Bago

Bago lies 80 km (50 miles) north – east of Yangon. It was an ancient capital of Mon Kingdom in 15th century and known as Hanthawaddy Kingdom under the Mon. It is capital city of Bago division; Bago by car on a newly up graded six lane high way, it takes about 1h30min drive to get Bago from Yangon and also reach by train. Bago can do day’s trip the most famous site are Kyakhatwine monastery, Shwe tha lyaung Reclining Buddha which has 55m long, Shwemawdaw pagoda, 28 m high huge Buddha image of Kyaikpun, the Mon old Palace site(Kanbawzathadi Palace), Hinn Tha Gone Pagoda and Bago market.

Shwemawdaw Paya

Shwemawdaw Paya in Myanmar stands northeast of Myanmar train station. You can’t miss this Myanmar stupa, as its height of 114 m dominates Bago town. The Shwemawdaw Myanmar paya is said to be over 1000 years old and was originally build by the Mon King to the height os 23m to enshrine two hairs of Buddha. In 825 Myanmar Shwemawdaw Paya was raised to 25m and then to 27m in 840. In 982 a sacred tooth was added to the collection in 1385 another tooth was added and this Myanmar stupa was rebuilt to a towering 84m. In 1492, the year Columbus sailed the Atlantic, a wind blew over the hti (umbrella like pinnacle) Hti Roe in Burmese and new one was raised. Myanmar King Bodawpaya, in the reconstruction of Myanmar Bago after the ravages of Myanmar king Alaungpaya, rebuilt the stupa to 91m in 1796, but from that point it has had a rather chequered career. A new Hti Roe was added in 1882, but a major earthquake in 1912 brought it down. Shwemawdaw Myanmar stupa was repaired, but in 1917 major quake again brought it down and caused serious damage in Myanmar. Again it was repaired, but in 1930 the biggest earthquake of them all completely leveled Shwemawdaw stupa and for the next years only the huge earth mound of the base remained.Reconstruction of the Myanmar Shwemawdaw Paya commenced in 1952 and was completed in 1954, when Shwemawdaw paya reaches its present height. The glittering golden top of the stupa reaches 14m higher than Shwedagon in Yangon. At the northeastern corner of the stupa, a huge section of the Hti tipped by the 1917 earthquake has been mounted into the structure of the stupa. It is a sobering reminder of the power of such Myanmar geological disturbances.Like the Shwedagon pagoda in Yangon, Shwemawdaw Myanmar stupa is reached by a covered walkway lined with stalls some with interesting collections of antique bits and pieces. Along the sides of the walkway a collection of rather faded and dusty paintings illustrates the terrible effects of the 1930 earthquake and shows the subsequent rebuilding of this mighty stupa in Myanmar Bago.

Shwe Thalyaung Pagoda

Bago Market

The Bago Market is the only interesting thing this city can offer apart from its temples. The clothing stalls are inside a building. The vegetable and fish stalls are on the street and on the way to the riverbank. There are also some spice stalls and varied things under some sheds. Very interesting food stalls with all kinds of strange specialties. Try a strawberry milkshake in a small bar in the street parallel to the main road.

Kyakhat Wine Monastery

Kanbawzathadi Palace

The original site of Hanthawady, which surrounded a former Mon place, was excavated just south of the huge shwemawdaw Paya in Myanmar Bago. Walled in the Mon style, the square city measured 1.8 km along each side and has 20 gates. The palace compound in the centre, known as Kanbawzathadi, housed Myanmar King Bayinnaung from 1553 to 1599 and covered 82 hectares. About 26 hectares of this area have been excavated. The small, well stocked, octagon shaped museum displays Mon, Siamese and Myanmar Bagan style buddhas; clay tobacco pipes; glazed tiles and pots; bronze weights and scales; pieces of the original teak stockade; and weaponry.

Pyay(Prome)

Pyay (Prome) is only 161 km north (5 hours’ drive) of Yangon situated on the eastern bank of the Ayeyarwady River on a lovely location. Visitors can stop over in Pyay and travel on to Bagan and Mandalay. Srikshetra (1-9 AD), the ancient Pyu capital about five miles to the east, is interesting place to visit because of their historical sites. Interesting Places in Pyay are Shwesandaw Pagoda, Sehtetgyi Pagoda, Baw Baw Gyi Pagoda, Be Be Gyi Pagoda and Payama Pagoda. There is another famous site which is "Ahkauktaung" it is known for its curving on the cliff along the river. Normally we do it as a stopover between long drive of Yangon and Bagan.

Srikshetra ancient pyu capital

An ancient 'Pyu' Capital lies 8 km south-east of Pyay ( Prome), which is located about 178 mile north-west of Yangon. Archaeological discoveries indicate that the city attained its height of prosperity between the 5th and 9th centuries.The remains at Tha-ye-khit-taya are palace site, the prototype of Bagan vaulted temple such as Lemyethna and East Zegu, the cylinder-shaped Bawbawgyi Pagoda, Payagyi and Payama stupas each with a high conical dome and the Archaeological Museum.Places of interest in Pyay are Shwesandaw Pagoda, a gigantic sitting Buddha Statue of Hsehtatkyi Pagoda, Shwe Phone Pwint Library and the beautiful scenery of majestic Ayeyarwaddy river.Pyay is easily accessible by road or by rail. The visitors can stay at Mingalar garden resort Hotel, Smile Motel and other private guest-houses for over-night stay.Shwesandaw Pagoda

Ahkauk Taung

At the end of the Second Anglo-Burmese war, Myanmar and British toll-posts were situated on Akauk Taung, a toll-hill in Myanmar language side by side. All boatmen had to pay tax to both posts. All sailing boats anchored close by the hill and waited till occasionally a week-long whirlpool ceased. The sailors prayed to God by carving Buddha images on the steep cliffside during that period. The mountain was named for the crafty toll-takers from the mid 19th Century. Akauk Taung Mountain still stands on the bank of the Ayeyarwaddy River to the north of Pyay in Bago Region. It takes 15 minutes by boat sailing along the Ayeyarwaddy river to reach the Akauk Taung. Tourist can take remarkable photographs only from the boat which is in the middle of Ayeyarwaddy river.So many beautiful and stone scripted Buddha Images at Akauk Taung