Myanmar (Burma)
South of Pyay, you'll find an oversized buddha wearing a gargantuan set of eyeglasses with gold-plated rims.
Myanmar (Burma)
South of Pyay, you'll find an oversized buddha wearing a gargantuan set of eyeglasses with gold-plated rims.
Mandalay
Three tiny shards of bone, believed to be Buddha relics, were discovered in 1908 by British archaeologists at the site of a once-great ancient stupa at…
Mandalay
Ranged around a sizeable stupa glowing with gold leaf, Eindawa was founded in 1847 by King Pagan Min, whose princely palace once stood here. The complex…
Myanmar (Burma)
This pretty ornamental lake dates from the days when Taungoo (then known as Katumadi) was capital and Bayin Naung ruled. Strolling or cycling around its…
Yangon
You'll have to work hard to imagine what life was like inside this colonial-era mansion, where Aung San lived with his family for just over two years…
Yangon
Around 250 workers were trained in new skills for the sensitive restoration in 2016 of this two-storey colonial-era building, home to 80 residents from 12…
Myanmar (Burma)
This rectangular shrine contains 28 sitting and 28 standing buddha images – many of them jazzed up with flashing lights giving the place a carnival…
Mandalay
Across the creek from Shwe In Bin, the city's largest monastery lacks an ancient historical pedigree and is primarily a collection of modern dorm…
Myanmar (Burma)
At the heart of ancient Hanthawady was the Kanbawzathadi Palace. All that remains of the original are fragments of the huge teak posts that once held up…
Myanmar (Burma)
On the southern side of Shwedaung, the attractive hilltop Shwenattaung Paya reportedly dates back to the Thayekhittaya era. Among the many buddha images…
Myanmar (Burma)
This zedi (stupa) has a dark gu (tunnel) around the circumference of the cylindrical superstructure. The monument dates from 1494 and the reign of King…
Yangon
This 22.66-hectare development at the heart of Yangon is taking shape with a scheduled completion date by the end of 2021. At its heart will be the former…
Myanmar (Burma)
This airy two-hall museum is mostly full of 19th-century marble buddha statues with their gold leaf rubbed off. More interesting is the giant 18th-century…
Mandalay
This unusually shaped temple is a series of diminishing stupa-dotted terraces over an arched base decorated with peacock motifs. When built in 1857, it…
Myanmar (Burma)
Around 1 mile south of Shinpinsarkyo – some taxis won’t drive it, but it’s an easy 20-minute walk – is the so-called Temple 99, an unassuming 13th-century…
Yangon
Totally artificial, this ‘great cave’ is where the Sixth Buddhist Synod was held in 1954–56 to coincide with the 2500th anniversary of the Buddha’s…
Chin State
With its fine stone steeple and red roof, this is the most distinctive and historic of Hakha's many churches. Funded by American missionaries, it dates…
Myanmar (Burma)
All that remains of King Bagyidaw’s palace complex is this 90ft ‘leaning tower of Inwa’, shattered but patched up and still standing after the 1838…
Myanmar (Burma)
Just west of U-Bein Bridge, this sprawling monastery is a pleasantly meditative place for most of the day. But you may want to avoid it at about 10.30am,…
Myanmar (Burma)
About 3 miles east of Pakhangyi (take the turn-off just opposite the turn-off to Pakhangyi) is the destroyed frame of Pakhanngeh Kyaung, once the country…
Myanmar (Burma)
In the complex about 500yd west of Paya Thonzu, Mann Paya is a modern pagoda housing a 13th-century, 20ft gold buddha made of straw lacquer. As the story…
Former District Commissioner's House
Chin State
Back when the Chin Hills were part of British Burma, they were administered from this red-brick house, the former home of the district commissioner. The…
Yangon
The prime reason for visiting Yangon's 1901-vintage zoo, covering 58 acres, is to take a rest in its leafy grounds and view handsome architectural…
Myanmar (Burma)
One of Taungoo’s oldest religious sites, this countryside temple is a short distance west of the lake through the Sin Gate Arch. In the temple’s southwest…
Myanmar (Burma)
The sight of some 500 monks and novices filing out in the early morning from one of largest monasteries in Myanmar to collect alms is worth getting up…
Myanmar (Burma)
Looming high over Pyay is Sehtatgyi Paya, a giant (maybe not the claimed 10 storeys, though) buddha seated in the earth-witness mudra (left hand palm…
Myanmar (Burma)
Little visited, this curious latter-day monastery features massive seated and reclining Buddhas, a hall-of-mirrors-like prayer hall full of monk-posture…
Myanmar (Burma)
Between the road and rail bridges, west of the city centre, you won’t miss Phaung Daw U Paya, a temple housed in a giant floating barge shaped in the form…
Pakhangyi Archaeological Museum
Myanmar (Burma)
Half a mile north of Pakhangyi on the main road is this small provincial museum, which has a medley of 19th-century wooden carvings, 11th-century buddhas…
Myanmar Gems Museum & Gems Market
Yangon
This small and, given its subject matter, surprisingly lacklustre museum offers a handful of eye-catching pieces of bling and precious stones, including a…
Myanmar (Burma)
The smaller gold stupa on the highest hill southeast of Shwesandaw is the Wunchataung Paya, where people can say ‘sorry’ for misdeeds. While they’re at it…
Myanmar (Burma)
This vast bell-shaped pagoda, erected by King Bagyidaw in 1820, is the tallest structure (185ft) for miles around. Men only are allowed to climb halfway…
Mandalay
This appealingly lived-in monastery has some photogenically dilapidated teak buildings. Tucked behind the tagondain (pillar topped with a golden duck) is…
Myanmar (Burma)
A small museum (in a big building) displaying some of the glittering rocks Myanmar is famed for (jade in particular). Information displays are limited and…
Myanmar (Burma)
If you can’t get enough of buddha statues, check out these four buddha figures standing back to back. An adjacent open hallway has a small reclining…
Mandalay
If you can stomach the smell, this atmospheric scene of fish mongering close to the Ayeyarwady River is worth an afternoon look (it gets most active from…
Myanmar (Burma)
Magwe’s chief pagoda, the 1929 Mya Tha Lun Paya, is a mile north of the Magwe Bridge. It features a gilded stupa and occupies a hilltop site with great…
Myanmar (Burma)
Known to locals as Yei Kyi Oo, this temple, about 2½ mile directly south of central Pathein, was renovated in the early 1990s to create a facsimile of…
Myanmar (Burma)
Across the road from Mingun Paya lie two house-sized brick-and-stucco ruins, damaged in the 1838 earthquake. These are just the haunches of what would…
Mandalay
This small statue depicts the ogress San Dha Mukhi offering up a severed breast to the Buddha. According to legend, her feat of self-mutilation impressed…