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Yangon & VicinityYangon Yangon,
known as Dagon in ancient times is situated in the southern
part of Myanmar and is 21 miles away from the sea. Yangon,
the Green City in the East, is now the commercial city of
Myanmar and the capital of the lower Myanmar. It is also the
main gateway to Myanmar.
Yangon covers 350 sq-km. It has a population of 6 millions. The Great Shwedagon pagoda, where the relics of four Buddhas were enshrined. This pagoda is the landmark of Myanmar and is visible from miles around. A visit to Yangon is incomplete without a visit to Shwedagon. Other places of interest are National museum, Bogyoke market, Sule pagoda, Chaukhtatgyi reclining Buddha, many colonial buildings and etc.. The most popular among visitors is Bogyoke Aung San
Market in the downtown area, with its hundreds of stalls
selling everything from rubies to lacquerware to sil Bago Bago,
once called Hantharwaddy when it was the capital of Mon
Kingdom. Bago is situated only 80km from Yangon. Bago is the
capital of Bago division. Bago was reputedly founded in AD
573 by two Mon princes from Thaton, who saw a female hamsa
(mythological bird) standing on the back of a male hamsa on
an island in a huge lake.The main pagoda in town is
Shwemawdaw and its annual festival in April is one of the
biggest festival in lower Myanmar. The huge Shwethalyaung
reclining Buddha Image, once lost in the jungle, was only
rediscovered in the 19th century by engineers while
repairing a railway. Its huge size has been exceeded by the
recently completed Myathalyaung Buddha on the southern end
of town, which is now the third-biggest reclining image in
Myanmar. Pyay
Kyaikhtiyo, The Golden Rock of Myanmar
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A
seven hours drive, 258 kilometers north-west of Yangon. It
is one of the most interesting early archaeology sites. It
lies close to what was the seat of the Pyu kingdom called
Sri Kestra from the 5th to 9th centuries. In the surrounding
areas there are the ruins of this ancient capital. Sites of
interest include the Shwesandaw Pagoda, and the ancient's
ruins of Sri Kestra and Hmawza. Cross Ayeyarwaddy River
bridge in Pyay, then take a boat ride 45 minutes to marvel
at the statue of buddha carved along the ridge of Akauk
Taung (Hill).
The
site of one of Myanmar's holiest monuments, the Golden Rock
Pagoda, which sits precariously on the edge of a cliff. And
according to legend, the Golden Rock itself is precariously
perched on a strand of the Buddh’s hair. It is also the
third most important Buddhist pilgrimage site in Myanmar
after the Shwedagon Pagoda and the Mahamuni Pagoda. Only 80
km from Bago & 160 km from Yangon. It needs some more 11 km
to be reached by hiking from the base camp or by driving up
to a point about a mile aways to the pagoda.
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