Mingalazedi View
The ruins at Bagan, in west-central Myanmar, are truly one of the
wonders of the world. By some accounts, there are over 4,000
temples, pagodas, and shrines scattered around the dusty plains
here, ranging in age from over 1,000 years old to still under
construction, and in size from a garden shed to huge fortresses.
They're one of the scenic highlights of Asia, if for no other
reason than the scale, yet Bagan is quite obscure compared to other
Asian architectural wonders like Angkor Wat or the Taj Mahal.
This virtual cache is located at Mingalazedi, a stupa built in
1277 at the end of the golden age of monument-building in Bagan.
It's one of the few structures you're still allowed to climb on in
the area, and it provides a great view at sunset of the surrounding
pagodas as they catch the last rays of the sun, and at sunrise when
the rising sun casts them in silhouette. It's also much less
visited than Pyathada, a nearby pagoda that's also a popular sunset
spot. This is a virtual because this temple is part of a UN World
Heritage Site, and to me it seems inappropriate to place a physical
cache near a potentially fragile, 800-year-old stupa.
Once you make the short but steep climb
to the coordinates, you'll find a sign. For verification of
your visit, email me what that sign says. Don't post your
answer in your logs, even if encrypted. EDIT: Well,
it seems that climbing on the stupa is now forbidden. That's a
huge bummer! Instead of climbing to the now-inaccessible sign,
you can claim this cache by getting as close as you
legally can to the posted coordinates at taking a photo
of yourself with your GPS.Good luck!
IMPORTANT NOTE: The government of Burma is known to have
problems respecting the human rights of its people, and as a result
some have called for a boycott of tourists. If you do visit, I urge
you to travel responsibly, and most importantly, keep your eyes,
ears, and mind open as you're travelling around.