Myanmar Travel

Myanmar or Burma is a prime travel destination if the target is to experience culture, friendly people,

beautiful beaches, a grandiose landscape, lush tropical jungle, river cruise on one of Asia's most famous river, the mighty Ayeyarwady or Irrawaddy river. Myanmar travel could mean trekking in the untouched Myanmar Himalayas, exploring forgotten tribes like the Myanmar Naga and Chin near the border to India and many other.

Myanmar travel could also turn to visiting the pristine Myanmar island world of the Mergui or Myeik archipelago were Salone or Moken sea gypsies still live in the old times of the English colonial area.     

Myanmar was shut away for a long time in a corner of the earth between the Himalayas, the ocean, and the mountain jungle on the border to Thailand, now Myanmar is open for travel.

The kindred nations settled within the same natural confines, one after another came under the sway of Myanmar or Burma. They fought among themselves and they traded among themselves ; the wars and the commerce of the greater world beyond affected them little.

The result today is Myanmar travel has plenty of excitement to offer, views, news and insights you have never dreamed about, Myanmar travel is different to travel in other countries, mainly in the positive meaning. Travel agents in Myanmar are plenty.

There are many small travel agent in Myanmar / tour operators dedicated to a certain market segment. Some of the biggest problems on travel in Myanmar is to travel outside the big cities like  

Yangon, Mandalay etc. by road since many roads are in a very bad condition and not wide enough to let 2 vehicles passing each other without problems. Using the airplane travel option you can completely bypass this problem, but only one beach is served via aircraft travel this is Ngapali Beach in Tantwe, Rakhine State.Some exiting new beach hotels in Myanmar came up in recent years, 

but all travel to this beaches goes via road and this is extremely time consuming because of the above mentioned problems. As usual this has a other component, if you do Myanmar travel by road it will give you a incredible experience about the countryside which you wont get in any other way, in particular going towards the west coast through Pathein - Bassein, to Ngwe Saung Beach and Chaung Tha Beach, if you are out for the beach the beach holiday segment is still growing strong.
The Great Shwethalyaung Buddha and The Kyaikpun Buddha    Myanmar Travel the Ayeyarwady or Irrawaddy River

On the other side it's worth to consider to rent a car with a driver - good cars with aircon and driver - are available for about US$ 50,- per day and go according to your plan. The driver will bring you anywhere you like, don't try to do your Myanmar travel on your own by renting a car and drive yourself. This way it very likely will end into a unpleasant surprise since all traffic signs outside the big cities are in Myanmar language only and you will hardly find someone in the countryside you can talk in English with. There is also almost no infrastructure if you have any Myanmar travel problems either technical or health.

Since the driver is usually also the guide you will see all the interested subject on your Myanmar travel you surely would miss on your own etc. All hotels have special accommodation for the driver so you must not think about this, he will handle his stuff and will be ready when you need him. Have a look here on some basic information on Myanmar or Burma.

 Myanmar Travel Bagan

Beside of being Myanmar's top travel destination Bagan is also highly reputed for Myanmar art and architecture, sculpture and painting, archaeological findings and artifacts and is world-famous for thousand and one pagodas, stupas, cetis, religious edifices and buildings. Suffice it to say that, these cultural values can only be appreciated by a personal visit there. The Road to Mandalay or the river cruise is in fact, a window to the beauty and wealth of Myanmar Naingngan.

	Bagan, more or less on the east bank of the mighty Ayeyarwady - Irrawaddy River, was the splendid capital of the First Myanmar Empire.Bagan is a must see destination on any Myanmar travel journey. Many pagodas and temples are gone with the rain, earthquake, driven away as dust in the wind of central Myanmar, but there are still enough around to be a real highlight of any south east Asia Myanmar travel tour. Bagan is now a 42 square kilometer area dotted with thousands of ancient pagodas, temples, shrines, ordination halls and sacral monuments. Bagan is one of the richest archaeological sites in southeast Asia with about 2230 monuments still standing and some 1000 in ruins and as many s many as 600 disappeared into the Ayeyarwady - Irrawaddy during the summer flooding. Originally about 4500 sacral monuments gave a unbelievable impression. Today its easy to travel Myanmar, Bagan is accessible by air from Yangon, Mandalay or Heho (Taungyi) in an hour or less. Bagan can also be reached by road from Yangon, Madalay and elsewhere, from Yangon it's a distance of around 683 kilometers. Buses make the trip in about 16 hours or an adventurous traveler can reduce the time by 2 hours by taking a car provided the traveller can take the stress and strain of travel on Myanmar roads. About that time the first historical conquest of the lower Irrawaddy was effected. From the fact that the country was not permanently subdued it may be inferred that the power of the Mon or Peguan people (later called Talaing)

was not greatly inferior to that of the Burman. The Mons, from the affinities of their language, are conjectured to be of Annamitic origin. There is mention of the Pagan kingdom independently of the Burman chronicles, and there is above all the evidence of the ruins of Pagan, probably the mightiest of their kind. They testify to the power of the kingdom and the influence of

the religion which actuated the kings to build temples on such a scale.
 

In 300 A.D. the power of the Pagan - Bagan kingdom had spent itself,

in a great degree owing, as the Myanmar's believe, to the drain of the temple-building. But the force of the religion was unabated. Burma fell a prey to Shan invaders, who snatched the dominion for nearly two hundred years but failed to consolidate it, splitting up into principalities like those of their native hills. The weakness of Burma allowed the Mon power to develop. The sixteenth century saw the rise of Pegu - Bago and the establishment of a shifting empire over Burma. Exhausted.. by wars, Pegu - Bago in turn declined and lay at the mercy of Siam ( Yodaya) when Paung (Taung - ngu) came to the rescue. In the seventeenth century the Peguan dynasty brought the Mutt umpire to its zenith, from which it waned in the eighteenth. Towards the middle of the latter century the Emmaus under Alaiung Paya rose against the Mum garrisons, overthrew Pegu and finally established the empire of Burma.

Arakan - Rakhine was incorporated, Siam was subjugated and made tributary for a time. The empire directed its ambition to the west. Manipur was overrun and the Arakanese pretensions inn 1571 the country was in a state of chaos. High officials plotted against King Mong Phaloung. Astrologers advised the king to build the  Htukkant Thein Temple with the help of the plotters as well as governors, land-lords and common people. They acted according to a saying common at that time, “when the city is worn, support its ceiling.” The temple was built on a 70 metre by 80 metre platform. The structure is built of stone
blocks with brick pagodas on top of the hall and on the four corners.Inside the temple there are two pavements with many images and carvings picturing the various donors. It is a very interesting collection of different costumes and ornaments. Sixty four varieties of coiffure, forty different head-dresses, twenty different bracelets, eighty-one rings, sixteen types of pendant and various other body decorations are a creative showcase.



The Shitethaung Temple
 
a great Myanmar travel destination at Mraug-U or Myohaung at Arakan or Rakhine is a premier Myanmar travel destination, also called the Temple of Eighty Thousand Images, was erected in 1536. The building was funded by a donation from King
Mong Ba Gree to commemorate the victory over the twelve provinces of Bengal and the Portuguese marauders who came to assault the capital. The basic structure is a hall topped by a main stupa surrounded by 26 smaller stupas. The temple is 53 metres long, 41 metres wide and 29 metres high. There are several passage ways with galleries throughout the inner temple. The temple is richly decorated with statues of Buddha as well as images of the animals or persons which Gautama Buddha occupied in his 550 previous lives. People in native costumes with faded colours are shown wrestling, boxing and dancing.
This beautiful Myanmar travel landscape with the Sakyamanaung pagoda in the centre is typical of the Mraunk U area. The hills
and valleys are dotted with dozens of pagodas, temples and lakes.

Myanmar travel could be extended all the way up to Chittagong in Bangladesh as it was during the British power over India. .

Myanmar Travel, the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River

is the lifeline of the Burmese people. It springs forth from the Himalayas coming down to two rivulets, Mae Kha and Mali Kha (Myitsone) in the Kachin State, in the far north. It runs from north to south and eventually emptying out into the Andaman Sea.

Myanmar Travel, Bago

Yangon to Bago, formerly called Pegu and Hanthawaddy, which produces basic crops. In Indakaw, there are rubber plantations. The Kingdom of Hanthawaddy - Bago was founded by two brothers, Thamala and Wimala in the 9th century. In the 15th century, only Myanmar Queen, Shin Saw Pu reigned there.

Myanmar Travel, Taungoo

This is another old city on the Myanmar travel route , 200 km from Bago. It bestirred nostalgic memories of Natshinnaung, warrior poet whose love for lovely Princess Yazadatukalyar knew no bounds. A notable spot nearby is Thandaung, a hill resort. Nearby is the Mawchi Mines which produces tin and wolfram. Famous products here are bananas, tea and coffee.

Myanmar Travel, Pyinmana near the new capital of Naypyidaw

Beyond is the Yezin dam and a complex of teaching institutes on agriculture, animal husbandry and forestry.

Myanmar Travel, Meikhtila
The rain is scarce here less than 125 cm a year. There are no more paddy and rice fields but crops as groundnuts, sesamum, beans and pulses are thriving products. Meikhtila Lake is well-known and prominent. There are songs eulogizing peace and beauty of the lake.
There is a nursey rhyme which runs:
“ Please pick up a small frog from
Lake Meikhtila,
If you have caught one,
Kindly offer me a small creature
with pouting small eyes and thin body.”
Meikhtila’s location is strategic. It is the point of access to the Shan State in the east, with Taungyi, its capital, 170 km away. To the west lies Kyaukpadaung, where there are oilfields and the Ayeyawady valley.
 

Myanmar Travel, Mandalay

From Meikhtila to Mandalay it stretches 152 km. Before reach in Mandalay, one will come across Kyaukse, the ancient home and granary of Myanmar agriculture, the rice bowl of successive Myanmar Kingdoms. Here, famous Bagan King Anawrahta started to build his First Myanmar Empire that lasted more than two centuries.

It is too well known to dwell at length about Mandalay, the royal capital of the last two Myanmar Kings of Konbaung dynasty. It is the hub and heartland of Myanmar culture, arts and crafts and the seat of Theravada Buddhism. These culture heritage still lingers.

 

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