189INLE LAKEEATINGEASTERN MYANMAREATINGEASTERN MYANMARAROUND INLE LAKEalso be called the Shan Fashion Museum.
Among the outfi ts you’ll also fi nd a handful
of displays of weapons, musical instruments
and jewellery.
MARKETS
The focal point of Taunggyi is the market
area on the main road through town. The
Old Market is dominated by foodstuff s and
household goods while the New Market has
clothes and black-market goods. Every fi ve
days the old market ground hosts a busy
tribal market that attracts lots of traders
from the hills.
RELIGIOUS MONUMENTS
The main downtown pagoda is the Mya Le
Dhamma Yon (Bogyoke Aung San Rd) near the
market and nearby is the huge Gurdwara
(Sikh temple) used by Taunggyi’s Sikh popu-
lation. Taunggyi has a number of historic
churches and there are several Burmese-
style mosques on the alleyways southwest
of the market.
Set among the pines above Circular Rd
West, the Yat Taw Mu Pagoda contains a
33ft-high standing buddha, constructed
using donations from Japanese Buddhists.
Just north of Hotel Empire, Min Kyaung
features gaudy statuary and a pagoda styled
after the Mahabodhi temple at Bodhgaya in
India.
On the outskirts south of town, the huge
white Sulamuni Paya has a gilded corn-
cob stupa that pays tribute to the Ananda
Pahto in Bagan. You can continue uphill to
the ridge-top paya of Shwe Phone Pwint
Paya for dizzying views over Taunggyi and
Inle Lake.
z Festivals & Events
As part of the full-moon celebrations during
Tazaungmon (the eighth month of the Bur-
mese lunar calendar), the city holds a huge
fi re-balloon festival, when hundreds of hot-
air balloons in a kaleidoscope of colours and
shapes are released into the sky to carry away
sins. The three-day festival takes place in Oc-
tober or November and accommodation can
be very hard to fi nd in Taunggyi at this time.
4 Sleeping
Hotels in Taunggyi cater primarily to visiting
traders, so there are few bargains to be had.
KBZ FC Hotel HOTEL $$
(%22009; 157 Khwar Nyo St; s/d/ste $30/35/45;
a) A recent renovation has changed the exte-
rior and name of the former Paradise Hotel.
The current emphasis appears to be on TVs:
the lobby boasts what is quite possibly the
largest one we’ve ever seen, and each of the
gigantic suites is fi tted with two fl at-screen
TVs! Unfortunately the standard rooms have
changed little and have the same aged furni-
ture (and TVs) as its predecessor.Hotel Empire HOTEL $$
(%23737; 31 Bogyoke Aung San Rd; s/d $20/26)
Another substantial Chinese business-style
hotel, the Empire has modern rooms with
TVs, and bathrooms with reliably hot show-
ers. Staff here are more used to dealing with
foreign visitors than at the other hotels in
town.Khemerat Hotel HOTEL $
(%22464; 4/B Bogyoke Aung San Rd; s/d $12/18)
The closest Taunggyi has to budget accom-
modation, this faded block at the north end
of town has large concrete rooms with rudi-
mentary furnishings.Eastern Hotel HOTEL $$
(%22243; 27 Bogyoke Aung San Rd; r $15-36; a)
Exceedingly tidy, with vast wood-fl oored
suites and rather tight standard rooms.Sun Minn Hotel HOTEL $$
(%22353; 137 Bogyoke Aung San Rd; r $15-35; a)
Cosy feel and a variety of rooms; ask to see
a few. The more expensive ones have wood
fl oors and fl at-screen TVs.THE INTHA OF INLE LAKEAlthough they follow Buddhism and
wear modern Burmese costume, the
Intha people of Inle Lake are cultur-
ally quite distinct from their Shan
neighbours. The ancestors of the Intha
are thought to have migrated to Inle
from Dawei in southern Myanmar.
According to the most popular legend,
two brothers from Dawei came to
Yaunghwe (the original name for Ny-
aungshwe) in 1359 to serve the local
Shan sao pha (sky lord). The chieftain
was so pleased with the hard-working
Dawei brothers that he invited 36
more families from Dawei; purportedly,
all the Intha around Inle Lake are de-
scended from these migrant families.
A more likely theory is that the Intha
fl ed southern Myanmar in the 18th
century to escape wars between the
Thais and Bamar.