Unlike the past days of 90s, Myan- mar, the latest country to open to the world, has become very easily accessible to the international tourists, due to its lessening restriction on entry visa and progress on arrival visa procedure. The re- cent democratization reform process as a result of 2010 elections has brought up Myanmar, also known as “Burma”, onto the world stage once again, finally after almost 50 years of military regime. Along with po- litical and other major changes, the country opens up to the great travel and tours op- portunity for travellers and adventurers to wander around the unexplored areas of the country.
In this article, we would like to introduce the readers with our “Exploring Around Myan- mar” Standard Package, together with some details. Our package covers all the famous cities and attractions from different parts of Myanmar, namely; Yangon, Mandalay, Amarapura, Sagaing, Bagan, Kalaw, Pindaya and Inle Lake.
Yangon, the former capital of Myanmar, since British Colonial Era, up until 2008, is a port city located in Lower Myanmar, on the banks of Yangon River. As an important sea entrance for the country, it also serves as a major trade city. Inherited from British rul- ers, this city is filled with numerous colonial architectures such as the Parliament Build- ing, Yangon General Hospital and the Secre- tariat Office, where the national leader “Gen- eral Aung San” was assassinated. Among all these attraction sites of Yangon, the most important one of all is the “Shwe Dagon Pagoda”. This majestic golden mountain of stupa is believed to be more than 2,500 years old and was founded at the same time with Buddha era.
Locating strategically at the heart of Myan- mar, the city of Mandalay used to serve as the capital for the last 2 kings of Myanmar’s last dynasty “Kon-Boung”. In the center of the city, lies the magnificent square-shaped “Mandalay Palace” in which the last kings resided during their reigns and ruled over the country. Having deep dedications for their religious beliefs and being the enthusi- astic donors, these Burmese Kings and their people left behind many religious buildings which are of great historical value now. In modern days, these places of palace and other historical sites have become the sym- bols of glory of last Myanmar Kingdom. The cities of Amarapura and Sagaing are situated very closely to Mandalay. Likewise, there are a lot of historical religious sites and ancient monasteries. Both of these cities are also the former capitals of Myanmar King- dom from different dynasties. Nowadays, Sagaing is especially well-known for its fa- mous meditation centers and every year, many Buddhists from different parts of the country come here to train their minds. The ancient city of Bagan is located in Mid- dle Myanmar, between Yangon and Man- dalay. This ancient city of pagodas is more than a thousand years old and was once the glorious capital of Myanmar’s very first dynasty, the “Bagan Dynasty”. It was start- ed from this very area; the famous “King Anawrahta” united the whole country for the very first time in Myanmar history. King Anawrahta was also the one responsi- ble for introducing Buddhism to Myanmar people. As proofs of its once greatness, in wealth and religious beliefs, the remains of thousands and thousands of pagodas can be found scattered across the entire city.
The later part of our package is focused on “Shan” State, which is the largest state in country and its people being the second largest majority of all the ethnic races next to “Bamar”. The destinations included from this area are; Kalaw, Pindaya and Inle Lake, all of which are famous attraction sites of Shan State. Just like all the other cities in country, there are also many religious sites in Kalaw and Pindaya. But one special thing that makes the religious sites here worth visiting is the “religious caves”. Unlike the man-made temples and stupas, some of the pagodas in these areas are built inside the naturally forming caves. In addition to the religious caves, these places are famous for natural sight-seeing attractions, beautiful local flowers and delicious local foods. As both Kalaw and Pindaya are situated high up on the Shan hills, they possess cool and pleasant weather, especially when com- pared to hot and dry weather of other parts of the country.
Last but not least, situating near Pindaya is the world-famous “Inle Lake”, which is a site to behold. With the size of about 10 ki- lometers in diameter, this magnificent lake is famous for its floating villages and floating market. However, unlike the lake attractions from other regions, the uniqueness of Inle Lake can be seen in legged-rowers of Canoes and the floating ancient pagoda of “Phaung Daw Oo”
