Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
- if you're in luck, you'll see them wrapped around one of the various Buddha statues. Most
people visit at 11am, when the snakes are lovingly washed in a bath filled with petals. If
you're not on too tight a schedule, think about combining your visit with a short trip to some
decaying
stupas
, just to the south of the temple.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE: PALEIK
By bike
Paleik is a little far from Mandalay, but with an early start and a good breakfast it's
quite possible to cycle here and back in a day.
Tours
Most visit the temple as part of a
motorbike or taxi tour
.
Inwa
One of the most enchantingly beautiful parts of the wider Mandalay area, the sleepy, semi-
rural village of
INWA
was once a place of great importance. Originally known as
Ava
, it
served as the capital of Myanmar on four separate occasions, totalling over three hundred
along the dusty village lanes.
Scattered in and around the ancient
city walls
, sections of which remain visible (as do the
ditches which once formed the surrounding moats), the various sights pertaining to Inwa's
period in the regal sunshine are quite spread out and not all that easy to track down by your-
self; the vast majority of visitors chalk them off as part of a
horse-drawn carriage
tour.
These follow a fairly set route, and the sights here have been listed in the same order that
you're likely to follow. A pleasurable alternative is to make the rounds yourself on a
bicycle
,
though you'll have to ride this down from Mandalay. Cycling will give you the opportunity
to strike off along roads left alone by the cart drivers, or even into stupa-studded fields sur-
rounding the central clutch of sights.
Ifyou'reonaday-triparoundtheMandalayarea,Inwamakesbyfarthebestplaceinwhich
totakelunch-thereareacoupleofgood
restaurants
justupfromthejetty wheretheferries
drop off.
