Myanmar (Burma)
All that remains of King Bagyidaw’s palace complex is this 90ft ‘leaning tower of Inwa’, shattered but patched up and still standing after the 1838 earthquake. The watchtower is neither beautiful nor especially high, but wide views from the top were great for getting your bearings amid the widely scattered sights; it's been closed since 2012 for safety reasons.
A few souvenir stalls are set up near its base.
13.71 MILES
To get a sense of Mandalay’s pancake-flat sprawl, climb the 760ft hill that breaks it. The walk up covered stairways on the hill's southern slope is a…
0.96 MILES
This lovely 1834 teak monastery is Inwa’s most memorable individual attraction. It's supported on 267 teak posts, the largest 60ft high and 9ft in…
9.12 MILES
Every day, thousands of colourfully dressed faithful venerate Mahamuni's 13ft-tall seated buddha, a nationally celebrated image that’s popularly believed…
15.29 MILES
Staring distantly towards Mandalay Palace, temple-topped Yankin Hill is worth climbing for views of greater Mandalay's rice-field setting and of the Shan…
5.43 MILES
The world’s longest teak footbridge gently curves 1300yd across shallow Taungthaman Lake, creating one of Myanmar’s most photographed sites. In dry season…
9.37 MILES
A meditative departure from the usual Burmese 'douse-it-all-in-gold-and-pastels' aesthetic, this gorgeously carved teak monastery is beloved by tourists…
3.27 MILES
This ‘early offering shrine’ is the most important of the temples on Sagaing Hill’s southern crown and the first you’ll come to on climbing the One Lion…
3.13 MILES
At the foot of the great temple-studded hills of Sagaing, you’ll find this little-visited cave monastery. Supposedly built around the 1670s, Tilawkaguru…
0.3 MILES
A trio of whitewashed stupas perched on the southern city wall mark this eight-monk mini-monastery. It has its own little shortcut path-causeway across…
0.3 MILES
Built, unusually, of stucco-covered brick, this 1822 royal monastery temple is a rare survivor from the Ava era. The faded, sturdy structure looks very…
0.33 MILES
This whitewashed pagoda complex, topped with the occasional gold-leafed stupa, dates back to the Bagan period.
0.5 MILES
Within the green patchwork of paddies that forms a quilt over Inwa, a small temple perches on a tiny artificial island. This is Daw Gyan, a collection of…
0.54 MILES
This golden stupa rises photogenically above the overgrown southwestern corner of Inwa's city walls. The best view is from across the moat, especially in…
0.6 MILES
This airy two-hall museum is mostly full of 19th-century marble buddha statues with their gold leaf rubbed off. More interesting is the giant 18th-century…
0.75 MILES
This small but photogenic ensemble brings together three sitting buddhas and a handful of old brick stupas shaded by a giant flame tree.