Bagan

About 430 miles from Yangon; the main tourist attraction in Myanmar, on the eastern bank of the Ayeyarwaddy River; capi­tal of the first Myanmar Empire; its area of 42 sq km has over 2,000 well-preserved pagodas and temples of the 11th -13th centuries.

How to get there

Daily flight between Yangon and Bagan; flight to Bagan takes an hour and ten minutes. Also regular Express local service from Yangon and Mandalay; from Mandalay and Heho it is only 20 minutes’ flight; express trains from Yangon and Mandalay stop at Thazi, from where it is only a three hours’ drive to Bagan. Also double decker steamer service between Mandalay and Bagan and a luxury cruise “Road to Mandalay”.

Where to stay

Hotels, guest houses and motels with modern facilities at reasonable prices.

What to see

Shwezigon Pagoda, the first Buddhist building built in Myanmar style; Ananda Tem­ple has four huge Buddha Images in standing position and reliefs depicting the Buddha from his Birth to his Enlightenment; That-byinnyu, the highest white stucco building in Bagan; Dham­mayangyi, Bagan’s most massive pagoda; left unfinished, it displays the foremost brickwork; they are but a few of pagodas in Bagan, practi­cally all of them built by Kings.

The Bagan Museum houses artifacts of histori­cal and cultural interest.