THE GUIDE - The Rough Guide to Myanmar - page 421

Sagaing
The low-key city of SAGAING sits just 25km south of Mandalay on the opposite side of the
Ayeyarwady River, which slides lazily past its eastern flank. If the name seems familiar, you
may have spent some time looking at a map of Myanmar - this unassuming place is actually
the capital of Sagaing Region , which stretches way up north, almost all the way to Tibet. In
commonwithMandalayandmanyofitspresent-daysatellitetowns,itoncefunctionedasthe
royal capital of Myanmar, though its stint was the shortest by far at just four years (see here ) ;
it was also the centre of a Shan kingdom during the fourteenth century. However, it wears its
history better than other places hereabouts, and remains an important religious centre.
The main reason to come here is clearly visible from the Ayeyarwady bridges (one built by
theBritishin1934,theothera2005construction), andsometimes evenfromMandalayitself
- Sagaing Hill , a modest rise bristling with so many Buddhist spikes that it resembles some
sort of Burmese Hellraiser. Few visit anything else in the town (there are plenty more of said
spires to track down, if you so desire), though some enjoy the chance to take a walk in the
delightfulareanorthofSagaingHill,andotherschoosetostaythenight-thisistheonlyone
oftheMandalaysatellitetownswithforeigner-licensedaccommodation,andthosestayingon
will get the chance to see another, more local, side of Burmese life. This is also true of those
who choose Sagaing as their meditation base, since there's a great centre hereabouts.
THE SAGAING-MINGUN COMBINATION TICKET
In theory, to enter Sagaing or Mingun you'll need to buy or show a combination ticket
(K3000), valid for both towns yet separate from the similar one used for Mandalay and
Inwa. Before the 2012 earthquake, this was collected from travellers before they boarded
the ferry to Mingun; these days it's rarely collected at all. Sagaing is a different matter,
since efforts to collect the fee have been ramped up in recent years; vehicles crossing the
bridgearecheckedforforeigners,andthoseonboardaskedtoshowtheticketorcoughup.
Mysteriously, travellers on bicycles are occasionally waved through - perhaps as congrat-
ulations for completing the long journey from Mandalay.
Sagaing Hill
Access from Thall Ta Pan St • Daily 24hr • Covered by Sagaing-Mingun combination ticket ; K300 camera and
K500 video fees, usually only collected from road entrance • Motorbike taxis cost around K2000
Around 250m high, splendid Sagaing Hill pokes its omni-spired head out just north of the
citycentre.Theviewsfromthetoparepredictablyfantastic,thoughforsometheascentfrom
Thall Ta Pan Street (around 25min) is the best part of the experience; the covered pathway
getssteeperasyougo,andifyoucanmakeittothetopwithoutpausingforabreatheryou're
officially in decent shape.