Hot air balloons carrying tourists rise above the pagodas at dawn in Myanmar's northern ancient town of Bagan on Feb. 26, 2012. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

For years, Myanmar was an island unto itself. Though the Asian country of 60 million is bordered by multiple countries, for years it practiced a policy of isolationism. Little was known of what happened inside the country's borders aside from the ethnic violence that became deadly enough to make international headlines. But after a democratic election did away with the military dictatorship in 2011, the country opened up to a flood of foreign visitors, reported NPR.

Across the country, travelers discovered the beauty and splendor of Myanmar's Buddhist heritage. Around 90 percent of the population is Buddhist, and there are temples and sacred sites scattered across the land that have stood for hundreds of years and continue to be used today.

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In Bagan visitors will find the heart of the country's ancient architecture. On the banks of the Irrawaddy River, more than 2,200 temples and shrines are a testament to a magnificent Buddhist city that rose to prominence in the 11th and 12th centuries, reported the New York Times. The early settlers who came to the region from China built enormous cities with working irrigation, stunning architecture, and tall brick walls.

In Yangon, the capital, the golden Shwedagon Pagoda towers above the city and is believed to have been built around 500 BC, wrote the Sydney Morning Herald. The tower is plated with gold leaf and covered in more than 4,000 diamonds. The temple is said to contain holy relics, like strands of the Buddha's hair, and is used for religious community activities like worshiping, meditating and offering flowers.

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Another famous site is the holy Golden Rock perched on a cliff not far from Yangon. Various legends say the boulder is balanced on a single hair from the Buddha's head or that it hovers in the air above the cliff's sharp descent.

A final popular destination is Mandalay, the second-largest city in the country. Located near the center of Myanmar, cultures and culinary traditions have been coming together here for hundreds of years. Sites to visit in the city include the Mandalay Palace, the Kuthodaw Pagoda and the Mahamuni Buddha Temple. Richard Kipling was so taken with Mandalay and the entire country (then called Burma), he wrote, "I love the Burman with the blind favoritism born of first impression. When I die I will be a Burman."