We were in a bit of a rush catching our train this afternoon. They are not so easy to find in Bagan as drivers purchase the rationed petrol by the bottle (see 2nd picture for typical gas station). We got a little worried about making it to our destination seeing the fear in the driver’s eyes and the way he clutched the steering wheel when as we reached our top speed of 35 km/h. A couple of mopeds passed us on the way but we made it to the station just in time. The look of relief on the driver’s face about matched ours.

Bagan eventually came to an end at the hands of the Mongols. Details vary but what remains of a city the size of Manhattan are only the temples. For a long while spirits by the name Nat, took over and mainly bandits dared to live between the temples. Today villagers work fields where houses stood and the occasional traveler stumbles by.

Some 1100 years ago Cranky’s ancestors were still hunting wild boar with rocks. The people of Bagan were busy baking bricks to build more than 4000 temples.