lonely-planet-myanmar-burma-11-edition

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MANDALAY & AROUND

AROUND MANDALAY

8 Getting Around

A three-hour horse-cart tour visiting the three

main sites costs K5000 for one or two people. For

many visitors horse-cart tours are a major part of

the Inwa experience, the carriages avoiding noise

pollution and creating picturesque scenes them-

selves along the tree-lined tracks. However, carts

are undeniably slow moving and somewhat limit-

ing. Bringing your own bicycle or motorbike from

Mandalay can prove an attractive alternative.

Sagaing

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As you cross the Ayeyarwady on the busy new

bridge, Sagaing’s uncountable white-and-

gold stupas shimmer alluringly on a series of

hillocks that rise behind the almost fl at town

centre. No individual pagoda stands out as

a particular must-see, but taken together

the whole scene is enthralling. A highlight

is walking the (sometimes steep) tree-hung

stairways that lead magically past monaster-

ies and nunneries to viewpoints from which

you can survey the river and yet more stupas.

History

Named for the trees hanging over the river,

Sagaing became the capital of an indepen-

dent Shan kingdom around 1315, after the fall

of Bagan had thrown central Myanmar into

chaos. Its period of importance was short, for

in 1364 the founder’s grandson, Thado Min-

bya, hop-scotched the capital to Inwa. From

1760 Sagaing enjoyed just four more years

as capital, but the town’s signifi cance from

then on became more spiritual than political.

Today it is home to some 6000 monks and

nuns, and is a place where many Myanmar

Buddhists go to meditate when stressed.

 1 Sights

SAGAING HILL

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(admission Sagaing/Mingun $3 ticket)

Stupa-topped hillocks coalesce into Sagaing

Hill, a long tree-dappled north–south ridge

that starts around 1½ miles north of the

market area. If you drive to the top, you

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1 Htuparyon Paya ...................................B3

2 Shwe-kyet-kay .....................................D3

3 Shwezigon............................................ B1

4 Thacheiselik .........................................B2

ÿSleeping

5 Happy Hotel .........................................B2