Magway Myanmar
Myanmar
Frequently Asked Questions
Against the bank of the Ayeyarwady, as everywhere on the river: a gangway laid on the sand and a few steps cut into the shore. Children often run down to the gangway to greet arrivals.
The town's main draw: a fully gilded stupa crowning Naguttama hill north of the centre, watching over the river. You can see it well before docking.
Barefoot, as custom requires, up the covered stairways, passing flower sellers and families in their best clothes.
One of central Myanmar's finest panoramas: the broad curve of the water, the sandbanks, the villages on the far shore and the plain stretching to the horizon.
Yes, a convent welcomes visitors directly opposite the pagoda, across the road. It offers a glimpse of the nuns' daily life in pink robes, between study, prayer and community work.
By trishaw, the cycle taxi whose drivers wait near the landing. The driver will happily narrate the scenery in a mix of Burmese and gestures, and you end up understanding each other very well.
Mounds of tomatoes and onions, Ayeyarwady fish, patterned textiles and thanaka, the paste the stallholders wear on their faces. It is the liveliest stop in town.
No, and that is its strength. No souvenir shops line the landing, foreign visitors remain rare and prices are quoted in local currency.
Small kyat notes, shoes that come off easily for the pagoda and a good supply of water: the central Myanmar sun is not to be taken lightly.
Barges loaded with teak or rice, fishing boats hauling nets, bamboo rafts drifting south. In the dry season sandbanks emerge and pilots weave between them.
