lonely-planet-myanmar-burma-11-edition

228MANDALAY & AROUND AROUND MANDALAY8Getting AroundA three-hour horse-cart tour visiting the threemain sites costs K5000 for one or two people. Formany visitors horse-cart tours are a major part ofthe Inwa experience, the carriages avoiding noisepollution and creating picturesque scenes themselvesalong the tree-lined tracks. However, cartsare undeniably slow moving and somewhat limiting.Bringing your own bicycle or motorbike fromMandalay can prove an attractive alternative.Sagaingcc'kui='"%072 / POP C40,000As you cross the Ayeyarwady on the busy newbridge, Sagaing’s uncountable white-andgoldstupas shimmer alluringly on a series ofhillocks that rise behind the almost flat towncentre. No individual pagoda stands out asa particular must-see, but taken togetherthe whole scene is enthralling. A highlightis walking the (sometimes steep) tree-hungstairways that lead magically past monasteriesand nunneries to viewpoints from whichyou can survey the river and yet more stupas.HistoryNamed for the trees hanging over the river,Sagaing became the capital of an independentShan kingdom around 1315, after the fallwwAung SanStatue # æ# Ú3-#4 # Úof Bagan had thrown central Myanmar intochaos. Its period of importance was short, forin 1364 the founder’s grandson, Thado Minbya,hop-scotched the capital to Inwa. From1760 Sagaing enjoyed just four more yearsas capital, but the town’s significance fromthen on became more spiritual than political.Today it is home to some 6000 monks andnuns, and is a place where many MyanmarBuddhists go to meditate when stressed.1SightsSAGAING HILLcc'kiu='"et;='(admission Sagaing/Mingun $3 ticket)Stupa-topped hillocks coalesce into SagaingHill, a long tree-dappled north–south ridgethat starts around 1½ miles north of themarket area. If you drive to the top, you66Sagaing #e123AA‚To KaunghmudawPaya (3.5mi)Market# ÿ5444444# ÿOK Guesthouse4444441 # ÚColonial444444HousesBeerAvaû Station# æBridgeBC444444Say Yon Gyi StAye MyaWaddy StEducationCollege V# #BHtuparyon StSagaingæ Sights1 Htuparyon Paya...................................B32 Shwe-kyet-kay .....................................D33 Shwezigon............................................ B14 Thacheiselik .........................................B2ÿ Sleeping5 Happy Hotel .........................................B2CRoad to Sagaing‚HillMyo Thit StMinn Str StHoetaypadaStrand Rd0 800 m0 0.4 milesDToMingun‚Stairway toSoon U PonyaShin Payaand Sagaing Hill# Ú‚# Ú# æ SagaingBridge# æTonboJettiesAyeyarwady RiverD2 # Ú123