Realizing that it would be impossible to see all two or three thousand of Bagan’s temples, we started skimming the cream of crop, heading for the temples that had been circled by the reception at our hotel.

Map of Old Bagan showing the location of Ananda and Thatbyinnyu Temples

Thatbyinnyu Phaya is one of the tallest pagodas in Bagan. It was disappointing that access was denied to the average visitor.
Next to it was a small brick temple, a scale replica of the larger Thatbyinnyu, which I called the Temple of Children.
They followed us down inside the temple…
and up onto the roof.
From this small temple you can see over to the main temple of Thatbyinnyu with its distinctive stupa.
Nearby was another temple ruin, a 9th-century stupa with rich green-glazed tiles…
and another temple guardian.
Like the children, she too followed us down into the interior…
Looking over to Thatbyinnyu Phaya.
More on our November 2013 trip to Myanmar.