theseÌýthousand-year-old temples all day long. (My photos don't do justice.ÌýLook up "Bagan"Ìýon Google Images and prepare to be impressed. The bestÌýview is from a hot air balloon, which I'll have to save for anotherÌýtrip.)Ìý
Gideon Dun, a local birder, accompanied me on the Bagan plains allÌýday. We spent our time slowly walking around peanut plantations amongÌýthe temples. The fields were thick with Richard's Pipits and BurmeseÌýBushlarks and other interesting little brown jobs, but the real prizeÌýhere, the endemic Hooded Treepie, eluded us for hours. Finally, whenÌýthe two of us took a break in the shade of a restored temple thisÌýafternoon, a treepie popped out of a nearby bush. It's always niceÌýwhen the birds come to you!Ìý
We celebrated with our driver, Moji, by ordering a buffet dinner at aÌýlocal restaurant this evening. It seems that, in Myanmar, thisÌýbasically means that the entire buffet is brought to your table. ByÌýthe end of the meal, there were 22 plates arrayed between the three of us! Half of the dishes had only local, Burmese names and flavors,Ìýwhich ranged from fish balls and okra, to thermonuclear chili paste andÌýpeanut salad, to strips of something which could have been eitherÌýanimal or vegetable. Like a Mongol horde, this birder keeps marchingÌýon his stomach.
New birds today: 19
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