Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Nay Pyi Taw. There are lots of different operators serving Yangon, but JJ Express leads
the way in comfort with only three seats per row in a sort of business class airline config-
uration.
PICK-UP TRUCKS
The lone daily pick-up service to Mt Popa (K3000 each way, one hour) leaves at 8.30am
from in front of the south entrance to the market, and returns at 1pm. From the bus sta-
tion, half-hourly pick-ups go to Chauk (two hours), where there are onward connections
to Salay (one hour). Pick-ups between Nyaung U, Old Bagan and New Bagan run along
the main street, starting from the roundabout outside the Nyaung U market.
TAXI
As Bagan has limited bus connections to other major destinations, many travellers hire
share taxis to destinations around the country, but some vehicles are in better condition
than others so check out the car before embarking on an epic journey. Ask at Ever Sky or
at your hotel. Some sample taxi fares: Inle Lake (K150,000, 12 hours), Kalaw
(K130,000, 10 hours), Magwe (K70,000, five hours), Mt Popa (K40,000, 1½ hours),
Salay (K50,000, two hours), Mt Popa and Salay (K60,000).
TRAIN
The elaborate and over-the-top Bagan train station is located in splendid isolation about
2.5 miles southeast of Nyaung U. The shop
Blue Sea
( 061-60949; Main Rd)
in Nyaung
U sells tickets and charges a K20,000 commission. The train to Mandalay takes eight
hours and departs at 7am (ordinary/upper class $4/10), while the train to Yangon takes 16
hours and departs at 5pm (ordinary/upper class/sleeper $30/40/50). There is an English
language timetable and prices on display at the station.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Old Bagan
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The core of the Bagan Archaeological Zone contains several of the main temple sites,
city walls, a museum, a reconstructed palace, restaurants, a few shops and a cluster of
midrange to top-end hotels. It's right on a bend of the Ayeyarwady River and it's well
worth wandering down to the waterfront to watch the comings and goings of the river
trade.
In 1990 the government forcibly relocated a village that had grown up in the 1970s in
the middle of the walled area of 'Old Bagan'. We're told one of the reasons for this was
