Inwa Myanmar
Myanmar
Frequently Asked Questions
Boats stop near Mandalay and a small ferry crosses the channel that isolates the peninsula. You land at a village jetty where cart drivers wait in the shade of the tamarind trees.
By horse cart, along dirt tracks winding between rice paddies and banana groves. The classic circuit of the monuments takes about two hours at the horse's pace.
The former Burmese capital, once known as Ava, which ruled the kingdom on and off from 1364 to 1841. The site occupies a peninsula at the confluence of two rivers, some twenty kilometres from Mandalay.
No. The great earthquakes of the nineteenth century destroyed them and the court moved to Amarapura, then Mandalay. Rice fields and banana groves have covered the palace grounds.
A teak monastery set among the rice fields, resting on 267 pillars, some as tall as ships' masts. It still serves monastic teaching and is walked barefoot on planks polished by generations of monks.
Because of the nineteenth-century earthquakes. The sole survivor of the old palace, this watchtower leans noticeably, earning it the nickname of the leaning tower of Ava.
Ochre brick and stucco, ceremonial staircases and terraces looking out over the vegetation that has reclaimed everything. Built in the nineteenth century on the model of wooden monasteries, it survived where almost everything else vanished.
Yes, agree the price of the ride before setting off, and carry small notes for the drivers and the stalls.
Not easily. The tracks are dirt, climbing into the carts takes some agility, and the monasteries are walked barefoot on uneven floors.
A hat and water, since shade is scarce between the monuments in the hot hours, plus shoes that slip off easily and clothing covering shoulders and knees.
