141YANGON–MANDALAY HIGHWAY8BAGAN & CENTRAL MYANMAR8BAGAN & CENTRAL MYANMARMEIKTILAcouple of places to eat in the Junction mall,
where you’ll also fi nd a cinema (K1500).
oMaw Khan Nong BAMAR $
(Golden Hill; meals K1500; h7am-10pm) Join gov-
ernment workers at this canteen and beer
station with a spacious outdoor terrace. Or-
der the good value ‘Bagan bowl’ meal, which
includes a choice from the menu of one veg-
etable and two meat dishes plus rice.
oSantino INTERNATIONAL $$
(Golden Hill; meals K2500-5000; h7am-10pm)
The menu at this appealing Western-style
café, bakery and restaurant has something
for everyone, kicking off with full American-
style breakfasts (K4000) and continuing
with things such as burgers, club sandwich-
es and pizza.
Café Flight INTERNATIONAL $$
(%422 122; [email protected]; 3 Yarza Thingaha
Rd; mains K3500-9000; h8am-10pm) The saf-
est way to board a Myanma Airways plane
is to board this one, parked in front of the
Sky Palace Hotel, and turned into a café-bar
serving draught Tiger beer (K850), coff ee,
noodles, pasta and pizza.
8 Getting There & Away
Air
A new international airport is under construction
10 miles southeast of the city. The government’s
Myanma Airways runs a ‘daily’ fl ight here, but in
reality it runs very irregularly.
Buses
Nay Pyi Taw has two bus stations. The closest
to the hotel zone is at Mymoma Market, west of
the Thabayaegone Roundabout. The Bawga Thiri
bus station is on the Pyinmana side of town,
around 1 mile east of Uppatasanti Paya; services
from this station depart for Yangon at 6am, 5pm
and 9pm (K5900, fi ve hours) and Mandalay at
9pm (K4600, six hours).
Trains
Several miles northeast of the Uppatasanti Paya
is the ridiculously massive new train station with
an old steam locomotive as decoration out front.
There are trains to Yangon and Mandalay:
Yangon (sleeper/ordinary/upper $21/19/7; nine
to 10 hours; departures 6am, 9.10am)
Mandalay (sleeper/ordinary/upper $17/15/7;
six to seven hours; departures 2.15pm, 9.15pm)
8 Getting Around
Nya Pyi Taw is no place for walking and there’s
nothing approaching a public bus service. The
best way around is by private car, taxi or private
motorbike taxis. From the bus and train stations
to the hotel zone costs around K5000 by taxi.
Four hours by motorbike taxi around the city
from Pyinmana should cost you around K10,000.
Nay Pyi Taw Taxi & Car Rental Services
(%414 994, 09-4921 0613) Run by government-
affiliated Max Myanmar group; see p 21.Meiktila
mitIÏl;
% 064
This attractive lakeside town, on the cross-
roads between Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan
and Inle Lake, is a busy little trade centre
with plenty of locals in uniform issued from
the air-force bases outside town. It’s not ter-
ribly exciting, but a bike ride around the
lake can be fun – and you can peek at the
old British offi cers’ house where Aung San
Suu Kyi and Michael Aris honeymooned.
Legend goes that King Anawrahta, founder
of Bagan, had a pond here broadened into the
current lake that looms west of town. When
the king asked if the lake extended all the way
to Mt Popa, the report came back: ‘Lord, it
doesn’t go that far.’ The name ‘Meiktila’ is an
abbreviation of that bad-news report.
Between February and March 1945, the
British killed 20,000 Japanese soldiers based
here in the fi nal WWII battle for control of
Burma. Much of the city was fl attened. Sadly
that trend has continued: town-engulfi ng fi res
devastated the city in 1974 and 1991; another
big one took out several buildings in 2003. 1 Sights
Lake Meiktila is the town’s premier attrac-
tion. There are no boating options, but you
can cycle around some of it. Between the road
and rail bridges, west of the city centre, you
won’t miss Phaung Daw U Paya, a temple
housed in a giant fl oating barge shaped in the
form of a golden Karaweik, a mythical bird.
Cross the road bridge to reach the wood-
en pier leading to the pretty Antaka Yele
Paya, a small pagoda perched on an island
in the lake. Back on the main road is an
Aung San statue.
About 270yd southwest of the bridge is a
building that was once a British colonial
diplomat house. The building was used as
an interrogation centre by the Japanese in
WWII, and many years later Aung San Suu
Kyi and Michael Aris honeymooned here.
The house is to the east of the Lakeside
Wunzin Hotel.