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the way to ‘Thaungpye Mound’, is the better(but bumpier) way back to the museum.Take the left and after half a mile you’llpass by a gap in the 3m-thick city walls,which has become a gate. Continue anothermile, through a booming farming village ofthatch huts, with piles of radishes and otherproduce. Towards the north end of the villageis the 13th-century East Zegu Paya,a small four-sided temple with overgrownwalls and (usually) locked doors. It’s off themain road, but is worth visiting for the walkpast the fields and farmers.8 Getting There & AwayThe turn-off here is a couple of miles east ofPayagyi Paya. A return taxi between Thayekhittayaand Pyay should cost about K10,000. Nodirect pick-up truck connects the Pyay towncentre with the site. You can bike to the site, butnot around it.MEET THE FAMILY SIMON RICHMONDSHWEDAUNGeráet;='This small town about 9 miles south ofPyay, via the road to Yangon, contains thefamous Shwemyetman Paya (Paya of theGolden Spectacles), a reference to the large,white-faced sitting buddha inside the mainshrine. The buddha wears a gargantuan setof eyeglasses with gold-plated rims. Comingsouth from Pyay, the turn-off for Shwemyetmanis located on the right-hand side ofthe road; a green-and-white sign in Englishreads ‘Shwe Myet Hman Buddha Image – 1Furlong’.Spectacles were first added to the imageduring the Konbaung era, when a noblemanoffered them to the temple in anattempt to stimulate local faith through curiosity.Word soon spread that the bespectacledbuddha had the power to cure allills, especially afflictions linked to the eyes.The first pair of spectacles was stolen at anearly stage, and a second pair was madeand enshrined inside the image to protectit from thieves.An English officer stationed in Pyay duringthe colonial era had a third pair fittedover the buddha’s eyes after his wife sufferedfrom eye trouble and the abbot suggestedsuch a donation. Naturally, as the story goes,she was cured. (This pair is now in a smallshrine to the right of the image.)On the southern side of Shwedaung,about 3 miles from Shwemyetman, is theattractive hilltop Shwenattaung Paya(Golden Spirit Mountain), which reportedlydates back to the Thayekhittaya era.Among the many images of buddha is a sereneone carved from marble. A large payapwe (pagoda festival) is held here each yearon the full moon of Tabaung (February/March).To get to Shwedaung, hop on a pick-uptruck headed towards Yangon. Pick-uptrucks leave frequently from the Pyay busstation and pass by the Aung San statue beforehitting the highway.AKAUK TAUNGaek;k'et;='Carved into cliffs overlooking the Ayeyarwady,about 19 miles downstream fromPyay, are dozens of buddha images at Akauk‘My name is Ku Tan Swe and this is my husband U Aye Cho, my brother U Ken Lu andmy sister Luin Luin May; she’s 82.’ Sitting demurely behind a dusty table in the big, highceilingedentrance room, the old lady peered kindly at me through her circular glasses,not in the least bit fazed by having a perfect stranger drop by unexpectedly. A momentbefore I’d been outside taking a photograph of their home, a grand 1924 mansion a fewblocks south of the Shwemyetman Paya in Shwedaung, when Ku Tan Swe – one of theseveral people who lived there – invited me inside.Pointing at one of the many framed sepia photos hanging on the walls, Ku Tan Swecontinued with the introductions. ‘That’s my grandfather U Aung Kyw – he built thishouse.’ She then turned to the opposite wall to indicate the portrait of her grandmotherDohla. U Aung Kyw was a talented man: another of his fancy colonial-mansion creations,built in 1926, can be seen a block south of the Shwemyetman Paya.Looking around, I noticed another fading, crumbling image, this one in colour and ofan English-looking woman in army uniform. ‘Is that another relation?’ I asked. ‘No, it’sElizabeth’, replied U Ken Lu laughing. Taking a closer look, I saw it was, indeed, PrincessElizabeth, now the Queen.147YANGON–BAGAN & CENTRAL HIGHWAY MYANMAR 8 8 AROUND PYAY