Bagan or Pai?

Neither is a place for a beach trip. Bagan lies on the plains of central Myanmar and Pai in a mountain valley in northern Thailand, and both are a long way from the sea.

The difference is in what water they do have. Bagan's silty Irrawaddy is for boat trips, not swimming, so a hotel pool is the only option. Pai at least lets you float down its river on an inner tube or splash in waterfall pools such as Mo Paeng.

Pai eats somewhat better, thanks to its evening walking street. The stalls sell khao soi, Shan dishes and grilled skewers, cafés cater to long-stay travellers with vegetarian plates and good coffee, and Santichon adds Yunnanese noodles and tea.

Bagan's best meals feel more local. There are Burmese curry spreads with their crowd of side dishes, tea-leaf salad, and mohinga in the tea shops. But the restaurants are spread across three separate settlements and many tourist menus are the same, so you have less choice.

This is the widest gap between the two. Bagan is one of the great sights of Asia: a plain of temples, stupas and monasteries from the Pagan empire. The gilded Shwezigon and the white Ananda are the best known, and countless smaller shrines with faded murals stand along the dirt tracks. Climbing is restricted and some restoration after the 2016 earthquake was heavy-handed, but it still fills several days.

Pai has nothing on that scale. The white Buddha of Wat Phra That Mae Yen, a few Shan-influenced temples, the old iron bridge and Santichon village make a pleasant half day. People go there for the valley, not the sights.

Pai has a real evening scene and Bagan does not. After the night market, Pai's reggae bars and fairy-lit garden bars fill with young backpackers until around midnight. It is friendly and easy-going, but there are no clubs or cocktail bars.

In Bagan the day starts before dawn for the temples. Evenings end with dinner and a beer on Nyaung U's restaurant strip, and the town is quiet by ten.

Scenery is the whole of Pai's appeal. The valley's rice fields lie beneath forested hills, with Pai Canyon for a sunset walk, Pam Bok and Mo Paeng waterfalls close by, and viewpoints where mist settles in the morning. Rafting in the wet season and the cave of Tham Lod, about an hour away, add more.

Bagan's landscape is a flat, dry plain of scrub, palms and peanut fields beside the Irrawaddy. Most of its beauty comes from the temples on it, seen from a balloon at dawn or a boat at sunset. For hills and forest walks you have to go out to Mount Popa.

Bagan has the better choice of outings. Mount Popa, with the Taung Kalat monastery on its volcanic plug and hundreds of barefoot steps to the top, makes a memorable day. Salay's carved teak monastery is a quiet half day, and Pakokku across the river shows you a working market town.

Pai is more cut off. Soppong and the Lahu and Lisu villages around it are about an hour away along the mountain road. Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son are around three twisting hours away, so most visitors move on to them rather than going and coming back in a day.

Neither is made for children, but Pai is the easier of the two. Waterfalls, hot springs, farm visits, gentle tubing and the night market give young visitors some variety, though the winding road in makes many of them carsick.

Bagan asks more of a family. The sights are one brick temple after another, distances across the hot, dusty plain are long, and medical care is basic. Older children who enjoy horse carts, a balloon flight and a bit of history get the most out of it.

Both are explored by scooter, neither has public transport a visitor would use, and walking only covers a small area in each. The difference is the terrain. Bagan is flat, with sandy tracks linking Nyaung U, Old Bagan and New Bagan. An e-bike is the classic way round, with horse carts and drivers hired by the day for the rest.

Pai's small centre takes minutes to walk, but the canyon, waterfalls and springs are reached on hill roads where beginners often crash. For anyone not used to riding, a hired songthaew or a tour is the safer way.

Bagan has the more distinctive craft. It is the centre of Burmese lacquerware, and in the workshops of Myinkaba you can watch bowls and boxes being built up layer by layer before you buy. Sand paintings at the temples and longyi cloth at Nyaung U market add to the choice.

Pai's shopping is the walking street's stalls of cotton trousers, woven bags, hill-tribe textiles and jewellery. It is fun to browse, but the same things turn up from stall to stall. In both places, anything beyond crafts and souvenirs means another city.

Both are very cheap, and a long stay costs little in either. What differs is where the money goes. In Bagan the big extras are the archaeological zone fee for foreigners and the dawn balloon flights, and staying in Nyaung U keeps costs lowest.

In Pai most sights are free or nearly so, and bungalows and night-market meals cost so little that people stay for weeks. Its tourist centre is dearer than ordinary northern Thai towns, though, especially at the busy new year.

Neither has theatres or concert halls, but Pai has live music most nights: acoustic sets and blues, reggae and jazz jams in bars. The quality is uneven, but it is easy to come across over a drink.

Bagan's performances are traditional and put on for visitors: marionette shows and dance at dinner restaurants. If your dates coincide with a pagoda festival, such as the one at Ananda Temple, you may also see an all-night zat pwe of music, dance and comedy.

Pai is made for unwinding in a way Bagan is not. A soak in the warm springs at Tha Pai in the cool morning air, followed by a Thai massage in town, sets the rhythm. Retreats on the outskirts last anything from a day to several weeks, and the spring haze is the main drawback.

Bagan is calm too, but rest there is mostly a midday break from the heat. You spend it by the pools and gardens of the riverside resorts or having a Burmese massage, while dust and touts at the busier temples break the peace.