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An Daw Paya
This eye-catching ornate pagoda lies in a rural mainland field, directly across the river from Shwe Baw Kyune and around 2 miles east of central Shwegu. Motorcycles charge K1000 to get there but finding one to come back can be tricky.
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Mingala Market
At the entrance to town, this busy market is packed with locals every morning, when traders from the lake bring in fresh fish and produce from the floating gardens. The market doubles in size when it hosts the five-day rotating market.
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In Phaw Khone
This tidy village of teak stilt houses is famous for its weaving workshops . Buildings across the village vibrate with the clatter of shuttles and the click-clack of shifting loom frames, and the workshops are a popular stop on the tourist circuit.
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Jama Mosque
This impressive 1859 building could have been ripped out the pages of Arabian Nights . Sadly, since the 2012 riots, its been strictly off-limits (there were armed guards protecting it when we were in town) and has fallen even further into disrepair.
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Thingaza Kyaung
This appealingly lived-in monastery has some photogenically dilapidated buildings and, tucked behind the tagondain (pillar topped with golden duck) is a shaded open-air trio of sinuous buddha figures that have been weathered into almost abstract ghosts.
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Zoo
The 53-acre Yatanapon Zoological Gardens are attractively laid out and richly stocked but the conditions of the tigers and sun bears are distressingly cramped and elephants, often chained to the spot, are made to perform a show at weekends (2pm).
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Settayaw Paya
This charming paya, spread across a hilly green setting, is dedicated to a mythical Buddha footprint left by the Enlightened One during his legendary perambulations through Southeast Asia. The footprint symbol itself is an oblong, 3ft-long impression.
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Kyaik
A couple of miles south of Thanlyins centre is this gilded Mon-style stupa, similar in design to Shwedagon and said to contain two Buddha hairs delivered to the site by the great sage himself. There are stupendous views from its hilltop location.
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Yan Aung Nan Aung Hsu Taung Pye Paya
In the village of Nanthe, this Buddhist temple complex features a 26ft-high sitting buddha surrounded by stucco deva (celestial beings) and chinthe (half-lion, half-dragon guardians). Although heavily restored, the statue is said to be more than 700 years old.
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Settawya Paya
Hollow and lacking finesse, this 1811 shrine contains a ‘footprint’ of the Buddha. How can one be sure it’s real? Well, who else had feet a yard long with conch-shell toes and a floral heel? A lovably naive rank of sitting nat statues leads down to the riverbank behind.
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Water Fountain Garden
More or less at the heart of Nay Pyi Taw is this government-built grassy park, which boasts a viewing platform, water features (usually turned on around dusk) and cheaply constructed and already crumbling decorative structures bedecked with twinkling fairy lights at night.
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Kyauktalon Taung
Kyauktalon Taung is a strangely shaped, sheer-sided crag rising out of the surrounding agricultural land and crowned with stupas. It’s a sticky 20-minute climb to the summit. On the opposite side of the road is a similar but smaller outcropping surmounted by a Hindu temple.
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Yangon Heritage Trust
The small gallery of historic photographs here gives an idea of how downtown Yangon used to look. Theres a great view of lower Pansodan Sts grand facades from the open balcony, particularly of the bomb-damaged Yangon Region Court and the art-deco Myanmar Economic Bank 2 opposite.
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Maha Ganayon Kyaung
Just west of U-Bein Bridge, this sprawling monastery is a pleasantly meditative place for most of the day. But at about 11am, busloads of tourists arrive to gawp while the whole monastery sits down to eat, their silence pierced by the endless rattle of camera shutters. Worth avoidi
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Floating Gardens
North of Nampan are these famous gardens, where Intha farmers grow flowers, tomatoes, squash and other fruit and vegetables on long wooden trellises supported on floating mats of vegetation. In the morning and afternoon, farmers paddle up and down between the rows tending their cro
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New Zero Art Space
Aiming to empower a new generation of artists, this gallery and art library promotes local contemporary art in a variety of forms including sculptures, video, performance art and photography.As well as exhibitions they also run training programmes, free classes and a residency prog
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Kawmudaw Paya
One of Taungoo’s oldest religious sites, this countryside temple is around 1 mile west of the lake through the new Sin Gate Arch. In the temple’s southwest corner, look for a small pillar in a sandbox (with barefoot prints). Locals come here and walk around it to conquer personal p
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Archaeological Museum
Housed in an out-of-character, 19th-century-style temple, this government-run museum features many fine pieces from Bagan (reclining buddhas, original images, inscribed stones and mural re-creations) and an unexpected room of modern-art renderings of the temples. No photography all
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Kuthodaw Paya
Kuthodaw Paya, aka the ‘world’s biggest book’, draws tour bus crowds to see its 729 slabs that retell the Tripitaka canon. It’s included in the K10,000 combo ticket, but the ticket checkers tend to slope off after 4.40pm. Nearby, the Sandamuni Paya has more such slabs and is free t
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Pa
Only 8.5 miles south of Mawlamyine, the monastery teaches satipatthana vipassana (insight-awareness meditation) and, at 500 acres, is one of the largest meditation centres in Myanmar. Foreigners can visit for the night or several days; sleeping and eating is free but youre up at 3a
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