HIGHLIGHTS IN MYANMAR

Nay Pyi Taw

The new capital established in 2005 was planned with care as befitting the seat of government. The surrounding small towns and villages benefited from the economic boom, as well from the newly built recreational facilities including an international standard Zoo. For visitors there are luxury hotels and great restaurants.
 

Yangon

Yangon, during and after the colonial period, was the capital city. Centuries ago it was a small village and entry point for the 2500 years old Shwedagon Pagoda, enshrined with hair relics of the Buddha. In the beginning it was a small spire but by the end of the 15th century the height was almost the same as the present height of 326 ft., and also completely covered with thin sheets of gold. Yangon’s busy downtown is centred on the small but elegant Sule Pagoda. Streets leading outwards from it are lined with old colonial buildings and new hotels and high rises. At the Botahtaung Pagoda you can walk within the spire, Nga Htut Gyi Pagoda with a beautiful sitting image and Chauk Htut Gyi Pagoda’s reclining image are famous. The Alin Bogyoke Aung San Market is the best place to shop for all needs from money changing, gems, jewellery, silver ware, lacquerware, hand-woven fabrics, ready-to-wear local costumes, souvenirs, crafts, etc.

Yangon Vicinity

A short drive away from Yangon is the town of anlyin, once an ancient royal capital. The Kyaik Khaut Pagoda, a replica of the Shwedagon, celebrates its annual festival every January/February, which is the biggest country fair closest to Yangon. Next to Thanlyin is Kyauktan, with a pagoda in the middle of the river. Also across a river is Twanté, a pottery centre known since the 6th century as ’City of Pots’. North of Yangon lies the old Mon capital of Bago, once known as Hanthawaddy, seat of the Third Myanmar Empire founded by King Bayint Naung. The Shwe Mawdaw Pagoda and the Shwe Thar Lyaung Reclining Image are famous sites. Moe Yun Gyi Bird Sanctuary On the road to Bago is a lovely place, where migrant birds stop on their way south every year.

Pyay

Called ‘Prome’ by the British, is a lovely, peaceful town just on the border of the delta and the middle dry zone. The Shwe Sandaw Pagoda is famous, as is the Shwe Myet Hman Image, wearing eye glasses, of the next town Shwedaung.

Pyay Vicinity

Five miles away from Pyay is the site of the old Pyu kingdom of Srikhetera, with pagodas built in the 6th century, and a small museum showing the relics of that lost civilisation. Just south of Pyay is Akaut Taung, where hundreds of Buddha images have been carved on the stony cliff side of Akaut Mountain.

Bagan

Once it was the seat of the First Myanmar Empire founded by King Anawrahta in the 11th century. Anawrahta strengthened the Theravada sect of Buddhism to such an extant that his dynasty left over two thousand temples in the land he once ruled and Theravada Buddhism remains the main Way of Life in Myanmar The 2230 temples that still exist are only half of the 4500 of the Bagan era. However, the most famous temples, which were living places of worship throughout history, were well-maintained by kings and commoner and are in excellent condition. Shwezigon, Shwe Sandaw and Lawka Nanda Pagodas, and temples such as Pahto Tharmyar, Ananda, Thatbyinnyu, Kyauk Gu Umin, Shwegu Gyi. Gawtaw Palin, Htilo Minlo, Maha Bodhi, Wet Kyi In Gu Byauk Gyi, Myin Kabar Gu Byauk Gyi, Dhamma Yan Gyi, Sulamuni, Nagayon, Abeyadana, Thambula, Manuha, and Paya Thinzu.
Many of them have ancient wall paintings and glazed high relief plaques.

 

Bagan Vicinity

Not far from Bagan is Mount Popa, a national wildlife park, and next to the mountain a cylindrical crest rising from the plains. This is where spirits of animist worship live, the Mother Goddess of Popa on her main shrine up the hill side. The Lord of the Great Mountain, guardian Spirit of families and places, has his main shrine on the plains near the crest. Mount Popa National Park is like an oasis of the dry zone.

Upriver of Bagan is Pakokku and downriver is Salee, two typical Burmese towns with wonderful old wooden monasteries. The one is Sale is especially famous, as the wood is carved all over with flowers, mythical creatures and scenes out of Buddhist Tales.

Mandalay

Kutho Daw Pagoda. Other places of interest in Mandalay are the beautiful Golden Monastery which was once used as King Mindon’s residence; the Shwe inbin Monastery, built in traditional architecture of monasteries; the Maha Muni Pagoda where the image is thickly covered in gold leaf; the Incomparable Monastery; a replica of the palace; Mandalay Hill the best place to watch the sunset; Kyauk Taw Gyi Pagoda; the marble cutters’ row near the Maha Muni; the ateliers of the wood carvers and bronze casters of Amarapura; the mile-long wooden U Bein Bridge over Taung Thaman Lake; the Maha Ganda Yon Monastic School on its bank and the Taung Thaman Kyauk Taw Gyi Pagoda on the opposite side of the lake, which has wonderful 18th century wall paintings.

Mandalay Vicinity

Mandalay plus its neighbouring towns were once the seat of power so Inwa and Sagaing as well as Amarapura were old royal capitals. Inwa is now a pleasant, shady town of prosperous farmers, for their fields are lush and fertile, with the road of the kings passing through its centre. The wooden Bagaya Monastery and Maha Aung Mye Bonzan Monastery of brick are both beautiful relics of the past.

Sagaing is now famous as the religious sanctuary, for among its green hills is numerous pagodas, monasteries and nunneries. Some are small wooden buildings within neat compounds while some are immense colonial-era brick buildings of two storeys.
An awesome sight on the flat banks of the Ayeyarwaddy is the incomplete Mingun Pagoda, 162 ft high, just one third of its planned height. Next to it hangs the complete 90 tonne bronze bell which was cast to be placed on the pagoda platform. A place of some difference is Pyin Oo Lwin, a cool hill resort 2 hours’ drive from Mandalay. It was once the hill summer vacation place of the colonial British and many of their beautiful mansions have been turned into luxury hotels.
 

About 80 miles north-west of Mandalay is Monywa, on the banks of the Chindwin River. It us a busy trade centre, made famous by the Mo Hnyin Thamboddhay Pagoda, a huge complex where every building exterior is covered with high relief figures and floral motifs painted in realist colours. There are two immense Buddha images: a 424 ft-high standing image and a 333 ft-long reclining image. Some miles away is the village of Kyaukkar where lacquerware is made in simple designs, and beyond this village is the famous Shwe Gu Ni Pagoda with beautiful 19th century wall paintings.

Across the Chindwin River from Monywa are two ancient cave pagodas, Po Win Taung and Shwe Ba Taung, with 16th century wall paintings on the cave walls.
Across the Chindwin and much further west in the deep jungles live the Chin and Naga races.

Heho Airport is the gateway to the wonders of the Southern Shan State where Shan, Danu, Palaung, Pa O, Inthar and Taung Thu live.

East of Heho is Inle Lake. Both locals and foreign visitors love this place because it is like a magical sea surrounded by purple mountain ranges. The Hpaung Daw Oo Pagoda on the lake is one of the most important pilgrimage sites and during festival time, tens of thousand of devotees from all over the country come to pay homage..

Shan food served here is extremely fresh, delicious and oil free. Silks, embossed silver and lacquerware made by the inhabitants are exquisite. It is a wonderful experience to go by boat to visit the markets and villages. Many wooden houses and monasteries are set on the water, built on high stilts. The ‘Jumping Cats’ Monastery has acrobatic cats and the best collection of ancient Buddha images in the Shan style. Here, they row with one leg, standing on the stern with the other and even children are experts at handling the family skiff. On the southern part of the lake is the old ruined city of Sagar, once a royal capital but now only ruined temples remain.
On the western banks of Inle Lake are two 16th century pagoda complexes of Indain and Taungto.

Inle Lake Vicinity

North-west of Heho is Pindaya, a pretty little town where paper is handmade from mulberry bark and umbrellas from cotton. Hundreds of images were enshrined in Shwe Umin Caves since ancient times. A few hours’ drive brings you to Kalaw, a lovely little colonial era hill station, and Kekku, another 16th century pagoda complex deep in the wilds, is not far from Taungyi, the capital of the Southern Shan State. It has 2000 small, beautifully carved stone shrines. In March, the annual festival of this pagoda complex brings tens of thousands of the Pa O race who pray and celebrate for three days.

Shan State is a large region that stretches to the borders with Laos, Thailand and China. Lashio, a town in the eastern part, is very near the border with China. A well maintained road runs from Lashio to Muse, a Myanmar town across the border from China’s Ruli. Lashio is a large sprawling town with a huge market where ethnic races of the surrounding villages come to trade. It us also possible to take trekking tours to the villages of Eng, Palaung and Akha. Kyaington is some distance south of Lashio, and as an old town with centuries of history, it has beautiful monasteries in the Thai style.

Kachin State

Myitkyina is the capital of the Kachin State, which lies at the north and north-eastern parts of Myanmar. Jinghpaw, Rawang, Atsi, Palaung, Eng, Akha, Lisu, Lushei, Danu, Lahu, and Wa races live in this mountainous region. Just some miles north of Myitkyina there is the confluence of the Mai Kha and Mali Kha Rivers, which are fed by the melting snows of the Himalayas. When they joined, the Ayeyarwaddy River was born; this is one of the most beautiful places in Myanmar. The Myitkyina shops and the main market are good places to find the colourful Kachin fabrics.

Near the very top of the country is Putao, a pretty and clean small town, surrounded by the eastern end of the Himalayas including the icy Hkakaborazi, Gamlangrazi and Phunganrazi Mountains.

Rakhine State

The western coastline is a long and narrow sea front region, at places dangerously rocky but at others, having the most beautiful beaches.

The best is Ngapali, with a wide, almost empty beach of pure-white large-grained sands. Luxury hotels line the road just at the edge of the beach, and on the other side are small restaurants and villages where the fishermen live. Further south on the coast is Chaung Thar Beach, popular with locals and another excellent beach called Ngwe Saung, nine miles of white soft sand dotted with luxury hotels. In all three places the seafood is freshly caught and delicious.

To explore the ancient city of Mrauk oo, travellers have to first go to Sittwe, a sea coast town with a black sand beach. From here, a day's boat ride on the Kaladan River takes you to Mrauk Oo. The waterfront fish market of Sittwe is a colourful and lively place where boats unload their catch straight to stalls.
Mrauk Oo is the last capital of the rich and highly civilised Rakhine kingdom, established in 1430. The many ancient Rakhine temples here were built out of blocks of stone such as the Andaw Thein, Dukkhan Thein, Shite Thaung Pagoda and Koe Thaung Pagoda. Not far from Mrauk Oo are villages where the Southern Chin race live; their fabrics are extraordinary.

South east

The south east of Myanmar is mostly unexplored by foreign travellers. Loikaw, capital of the Kayah State, has only recently been accessible to tourists. The Taung Kwei Pagoda, built on a cylindrical hill split in two, is a famous site. The Padaung people live in this region, and many of the older women of this race and even some younger ones wear the heavy brass coils around their necks, as part of their beliefs of protection from tigers..

The long, narrow leg of Myanmar that borders Thailand is in many places deep jungles and rugged hills. Along this region, there are magical places such as the Golden Rock Pagoda, which is a huge head-shaped builder balanced on the edge of a cliff. The small pagoda on its top is believed to be enshrined with the hair relics of the Buddha.

On the road to Mawlamyaing are the Kawgun Caves, an ancient pilgrimage site where the walls are covered with hundreds of small Buddha images. The site is so ancient that no one could decipher the three sentences etched in one place, in an unknown language with similarities to the writings of 6th century Southern India as well as contemporary Khmer calligraphy.

Mawlamyaing is a beautiful town with colonial era buildings lining the waterfront. One senior queen of the second last monarch fled here after the country was annexed by the British in 1885 and she built the Yandana Bon Myint Monastery. The architecture incorporate many features of Mandalay Palace, including a replica of the Lion Throne

Tanintharyi Division

Further south on this strip of land is the town of Myeik. The Myeik Archipelago is made up of over 900 islands of various sizes, including those bigger than Singapore. Most of the islands are uninhabited, surrounded by crystal-clear blue-green waters and ringed with white sand beaches. Even in the fiercest rainy season kayaking, diving and fishing are available sports for the adventurous traveller.

Groups of ‘sea gypsies’ called Moken or Salone as known in Myanmar, live on boats and roam the sea around these islands. They are gatherers as their culture forbids them to cast nets. They are skilled pearl divers and the famed natural pearls of Myeik are almost all found by them. They live off oysters and other seafood and also collect sea cucumbers, treasured in Chinese cuisine.

At the very southern tip of Myanmar is Kawthaung and across the narrow channel is the Thai town of Ranaung. A nearby Island has been turned into a luxury resort.