Rent a bike: Most midrange-luxury hotels offer bike rentals from 2500 Kyats per day. Most of the area in and around Bagan is flat and very easy to bicycle your way around.
Rent a E-Bike: Most hotels offer E-Bikes for around 6$ or 5,000 kyats. Jan 2017 prices: 8,000 Kyat for one person, 10,000 Kyat for two, booked at hotel.
Rent a horse cart with driver : The classic way to visit interesting sites in Bagan. A day tour around the temples will cost about 15-25.000 kyat per cart (up to 4 people). You can either tell the driver where you want to go, or let them decide for you. Usually, they will try to take you to a cafe where they get a commission, but this is not always a bad option.
Rent a car with driver: This is the best for the marathon option of getting to the five-part tour mentioned above and attainable in two days. It is also dust and dirt (although you still have to take off your shoes and socks) but definitely sweat and sunburn free at a price of US$35 per day per car (fare can be split to a maximum of 4 passengers). Cars are private owned but they have to be government accredited as indicated by a big sticker approval on the door of the car. Of course, the government has a cut on this. The rental office is on the tourist information office (i) at New Bagan township.
Rent a boat: Watch the sunset in your private boat. The price per boat for 4-6 people is around 14$ for 1-2h on the river. I recommend “Ko Hla Khaing” Boat Trips (Taungbi Village, Old Bagan, Phone: 09-402501013), in Old Bagan. Coming from New Bagan you will use the main street through Old Bagan and immediately after you left Old Bagan you should see signs for “Bagan Boat Trips” on the left side. Follow the signs for 5-10min with your bike. Another option is Fantasia Boat tours from Fantasia Jetty, costs 4,000 Kyat per person, or 15,000 Kyat for entire boat. The Fantasia Garden has a nice spot overseeing the river from an elevation to sip on drinks before taking off on the boat at 4:30PM.
Go for hot air balloon ride: See Bagan from another point of view. Or just head to the launch site to watch them taking off. It is next to the golf course, accessible from the road going from the airport to Old Bagan, turning left for the road towards Amazing Bagan Golf resort, then taking a right turn before the resort. You can reach the resort early and follow one of the vintage-looking vans ferrying guests to the launch site.
Monks and Monkettes: If you haven’t get your fill of the early morning monks alms begging and blessing when you were in Luang Prabang, get out to the street exactly 7:00 am and see the monks, this time wearing their vests in burgundy (not in orange). There is even a herd of little monks as young as 3 or 5 to 10-year olds parading bare foot with the tallest down to the smallest toeing the line and with the eldest and the shepherd of them all brotherly escorting the last and the youngest (a heartwarming sight to see). By the way, the first in the parade is the announcer carrying his little bell and beater. Other spectacles are the also bald-headed female monks or monkettes with their pink robes, orange skirts, and beige-ochre shoulder-to-armpit wrapped towels. Their way of begging is different. They use woven cane trays carried over their head and receive only one spoonful of uncook rice from each donor. These spectacles are best seen along the Nyaung Oo road from Thante Hotel to the Shwezigon Pagoda.
Novice monk initiation rites: During long school breaks, boys are inducted into monkhood with this ritual. This can be observed with the first signs of loud temple music blaring out a day before and on the day itself coming from a monastery around (in and out of the walls of) the northern side of Old Bagan. On the day itself, the boys are brought to the monastery by parents and relatives dressed in gowns, crowns, flowers, sequences & glitters, stockings, and make-up. A big audience is gathered. The place itself is colourfully festooned. A small show consists of songs by hired singers accompanied by ensemble music, a pep talk by a layman and some rituals. After some photos with their parents, the boys are brought again to another monastery (Myoe Daung Monastery) to be stripped, head shaved, and bathed. Finally they are assembled in the hall in front of the abbot for some prayer recitation, oath taking and robe-blessing ceremonies after which they are totally stripped and dressed in their new robe vestment by their parents. They will stay the rest of their school holiday in the monastery.
Night Market + Carnival. There is a small night market cum carnival in the middle of the small town. While there isn’t much to buy or play compared to night markets in more developed countries, it is a good way to see first hand how the locals entertain themselves. There is an indoor stage where concerts are held (free), and an especially eye-popping Ferris Wheel, which is amazing for the fact that it runs not on electricity or gas, but on human strength. Young men clamber up and down the Ferris wheel with no protection or safety equipment of any sort, and use their own body weight to rotate the wheel. One wrong move and they could be fatally injured. This would be unthinkable in most countries, but it’s just another night at the carnival for the Burmese. (Wiki Travel)