Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Shwe Baw Kyune
BUDDHIST MONASTERY
At first glance this monastery looks 20th-century. Historians, though, say it was built in
the 13th century while monastic fables suggest it was founded two millennia ago when
an Indian prince turned up with seven holy bone fragments of the Buddha. These are now
encased within small Buddha statuettes decorated over the centuries with layers of gold
leaf.
While they form the monastery's priceless main treasure
(dattaw)
, for non-Buddhists
the monastery is far more interesting for its extraordinary array of over 7000 closely
packed stupas, ancient and modern, which fill the eastern end of the island. Some are
whitewashed, others gilded and many more are mere piles of antique bricks with just
traces of former stucco detail. Most appear to have been suffocated for years by foliage,
Angkor Wat style. The bushes were recently cut back to reveal the spectacle, but getting
to the outlying stupas is very uncomfortable barefoot given all the stubble and thorns
(carry your sandals).
Hidden here and there are dozens of tiny buddha statues and the odd brick-and-stucco
lion. The whole scene is made even more photogenic by a series of
pyatthat
(stepped
towers) that flank the monastery's central golden-tipped stupa. And the island setting,
with its tree-shaded village of wooden stilt houses, makes for a wonderfully peaceful en-
vironment. There's a big local festival here in the week leading up to full moon of
Tabaung.
Old Shwegu
NEIGHBOURHOOD
Around 400m west of the central jetty is a stretch of relatively old wooden houses. Fur-
ther inland is an area of tree-shaded footpaths and alleys that forms an intriguing pottery
district. Here, in household compounds, Shwebo's archetypal
tau ye-u
(drinking water
pots) and
subu
(football-sized piggy banks) are formed and fired in kilns of carefully
heaped rice-husks.
An Daw Paya
BUDDHIST TEMPLE
This eye-catching ornate pagoda lies in a rural mainland field, directly across the river
from Shwe Baw Kyune and around 2 miles east of central Shwegu. Motorcycles charge
K1000 to get there but finding one to come back can be tricky.
Sleeping & Eating
Only one guesthouse accepts foreigners.
Sag Guesthouse
( 074-52647; s with/without
bathroom K16,000/6000)
is opposite where the Bhamo-Mandalay buses stop and behind
the Mingala Monastery. The rooms are small, with hard beds and cold showers, but this
