Monywa

Monywa day 3: ancient city, 500000+ tiny Buddhas and several giant ones

2hw — Wed, 21 Aug 2019 12:57:24 +0000

2hw Wed, 08/21/2019 - 15:57

This article is part of our adventure in Monywa:

Monywa - how to get there and why
Monywa day 1: volcano lake, 1000 cave temples, city carved in a hill
Monywa day 2: big golden Buddha, 5 pagodas and 1 monastery
Monywa day 3: ancient city, 500000+ tiny Buddhas and several giant ones

Here is a video showing most of the sights we visited:

https://youtu.be/SSAWtZwnESI

A Myint ancient city

(Google Maps)

This one was mentioned in the hotel brochure, there was a marker for A Myint ancient city on Google maps, along with some interesting photos and positive reviews, and even being a bit farther away (~30 km) we decided to give it a go.

Two main roads could get us there from Monywa - one was the main "highway", the road from Mandalay, or there was an option for another road, unnamed, but still showing in the online maps and the brochure map. The second one looked like it can be more scenic, closer to the river and passing through the countryside. However, knowing the roads around Monywa were not that great we were a bit skeptical, unsure about its condition.

After some discussion we decided to take a risk and go the scenic way. That was a mistake, such a mistake, as I am writing this my body still shakes with the memory of the two hours spent getting to A Myint. The road, and use the word "road" here very loosely, first started as an acceptable dirt road which we, wrongly, took as a good sign. Then there were several sections where maintenance was being done and we had to go around on narrow sandy paths, trying not to get stuck or fall over. Our hope that after the works the condition of the road will improve was in vain as at some point it became something akin to an offroad challenge path - dusty, sandy, with huge holes and narrow passes, uneven all the way. It was really scenic, alright - small villages, green vegetable gardens and fields, the river crawling on the horizon, but the last 10-15 km took us more than an hour to overcome and we were exhausted in the end.

Finally, we reached our destination. Much like Bagan, but on a smaller scale there used to be a lively city on that spot near the river - one can imagine the ports and boats coming and going, carrying trade from far away lands, but with time the city disappeared, leaving behind only the stone and brick temples to slowly crumble away.

No other tourists in sight, we had the place to ourselves, there is a main temple complex with a lot of single temples scattered around the, nowadays, small village of A Myint, with overgrown stupas seen in peoples yards. A lone sign marks the spot where the old city moat was, the big dimple in the landscape still visible.

We left the ancient site and went back on the road to Monywa - this time the main one from Mandalay.

Thanboddhay pagoda

(Google Maps)

This 14th century pagoda complex renovated in 1939 is nothing short of impressive with gilded spires along the roof and the whole interior and exterior - each pillar and spire, each tower, the walls, inside and out, the ceiling - covered in miniature Buddha images adding up to half a million in number.

Maha Bodhi Tahtaung - Giant Standing Buddha statue Laykyun Sekkya, Giant Reclining Buddha statue, thousand Buddha statues and more

(Google Maps)

Maha Bodhi Tahtaung means "a thousand Buddha statues" and is the name of the whole area which encircles several enormous statues and many many small ones. It is a big Buddhist complex which we traveled on motorbike, but can also be walked as there are roads connecting all of the separate sites.

The Giant Standing Buddha is located on top of a hill looking west. It is the third tallest statue in the world at 115 m and as can be expected - very impressive. Best time to visit is in the late afternoon when the sun is in perfect position for taking good photos. The statue is hollow inside and the 31 floors it contains represent the 31 planes of existence, each painted in colourful murals with graphic images depicting Buddhist hell. One can climb up the steep uneven stairs, but all the way to the top was not opened to the public when we visited and there are no windows on the lower levels to give better view of the area. There was an elevator, but if ever it had worked before, it looked like it was abandoned some time ago.

A little further down the hill is another smaller, but still huge Buddha statue - this one reclining and long 95 m. A giant sitting Buddha is still under construction further down.

Another huge Buddha statue is laying at the foot of the hill - we could not find any information about it, it is a bit to the side, but as all others worth a look.

Walking through the Buddha "forest" is an experience in itself - thousands of Buddha statues sitting under metal parasols, row after row. We saw a bunch of newly looking statues waiting to be added to the field.

Monywa riverwalk and city center

After a long day of sightseeing, the Monywa riverwalk is a nice way to relax - going along the river next to Strand Rd, one can watch the lazy river flow, with the many boats carrying cargo and passengers.

Just make sure to have mosquito repellent!

A clock tower marks the city center, it is near Shwezegon pagoda and the night food market.

Those were all the places that we visited and all the things to do we could find online, in the hotel brochure and on the unexpected tourist information spot in the middle of nowhere. With one exception:

Stone baby and stone dragon - not visited

This was one of the attractions marked on the hotel brochure. It is marked as being on a turn off somewhere along the Mandalay - Monywa road. Online we found only one mention of it, but no directions, and nothing else. We tried to ask the hotel staff, but they seemed even more confused than us - people in rural places are rarely avid tourists.

According to the brochure it is a temple with a stone naturally shaped as a dragon and another site close by with a stone shaped like a baby. Coming from Mandalay to Monywa there should be a sign on the road at the turn off. If you are in the area, here is the brochure information, let us know in the comments if you find it.

This was our experience of Monywa, it is not as popular as other places in Myanmar, but away from the tourist crowds it is definitely worth a longer visit.

Date Visited

February 2019

Destinations

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Monywa day 2: big golden Buddha, 5 pagodas and 1 monastery

2hw — Wed, 21 Aug 2019 11:44:32 +0000

2hw Wed, 08/21/2019 - 14:44

This article is part of our adventure in Monywa:

Monywa - how to get there and why
Monywa day 1: volcano lake, 1000 cave temples, city carved in a hill
Monywa day 2: big golden Buddha, 5 pagodas and 1 monastery
Monywa day 3: ancient city, 500000+ tiny Buddhas and several giant ones

Here is a video showing most of the sights we visited:

https://youtu.be/SSAWtZwnESI

For our second day we planned to explore the area to the east of Monywa, thinking of taking it easy as there weren't that many things to see there. That turned out not to be the case as we found an unexpected information tableaux, but first we started with:

Shwe Gu Ni pagoda

(Google Maps)

A bumpy ride on a pothole covered sealed road led us to this pagoda containing a Buddha image covered in gold. Over the years worshipers stick small thin golden leaves on the statue to show their devotion and here the layer of gold is so thick the statue has lost its main features becoming a big blob of gold. Several monks were putting gold leaves as we were taking pictures.

As we were leaving this pagoda we noticed a tourist information spot on the main road - it was a big map of the area, with the main attractions - it was the first time we had seen anything like it in Myanmar. A bit unusual placement - not in Monywa, not on the main road near Monywa, but on this narrow, pothole infested road, but still very useful as we saw a couple of things to see not mentioned anywhere else. The map was not completely translated to English, but enough so we can understand and after a short deliberation with Google maps we added two more stops and altered our route.

Sel-Taw-Myin Pagoda / Ta Wa Gu pagoda

(Google Maps)

This was a beautiful pagoda with a shiny golden stupa on top of a small hill. Nice views of the surrounding area and a reservoir on one side.

Zay-Ti-Hla pagoda

(Google Maps)

This was a bit of a surprise - fairly big pagoda complex, with a main pagoda raised several levels, guarded by big chinte lions and many smaller buildings around it. There were several golden stupas, several old monastery buildings, an empty lotus lake, the pagoda in the middle had teak wood layered roofs with delicate carved patterns and painted gold rims and spires. Several holy scripture stone plates under cover stood on the side.

The whole place was completely deserted, with not a single soul in sight in the afternoon heat and we walked the dusty yard being eyed suspiciously only by the stray dogs laying lazily in the shade near the entrance.

Maha-Ledi kyaung

(Google Maps)

This monastery is located in town and is known for holding 791 stone Ledi Depani holy scriptures. The stones with the inscriptions are quite a sight, even being closely packed under a tin roof in the pagoda yard.

Shwezegon pagoda

(Google Maps)

It is the biggest pagoda in Monywa, located in the center of the town. The big golden stupa was under reconstruction when we visited, but the interior of the building is beautiful, with the traditional golden motifs in Myanmar holy places.

Sutaungpyi pagoda

(Google Maps)

Another pagoda in Monywa, this one is closer to the riverwalk. Not as big as Shwezegon, Sutaungpyi has a more intimate feel with a small yard and many smaller stupas.

That was more than enough for the second day and we retired to the hotel for some well deserved rest before continuing the tour of Monywa attractions the next day.

Date Visited

February 2019

Destinations

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Monywa day 1: volcano lake, 1000 cave temples, city carved in a hill

2hw — Wed, 21 Aug 2019 10:08:14 +0000

2hw Wed, 08/21/2019 - 13:08

This article is part of our adventure in Monywa:

Monywa - how to get there and why
Monywa day 1: volcano lake, 1000 cave temples, city carved in a hill
Monywa day 2: big golden Buddha, 5 pagodas and 1 monastery
Monywa day 3: ancient city, 500000+ tiny Buddhas and several giant ones

Here is a video showing most of the sights we visited:

https://youtu.be/SSAWtZwnESI

Before booking our hotel we had made sure that they rent motorbikes so we have the freedom to go around at our own pace. After a good night's sleep we were ready for new adventures, got on a bike - in reasonable condition and price started the day with a visit to:

Spirulina lake - Twin Taung

(Google Maps)

This was a spot mentioned only in the hotel brochure, we could not find any other information online apart from a couple of photos of the farm itself. The hotel staff were at a loss, guess they had never visited. The brochure map gives only a general direction, but after exploring the satellite view on Google maps we were fairly certain we found what we were looking for - several old volcano craters were visible in the landscape and one in particular had a lake in it, with a distinctive farm on it. So we marked the spot and set off to find it.

There aren't too many sealed roads in the area and it was a bit of challenge to find where exactly we had to go off the main road and how to navigate to our destination. Google maps is useless after some point, but on satellite view the dirt roads are still easily noticeable and we knew the point on the map we wanted to reach, so following one dusty road after another we managed to get to the edge of a volcano.

Once there it was easier to navigate - one road goes around the rim of the crater, only one way to go down and another road goes around the lake in the middle. When I say "road" it maybe a bit of exaggeration, but with some caution they are manageable.

It was a beautiful place - the crater was unmissable with a sharply defined edge of the rim and the lake in the middle was a deep green colour and surrounded by tall palm trees. The view from the top is breathtaking and the lake bellow is a local attraction with many small restaurants hidden in the greenery. We were offered a ride on a boat around the lake, but opted for a relaxing time on a bamboo chair with fresh coconut water while watching the green waters and long legged birds ambling in the muddy shore.

The spirulina farm was not really that impressive, but the lake and the crater were gorgeous, worth the drive there.

This volcano crater is one of two closely located craters - that is why the name is Twin Taung - twin mountain. Again on satellite view Google maps the second one is visible and there seem to be big enough dirt roads going it that direction. Unfortunately, we had other things planned for the day and riding on those roads takes time so we decided to skip the second one.

Several craters are visible in the immediate area, with dirt roads making them accessible one can have a full day of just exploring those.

After the short break on the shore we got on our motorbike and continued to the next destination:

Pho Win Mountain (Pho Win Taung)

(Google Maps - main entrance parking)

(Google Maps - upper level parking)

It took us around 2 hours to travel the fifty something kilometers from Twin Taung to Pho Win and we really did not know what to expect of the place, no information is available online and no signs in English were to be seen. There was a ticket booth on the road where we paid the 5000 kyats ($4) entry and were waved to go along the main road. It lead to a small square full of people and while we were looking around confused wondering if this is the right place, as usual for Myanmar, some local people saw us and helpfully gestured to a staircase - the main entrance of the cave complex.

Pho Win Mountain is Buddhist cave complex, dated to be from 14-18 century AD, with 947 man made caves carved into the sandstone hill, it is a huge place, the whole hillside is covered in niches and small temples with silent Buddha statues in every one of them, all hidden by the greenery. We spent 2 hours walking up and down, looking in one cave and another, taking pictures and videos and being absolutely amazed. Some caves are big and house several large Buddha images while others are just holes with a lone statue inside, some entrances are simple openings in the sandstone, while others are covered with ornately carved beautiful designs or guarded by mystic animals. Some of the caves contain intricate paintings.

Unfortunately, the complex is not very well maintained. There is garbage around and the monkeys, which the locals feed as an attraction, don't help the situation. The paintings in some caves are affected by water damage and faded.

We saw just a handful of international tourists when we visited, but the place has a big significance for the Buddhist population on Myanmar and there were a lot of local pilgrims.

There are several pagodas on the hilltops around Pho Win, accessible via long stairways.

Being completely amazed by Pho Win Taung we thought that this was the major attraction here, but our trusty hotel brochure assured us there is another one nearby. After some deliberation on where this one could be, we decided that the best approach is to just follow the only sealed road, the one we came in on, a bit further.

Shwe Ba hill

(Google Maps - parking)

The road ended after 2 km at a dusty parking lot and a small market, nothing interesting in sight. We left the motorbike and walked through the market. A stone entryway and a long staircase leads down into the hill - yes, into the hill. Shwe Ba hill is a 13th century temple complex, carved directly into the hill, with streets and temples, reminiscent of Petra in Jordan.

It is utterly impressive, the temples carved in the stone are huge and contain ancient Buddha images, beautiful carved gateways, reliefs and statues.

And this was a whole day of sightseeing, we arrived back at the hotel after dark, tired, but filled with emotions after the busy day.

Date Visited

February 2019

Destinations

Comments

That sounds like an unforgettable first day in Monywa! Starting with a volcano lake must have been a breathtaking experience, especially with the surrounding natural scenery. The visit to the 1000 cave temples is such a unique cultural and historical treasure—imagine the stories and craftsmanship behind each one. Ending the day exploring a city carved into a hill sounds like stepping into a living piece of history. The combination of nature, architecture, and spiritual heritage makes this itinerary incredibly special. Monywa clearly offers a blend of wonder and discovery that leaves visitors with lasting memories right from the start. shillong teer result

Monywa - how to get there and why

2hw — Wed, 21 Aug 2019 09:00:36 +0000

2hw Wed, 08/21/2019 - 12:00

This article is part of our adventure in Monywa:

Monywa - how to get there and why
Monywa day 1: volcano lake, 1000 cave temples, city carved in a hill
Monywa day 2: big golden Buddha, 5 pagodas and 1 monastery
Monywa day 3: ancient city, 500000+ tiny Buddhas and several giant ones

Here is a video showing most of the sights we visited:

https://youtu.be/SSAWtZwnESI

Monywa is a city on the Chindwin river in northern Myanmar. 3-4 hour drive from Mandalay, it is easily reached by car or one of the many regularly running busses and vans. Dusty and busy, the city itself is not really a tourist attraction, but many interesting places can be found close by and a few days are easily spent exploring the surrounding area.

We spent 3 full days in Monywa driving around on a motorbike we rented from our hotel - King&Queen hotel. Even though the distances are not great, the roads are such that traveling between destinations can be longer than expected.

Some hotels in Mandalay may be able to arrange transport to Monywa, but when we asked at ours they send us to the Thiri Mingalar bus station. Unlike Yangon, where there is one main bus station for most routes, Mandalay has several and Thiri Mingalar is the one servicing busses going north of the city. It is a busy crummy bus station, with offices for many bus companies and no signs in English.

We entered through one of the main entrances, looking confused and wondering how we are gonna find where exactly to get tickets, when we were approached by a couple of men asking where we want to go and then pointing us in the direction of the company that goes to Monywa. There were options for an air-conditioned minibus for about $2.50 or a regular big bus without air-con for about $2, with services running all throughout the day. We decided on the minibus, even the weak air-con they usually have is better than none.

The journey from Mandalay to Monywa was around 4-5 hours, uncomfortable in the cramped minibus, but at least not too hot. We arrived in Monywa in the late afternoon and walked a little bit to the hotel - King&Queen hotel, which turned out to be quite big, with a conference centre and actually very nice, a welcome sight after the long journey.

A little side story here - because of some back issues I have, on longer trips, where sitting is involved, like bus or plane, I always have a small pillow to put on my back to make me more comfortable. It is an unusual shape - like a slice of orange, and coloured accordingly and while not expensive I have grown used to it. When we got to the hotel in Monywa I realized I had left it in the minibus and was upset thinking it was now lost. We still had our tickets so we went to the reception hoping that they could help us and maybe call the company about it. It was not easy explaining what was lost, I think in the end they just called and asked if we had left anything at all. The next morning my pillow was waiting for me at the reception, not sure if someone brought it or one the staff members went to the bus station to collect it, but it just shows how nice people are.

There are many interesting spots that can be reached from the city, but if you have limited time the definite main attractions are:

Pho Win Mountain and Shwe Ba hill - temples carved into sandstone hills
Thanboddhay pagoda - golden pagoda with half a million Buddha images
Laykyun Sekkya - standing Buddha statue, which is also the third tallest statue in the world

There is limited information online about the things to do in Monywa and we used what we could get, plus our hotel had a handy map/guide brochure that added a few more spots. Surprisingly, we found a tourist information map in somewhere out of Monywa on our second day touring and visited a couple more places thanks to it.

Here is a complete list of the attractions, we visited all but the last one:

Spirulina lake - Twin Taung
Pho Win Mountain
Shwe Ba hill
Shwe Gu Ni pagoda
Sel-Taw-Myin Pagoda / Ta Wa Gu pagoda
Zay-Ti-Hla pagoda
Maha-Ledi kyaung
A Myint ancient city
Thanboddhay pagoda
Maha Bodhi Tahtaung - Giant Standing Buddha statue Laykyun Sekkya, Giant Reclining Buddha statue, thousand Buddha statues and more
Sutaungpyi pagoda
Shwezegon pagoda
Monywa riverwalk and Monywa city center
Stone dragon and Stone baby

Date Visited

February 2019