Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Amarapura
Just 11km south of central Mandalay is the small town of
AMARAPURA
(pronounced with
thestressonthefirst“ra”).Thoughadecidedlyscruffyplacetoday,ithassubstantialhistoric-
alpedigree,havingtwiceservedas
Myanmar'sroyalcapital
.Thoughtherearesomepleasing
stupas and other Buddhist monuments dotted around the place, Amarapura is most famed for
the
U Bein Bridge
, a lengthy teak construction that's up there with Myanmar's most photo-
genic - and most photographed - sights.
Thebridgestretchesacrosspretty
LakeTaungthaman
;ostensiblynamedafteranogrewho
came here in pursuit of the Buddha, it's a shallow expanse whose shore and surrounding area
are by far the most pleasant part of town. Hunt around the maze of lanes inland from the
bridge's western end (beyond the umpteen trinket stalls by the bridge itself) and you'll see
plenty of villagers making longyi and other garments - despite the horde of tourists padding
alongthebridgenearby,thisisuptherewithMyanmar'scheapestplacesinwhichtoshopfor
fabrics
.
Notethat there'snowhereforforeigners tostayinAmarapura, andsince there arenopartic-
ularly exciting restaurants, you're also advised to eat elsewhere.
U Bein Bridge
Daily24hr•Intheorypartofthe
Mandalaycombo-ticket
,
butnobodyusuallychecks;boatrentalK8000-10,000
for 45min or so
Anabsolutemust-seeifyou'reintheMandalayarea,thespectacular
UBeinBridge
stretches
more than 1200m across Lake Taungthaman - it is, in fact, the world's longest teak foot-
bridge. Most evenings it probably also hosts the world's longest unbroken line of tourists: no
bad thing, and in fact quite a spectacle when the colours of everyone's shirts are flared up
by the sun's last rays. Though most visit at this time, early birds can catch something similar
with far fewer people at daybreak.
Thebridge'sexistencestemsfromasalvagejobthattookplacefollowingoneofMyanmar's
many changes of regal power: after the palace was shifted north to Mandalay in 1859,
Amarapura's mayor
U Bein
decided to create a bridge using the teak support columns left
behind. There are, today, just over a thousand pillars along the course of the bridge, some of
which have been replaced with concrete poles. If you're wondering why the thing was built
sohighabovethelake,you'reobviouslyvisitinginthedryseason-thewaterlevelrisescon-
siderably after the rains.
Avisittothebridgecancomplicatesomeday-tripitineraries-mostvisitorsliketowalkthe
length of the bridge, so unless you want to walk it twice, ask your driver to pick you up from
the other end. It's also possible to rent
paddle boats
here; these are usually only available at
the western end, where most of the tour buses drop off.
