nestle pure life. pure life begins now. anthony: you d expect this, an ancient city of nearly unparalleled size and beauty, to be overrun with tourists, souvenir shops, snack bars, tours on tape. but no. philippe: oh, this is stunning. anthony: you ll encounter some western travelers at bagan s temple sites for sure, but, generally speaking, they re a hardy bunch even the bus tours here are not for the faint of heart or the weak of spirit. but for the most part, you re far more likely to bump into a goat than a foreigner. philippe: this is so
cotton candy, trinkets, tube socks, just like a new york street fair, but with infinitely better food. oh, are these the little birds? philippe: yeah. these guys are really good. was flying just a bit earlier this morning. anthony: i ll tell you, it s the backbone of every street fair in the world, isn t it, deep-fried food? philippe: that s right. and here they also have the the little, uh, uh, batter, where they break a quail egg in it. one shot. it s really good. that s it? he s happy? all right. this is so tasty. much less greasy than i thought it would be. in fact, rather delicate. anthony: yeah, any time you tell me crispy little bird, i m all over it. philippe: good head. good beak, too. anthony: good beak. philippe: crispy and tender. anthony: oh, and they have rides. check this out. okay, it s a ferris wheel, but the power source, not unusual for these parts, is not electric. it ain t gas.
too. woman: this is silk and cotton poly. philippe: and what-what is this here? oh, this this is a this is a nice cloth. anthony: as myanmar begins its shift towards accommodating increasing tourism and a service economy to go with it, there will be adjustments. there will be, of course, a downside. girl: now, how much you pay? philippe: okay. anthony: what s that going to mean? how will the burmese react to all of the goods-good and evils that come with tourism? girl: okay, mister. what about you pay one, okay. philippe: perfect. boy: it s perfect, yeah. girl: excuse me. anthony: it s going to mean mobility. it s going to mean prosperity for some. will mean a lot of bad things, too, you know. it ll mean prostitution. it ll mean hustling. philippe: here you go. girl: okay, my booth. fine restaurant. boy: so. thank you very much. for your health, for the children. philippe: okay. and you, too. boy: yeah. philippe: you think so. girl: everybody i
over 3,000 pagodas, temples, and monasteries remain today. inside almost every one of them, a buddha figure, each one different. philippe: and i like how integrated it is with those trees, ox trails, and anthony: actually, funny you should mention that. people used to live here, but the government came along in the 80s, i believe, and relocated. it was a mass relocation project. philippe: right. anthony: so, any homes, anything, it was understood that this is a good you know, there s some tourist bucks here. they relocated the entire population. we re in one of the first mass waves of tourists. european tourists have been coming here in relatively small numbers for a long time. but the floodgates have certainly opened. they re building hotels like crazy around this area, what s called the tourist triangle. philippe: i really like this,
beautiful, so much like an ode to human, you knowbeliefd adoration and worshiping and d anthony: slave labor. philippe: and slave labor. anthony: i m thinking, you build this many temples, thousands of them, in a relatively short period of time? you know, chances are somebody was working for less than minimum wage, let s put it that way. philippe: for sure. ah, we could fly here. look at that. whew. anthony: a millennia ago, in a period of just under 250 years, over 4,000 structures like this were built here. they say that a king began this project after a conversion to theravada-style buddhism. they started a new temple, like, every 14 days.