147YANGON – BAGAN HIGHWAY8BAGAN & CENTRAL MYANMAR8BAGAN & CENTRAL MYANMARAROUND PYAYthe way to ‘Thaungpye Mound’, is the better
(but bumpier) way back to the museum.
Take the left and after half a mile you’ll
pass by a gap in the 3m-thick city walls,
which has become a gate. Continue another
mile, through a booming farming village of
thatch huts, with piles of radishes and other
produce. Towards the north end of the vil-
lage is the 13th-century East Zegu Paya,
a small four-sided temple with overgrown
walls and (usually) locked doors. It’s off the
main road, but is worth visiting for the walk
past the fi elds and farmers.
8 Getting There & Away
The turn-off here is a couple of miles east of
Payagyi Paya. A return taxi between Thayekhit-
taya and Pyay should cost about K10,000. No
direct pick-up truck connects the Pyay town
centre with the site. You can bike to the site, but
not around it.
SHWEDAUNG
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This small town about 9 miles south of
Pyay, via the road to Yangon, contains the
famous Shwemyetman Paya (Paya of the
Golden Spectacles), a reference to the large,
white-faced sitting buddha inside the main
shrine. The buddha wears a gargantuan set
of eyeglasses with gold-plated rims. Coming
south from Pyay, the turn-off for Shwemy-
etman is located on the right-hand side of
the road; a green-and-white sign in English
reads ‘Shwe Myet Hman Buddha Image – 1
Furlong’.
Spectacles were fi rst added to the im-
age during the Konbaung era, when a no-
bleman off ered them to the temple in an
attempt to stimulate local faith through cu-
riosity. Word soon spread that the bespec-
tacled buddha had the power to cure all
ills, especially affl ictions linked to the eyes.
The fi rst pair of spectacles was stolen at an
early stage, and a second pair was made
and enshrined inside the image to protect
it from thieves.
An English offi cer stationed in Pyay dur-
ing the colonial era had a third pair fi tted
over the buddha’s eyes after his wife suff ered
from eye trouble and the abbot suggested
such a donation. Naturally, as the story goes,
she was cured. (This pair is now in a small
shrine to the right of the image.)
On the southern side of Shwedaung,
about 3 miles from Shwemyetman, is the
attractive hilltop Shwenattaung Paya
(Golden Spirit Mountain), which report-
edly dates back to the Thayekhittaya era.
Among the many images of buddha is a se-
rene one carved from marble. A large paya
pwe (pagoda festival) is held here each year
on the full moon of Tabaung (February/
March).
To get to Shwedaung, hop on a pick-up
truck headed towards Yangon. Pick-up
trucks leave frequently from the Pyay bus
station and pass by the Aung San statue be-
fore hitting the highway.AK AUK TAUNG
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Carved into cliff s overlooking the Ayeyar-
wady, about 19 miles downstream from
Pyay, are dozens of buddha images at AkaukMEET THE FAMILY SIMON RICHMOND‘My name is Ku Tan Swe and this is my husband U Aye Cho, my brother U Ken Lu and
my sister Luin Luin May; she’s 82.’ Sitting demurely behind a dusty table in the big, high-
ceilinged entrance room, the old lady peered kindly at me through her circular glasses,
not in the least bit fazed by having a perfect stranger drop by unexpectedly. A moment
before I’d been outside taking a photograph of their home, a grand 1924 mansion a few
blocks south of the Shwemyetman Paya in Shwedaung, when Ku Tan Swe – one of the
several people who lived there – invited me inside.
Pointing at one of the many framed sepia photos hanging on the walls, Ku Tan Swe
continued with the introductions. ‘That’s my grandfather U Aung Kyw – he built this
house.’ She then turned to the opposite wall to indicate the portrait of her grandmother
Dohla. U Aung Kyw was a talented man: another of his fancy colonial-mansion creations,
built in 1926, can be seen a block south of the Shwemyetman Paya.
Looking around, I noticed another fading, crumbling image, this one in colour and of
an English-looking woman in army uniform. ‘Is that another relation?’ I asked. ‘No, it’s
Elizabeth’, replied U Ken Lu laughing. Taking a closer look, I saw it was, indeed, Princess
Elizabeth, now the Queen.