Bagan

I would imagine whether or not the place is safe because sometimes I do go on these getaways on my own.

Yeah, India, right? So why are we talking about Myanmar? Because the country is trying to bring back tourists to Bagan, which is an ancient city that is home to more than 3,000 3,500 historic monuments.

Yeah, it's also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It's known for its Buddhist temples, its pagodas.

You've almost become local, yeah? Why can't you speak the language and all of that? And I guess for people who just visit for a few days, it's really touch and go.

You don't really know a place until you've really stayed on or lived there for a while.

So let's look at Bagan.

It is a medieval city, isn't it? As I understand it.

Uh, uh, and it's a, uh, it's normally a, a great destination to go and visit because places... uh, Mandalay is wonderful.

Bagan, which is where the w- uh, it used to be called Pagan.

That's where the word pagan comes from.

It's a place where there are about 20,000...

perhaps there is another path.

Just a few hours journey from the border lies the mystical plane of Buddhist shrines and temples known as Bagan.

It's a symbolic doorway to the unpolluted rivers and undamaged wilderness of a country moving at a very different pace to China.

Buddhism is still the most powerful social force at work in

This is mass production at a Buddhist pace.

And this practical Buddhist lifestyle could be Myanmar's greatest protection against destructive change that will pour into the country along the new Burma road.

The plain at Bagan already attracts foreign tourists in their thousands.

But access is carefully limited and tourist numbers are carefully controlled.

I would see two to five tourists a day, where in the, quote-unquote, "old days" you might see 100 or 200.

Uh, one of the most special places on Earth, in my opinion, is Bagan, and it is this open plains with roughly 2,000 Buddhist stupas and temples And I think it's difficult to find another gem like this on Earth that rivals that place.

And I love photography.

I love going there.

And then I come back for a third day, and I bring, uh, this guide I hired for the day, and I'm introducing the Burmese guide to this lovely family, and I'm also encouraging the guide.

I'm like, "Make sure you start bringing your clients here.

We need to help great business people like this who are also good people." So yeah, I've already been to Bagan five times, and I hope to go back.

I love that place.

And it was so frightening because on day one, we filmed on this mound.

It was like a sand dune in Bagan.

It was so hot, like 40 degrees.

And I just had one sentence to do.

maybe to

Bagan again.

Yeah, Yangon, Bagan, Mandalay.

So I don't know how safe it is because U.S. still has level four do not travel advisory.

But yeah, influencers are going.