128BAGAN & CENTRAL MYANMAR
AROUND BAGAN
Popa Mountain Resort (%69169, in Yangon
01-503 831; [email protected]; r supe-
rior $70, r deluxe garden/mountain view $150/200;
ais), owned by Htoo Trading Company, a
business affi liated with the government (see
p 21 ).Nonguests can take a dip in the pool ($5)
or have a meal (Myanmar set menu for $12)
at the good restaurant while overlooking the
pagodas atop Popa Taung Kalat.8 Getting There & Away
Most travellers visit Mt Popa in half a day by
share taxi or by organised tour from their hotel.
In Nyaung U, guesthouses could get you a slot in
a share taxi (without guide); a whole taxi is $35
and, at a squeeze, can fi t four plus the driver.
At research time a pick-up truck left Nyaung
U’s bus station at 8.30am for Mt Popa (K3000,
two hours); it left Popa for Nyaung U at 1pm.
Less conveniently, you could take an hourly
pick-up from Nyaung U to Kyaukpadaung (90
minutes) and then another to Mt Popa (45 min-
utes). This would take a full day.Salay
cel
% 063
This Bagan-era village, 22 miles south of
Bagan, is rooted in the 12th and 13th cen-
turies, when Bagan’s infl uence spread. It
remains an active religious centre, with
something like 50 monasteries for the 7000
or so residents! Day-trippers make it here to
visit a few of the 19th-century wooden mon-
asteries and some select Bagan-era shrines,
and peek at a handful of untouched British
colonial buildings.
It can be paired with Mt Popa on a full-
day trip, though the two are in diff erent di-
rections from Bagan. Eating choices tend to
be better in nearby Chauk (famous for its
production of the sweet tamarind fl akes that
are served at the end of all meals in Bagan),but you can get noodles in the Salay market.
There are no hotels. 1 Sights
Youqson Kyaung BUDDHIST MONASTERY
rup'c®uekY;='"
(%09-4721 5427; admission $5, camera fee $2;
h9am-4.30pm) Designed as a copy of the
Crown Prince House in Mandalay, and built
from 1882 to 1892, the huge wooden monas-
tery is the best place to start a visit in Salay.
Along two of its exterior sides are detailed
original carvings displaying 19th-century
court life and scenes from the Jataka (sto-
ries of the Buddha’s past lives) and Rama-
yana (one of India’s best-known legends);
sadly another side’s pieces were looted in
the 1980s. Inside, the 17th- to 19th-century
pieces are behind glass cases, while the
Bagan-era woodcarvings (including a mas-
sive throne backdrop) stand in open view.
The monastery was renovated twice in
the 1990s and the government’s Department
of Archaeology runs the site (see p 21 ); on-
site staff can point you to other nearby sites
in and outside town.Bagan-Era Monuments BUDDHIST TEMPLES
Little of the history of Salay’s 103 ruins is
known outside a small circle of Myanmar
archaeologists working with limited funds.
It is said that most of the monuments in Sa-
lay weren’t royally sponsored, but were built
by the lower nobility or commoners – thus
there’s nothing on the grand scale of Bagan’s
biggest structures.
In the pagoda-fi lled area about 110yd
east of Youqson Kyaung, you can see Paya
Thonzu (Temples 18, 19 and 20), which is a
small trio of brick shrines with sikhara (In-
dian-style corncob-like temple fi nials) and
some faded murals inside. The westernmost
shrine (to the left if you come from the mu-
seum) has the most visible murals and also
a narrow set of stairs leading to a small ter-
race. If it’s locked, ask at Youqson Kyaung.
A more interesting feature is the modern
makeover of the Bagan-era Shinpinsarkyo
Paya (Temple 88), about 4 miles southwest of
town via a dodgy road (and a couple of dodgy
bridges). Inside the glass- and tile-fi lled pago-
da, you’ll fi nd an original 13th-century wood
Lokanat (Mahayana Bodhisattva guardian
spirit).
The nearby northern entrance passage-
way features interesting 19th-century 3-D
murals (some are torture to see). OriginalFRUIT OF THE PALMSOn the way to or from Mt Popa have your
driver pause at one of the several toddy
and jaggery (palm sugar) operations that
are set up along the road. The operators
will give you a basic demo of how the al-
coholic drink and sweets are made from
the sap of the toddy palm. After, you can
taste and buy the products.