135YANGON–MANDALAY HIGHWAYSLEEPING & EATINGBAGAN & CENTRAL MYANMARSLEEPING & EATINGBAGAN & CENTRAL MYANMARMYINGYANbers accessed from pathways cut around 25
feet vertically down into the limestone. The
buddha images are larger and far newer than
those of the main site but the intriguing over-
all eff ect is of a Buddhist Disneyland set in a
miniature Petra. Squint at Hpo Win Daung
as you return and you might see why locals
think the hill looks like a reclining buddha.
8 Getting There & Away
The fastest access to the sites from Monywa is
to cross the Chindwin River by boat then contin-
ue 23km west (the caves are 6km southwest of
the main Pale road). From Strand Rd in Monywa,
simple open-top ferry boats take locals across
the Chindwin River for K200 each but foreigners
must charter a whole boat, K2500 each way for
up to fi ve people plus K700 per motorbike. Boats
run approximately 6am to 8pm.
Once across, waiting jeeps (carrying up to six
at a pinch) want K15,000 return including wait-
ing time. Motorbike drivers on the west bank
won’t take foreigners due to the jeep monopoly
but you can bring a bike (and driver) across with
you. Renting a chauff eured motorbike costs
around K8000 return (plus boat charges).
Visiting by taxi/motor-trishaw from Monywa
(K20,000/35,000 return) you’ll need to cross
the big Chindwin Bridge. That adds 9 extra miles
but allows a stop at the brilliantly perched if
brash Shwe Taung Oo pagoda for 360-
degree river and plain views. The route also
passes some apocalyptic copper-mining shack-
villages backed by a vast industrial-scale open
pit. By motorbike you could go out by boat, back
by bridge (K10,000 plus boat charges) and enjoy
sunset from Shwe Taung Oo.
Myingyan
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On the Ayeyarwady River 45 miles north of
Nyaung U (towards Mandalay), sprawling
Myingyan (sorta rhymes with ‘engine’) sees
very few travellers, as the major bus routes
avoid the bumpier roads that pass through
town. Some cycling groups pedal through,
and occasionally long-distance boats stop at
the Ayeyarwady River docks.
Most famous for its big prison, scrappy My-
ingyan boasts only a couple of slim reasons to
pause here. About 1 mile east of the bus sta-
tion, across the railway line, is the Bodhi Dat
Taw Taik (meaning ‘depository of Buddha’s
relics’), where you can see relics (teeth, hair,
bone and even skin) of saintly monks down
the ages housed in what was once the walk-in
safe of a British colonial bank; you’ll be given
a torch to peer at the relics stored in jars in
the gloomy interior.
Roughly 1 mile south of the town’s cen-
tral market, via the north–south Mandalay–
Meiktila Rd, is the Soon Lu Kyaung, a small
monastery where you can see the remains,
draped in monastic robes, of the revered
monk Soon Lu Sayadaw. He died in 1951,
though his body is (relatively) well preserved. 4 Sleeping & Eating
One Star Drive In Inn GUESTHOUSE $
(%21389; Myo Pat St, 16th quarter; r per person
K8000; a) This odd group of bungalows
on a dusty side street is about half a mile
southeast of the bus station. Mattresses are
thin, and in the less than appealing attached
bathrooms the showers are cold.New Sein Moe Bamaw
Restaurant CHINESE $$
(7/96 8-St; h10am-9pm) A block west of the
busy central market, this serviceable restau-
rant off ers standard, just edible fried rice,
noodles and vegies – most of the patrons
seem more interested in downing K600
mugs of beer. Next door, on the corner, is the
Mr Tea teahouse.8 Getting There & Away
Frequent buses and pick-up trucks leave
from the station just east of the Myingyan to
Meiktila road, a couple of blocks south of the
market. Services go to Meiktila (back/front seat
K1500/3000, three hours, half hourly 4am to
2.30pm) and Mandalay (K2000, fi ve hours, eight
or nine daily). A pick-up goes to Nyaung U (back/
front seat K1500/3000, 2½ hours, 11am).
The slow daily train between Mandalay and
Bagan stops in Myingyan.YANGON–MANDALAY
HIGHWAYThere are two routes buses and cars ply be-
tween Yangon and Mandalay: the pot-holed
old Hwy No 1, which some call the ‘high
road’ (though it runs west of the Shan Hills);
and the new Yangon–Mandalay Expressway,
dubbed the ‘big road’. Neither are particular-
ly gorgeous drives but both provide access to
a couple of places of interest en route to the
north: the former capital of Taungoo and the
modern-day ‘royal capital’ of Nay Pyi Taw, a
visit to which plunges you into the deepest
depths of the bizarre.