The Places
Magical Burma (Myanmar)
Magical Myanmar offers you numerous interesting places she has kept secret for more than half a century. As a country rich in culture and flourish in Buddhism, many sacred Buddhist monuments and unspoilt natural wonders are topping the list for exploration.
Yangon ( Rangoon ) is the door for most visitors coming to Myanmar . It is the largest city and the former capital of the country during the British colonial times and beyond. Yangon always presents every visitor with unforgettable insights. The city with over 5 million people showcases the most holy living Buddhist monument of the world, The Great Shwedagon Pagoda. This pagoda of superlative splendor is a must-visit place for all. We will say this visit "An enlightenment in Myanmar". Yangon has unique mix of modern and traditional life-style which makes a tourist more intrigue in the people's life. The harbor of Yangon , beautiful Royal Lake and Bogyoke Aung San Market (former Scott Market) are rich experiences awaiting for exploration.
The ancient city of Bagan is an important highlight of Myanmar . The bygone glory of 11 th Century can be felt in this unique "City of Temples". Bagan is our very first Myanmar Kingdom in history as well as the birth-place of today's Buddhism in the country. Buddhist art and architecture in this ancient capital are wonderfully preserved for visitors to see and study. Bagan is so important to Asian Culture that scholars acknowledge Bagan and Siem Reap as twin sister cities of Asia . Today, the people of Bagan make their living from tourism. There are numerous ways to explore and discover this ancient land. Ballons over Bagan let you see the scenic beauty from bird eye view, Horse curt ride let you feel the city in closeness and in traditional style while bicycling let you independently visit every corner of the city. Which ever way you discover Bagan, there is one thing to say at the end of the visit "Seeing is Believing".
Mandalay , the last royal capital of Myanmar , is rich in traditions. Mandalay and its neighboring cities offer assorted variety of Myanmar culture for visitors. Mandalay is the golden city for this golden land because it presents Buddha Statue covered with tones of gold, it is the country's only place for gold-leaf making and it has lots of gilded monasteries. Traditional craftsmanship is also well thriving in Mandalay . It's marble stone curving, wood curving, beautiful tapestry and marionette making, elegant cotton and silk weaving and silver smith are flourishing family businesses offering insight memories for visitors. Abovementioned and more are to be seen in Mandalay and its relatives cities of Amarapura and Sagaing.
More Excursions from Mandalay will lead you to some awesome ancient towns of central Myanmar . You travel peacefully upstream the great Ayarwaddy ( Irrawaddy ) river to reach a place called Mingun where the largest massive pagoda in the country and the biggest ringing bell (90 tone) in the world are waiting for you. Down stream from Mandalay along Ayarwaddy, beautiful once abandoned royal city of Innwa welcomes you to present its Leaning Tower of Ava, an asian version to Pisa Tower . Further one night trip to Monywa let you wonder the cave temples and murals of Phowintaung caves. Hence, Mandalay and environs shall enrich you with variety of travel memories.
Inle Lake and Shan State , the jewels given by mother nature to Myanmar , are wonderful and peaceful heavens on earth for visitors. Lake Inle situated above 900 m from the sea level is well known as the home for floating gardeners and Intha (Children of the Mother Lake ) leg-rowers. This small sea between the mountains provide livelihood for thousands of ethnic people living on and ashore Inle. Since the natives are pious Buddhists many wonderful temples dotted in and around the lake. Visitors can tour around the lake by small yet comfortable motor-boats to the floating gardens of vegetables, colorful wet markets on the lake shore, villages amid water, shop the unique items of Inle's lotus weaving, experience the devote Buddhist customs at temples and monasteries including Jumping-Cats monastery.
Besides Inle lake, Shan state has much more to present for visitors. As devote Buddhists, Shan and other hill tribe people have built interesting cave temples in their regions. Pindaya Natural Cave with over 8000 Buddha statues from different eras is one excellent example of ethnics devotion to Buddhism as well as an excellent place to visit for travelers. This part of Shan state is famous among tourist as Switzerland of Asia.
Since Shan state constitutes over 40 ethnic tribal regions, there is a great chance to study the life and customs of these hill tribe siblings of Myanmar . The great place to visit for this ethno-lifestyle tours and natural soft-tracking is Kyaing Ton (Kan Ton). Around Kyaing Ton, visitors can explore villages of Ahkka people with silver ornamented head-dress, Ann people who are mostly animists and their lifestyle primitive, Lahu people with bright colorful costumes and Tai Shan Buddhist temples in the regions. These experiences are sometimes refer to as once in a lifetime memories and you will find your self in total satisfaction and proud given by the visit to Kyaing Ton region.
Mrauk-U, the ancient Rakhine royal capital situated in the western part of the country is a precious jewel for tourists with drive for culture. The fortress temples of Mrauk-U are Rakhine version of Angkor in Myanmar . You can study the sand stone temples architecture with a touch of Indian influence from pious Buddhists. The travel route to Mrauk-U itself is very interesting with numerous rivers, water ways through mangroves and plane delta. Mrauk-U has not only famous ancient temples but also many ethnic landscapes. You can visit the Chin villages where you can see the women with facial tattoos and That women with large ear piercing with your nicked eyes. It is truly a worth place to experience.
Above mentioned are parts of the long list of travel destinations in Magical Myanmar. It is undoubtedly true that Myanmar 's highlights cannot be completely seen even on a long tour. That's the reason why many international visitors repeatedly coming back to this Golden Land . Myanmar always welcomes all decent visitors with peaceful smiles and her vest interesting destinations waiting to be explored and appreciated.
