Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting Around
Trishaws and blue taxi pick-up trucks are the main ways of getting around. A trishaw
ride to/from the bus station is around K1500, and K2000 by blue taxi. A regular pick-up
truck service runs along Bogyoke Rd to the bus station (K200).
TOP OF CHAPTER
Around Pyay
Thayekhittaya
It's no Bagan, but this ancient site, about 5 miles east of Pyay centre, makes for an en-
joyble few hours of laid-back exploration, often in isolation. Known to Pali-Sanskrit
scholars as Sri Ksetra (Fabulous City), Thayekhittaya is an enormous Pyu city that ruled
in the area from the 5th to 9th centuries AD. Local legend links its origin to the mythical
King Duttabaung, who supposedly worked with ogres and other supernatural creatures to
build the 'magical city' in 443 BC. The earliest Pali inscriptions found here date back to
the 5th or 6th centuries.
Sights
Seeing the 5.5-sq-mile
site
(admission $5, incl museum $10; 8am-5pm)
means either
walking the 7.5-mile loop around it or hopping on the back of an
ox-drawn cart
(per per-
son K5000; 3hr)
for a bumpy, dusty journey past the spaced-out temples, most just out-
side the oval city walls. It's a good idea to have a knowledgeable guide as well if avail-
able at the museum. Bicycles aren't permitted.
At the entrance to the site is the small, government-run
Sri Ksetra Museum
(admission
$5; 10am-4pm Tue-Sat)
with its posted map of the area and various artefacts from ex-
cavations, including Hindu deities, 6th-century buddha images, Pyu beads and silver
coins. It is possible to cast a glance over the collection in the main hall while buying the
entry ticket to visit Thayekhittaya.
Behind the museum to the south, the road soon follows the remains of the old palace
walls. Ox-cart drivers - at a speed that ebbs and flows according to the mood of the ox -
make a counter-clockwise loop of the following sites.
The first stop will be at a recent excavation: a large brick building that is thought to
have been a
palace
. After 2.5 miles (4km) the road passes
Rahanta Gate
, where frag-
