Must-see places in Myanmar/Burma (06-05-2012 - 08:20:06)
Mount Popa
(Elevation: 1,518 m - 4,980 ft) Everyone in Myanmar hopes to make a pilgrimage to Mount Popa, a vertical rock outcropping about 50 km (31 mi) southeast of Bagan, at least once in their lives.
Mount Popa is perhaps best known for the nearby stunningly picturesque Popa Taungkalat monastery atop an outcrop. The Popa Taungkalat (Taung Kalat) Shrine is home to 37 Mahagiri Nats, or spirits. Statues depicting the Nats are at the base of the Shrine.

Bago
The road north of Yangon splits at Taukkyan; one fork continues north to Mandalay while another bends east around the Gulf of Martaban to Bago, a town of historic Mon and Burmese pagodas as well as one of the largest reclining Buddha (Shwethalyaung Buddha) figures in the world.

Inle Lake
Freshwater lake located on the Shan Plateau, surrounded by mountains and high river valleys, Inle Lake offers a complete change of scenery. Some 70,000 people of Inle Lake, called Intha, live in four cities bordering the lake, in numerous small villages along the lake's shores, and on the lake itself. They fish Inle's shallow waters from graceful teak canoes. Vegetables are cultivated on "floating" islands, made by clumping soil together with water hyacinth and staking the resulting masses to the lake floor with bamboo poles. The Intha are also known for skilful silk-weaving and for the crafting of colourful cloth shoulder bags.

Mawlamyine (or Mawlamyaing)
Known to most of the English-speaking world as Moulmein, this ex-colonial town sits at the northeastern end of the Gulf of Martaban at the mouth of the Thanlwin (Salween) river. The sleepy port boasts a number of well-endowed Mon Buddhist temples, a cultural museum, pagoda-studded islands and fading colonial architecture.

Ngapali Beach
Located 7 kilometres (4 mi) from the town of the town of Thandwee (formerly Sandoway), in Rakhine State, this 3 km (2 mi) strip of golden sand on the Indian Ocean has become the most well-known beach in Myanmar, yet compared to other beaches in Southeast Asia it receives relatively few tourists.

Ayeyarwady delta
A journey through the delta and along the Bay of Bengal coast will reward the visitor with perspectives of Myanmar's largest pottery works in Twante near Yangon, the historic inland port of Pathein, and the quiet beachside villages of Letkhokkon, Chaungtha and Gwa.

Kyaiktiyo Pagoda
Further east atop Mount Kyaikhtiyo, a seven-metre gilded boulder, also known as Golden Rock, balances on the edge of a granite cliff 1,200 metres above the coastal plains. Said to be magically held in place by a Buddha hair enshrines in a small stupa atop the rock, it has become a popular pilgrimage and also tourist attraction. A strenuous four-hour walk along the 11-kilometre path up the mountain confers great merit upon pilgrims. The less devoted may ride in public pilgrim trucks to within a 45-minute walk of the summit, then complete the journey atop bamboo palanquins borne on the shoulders of well-paid carriers. Sunrise or sunset, the view from the shrine is one of the most beautiful in Myanmar.

Bagan
Less known than Cambodia's Angkor complex, Bagan (formerly Pagan) more than holds its own in terms of historic and archaeological significance. The cradle of the first Burmese kingdom, it became the focus of an intense building frenzy during which as many as 13,000 temples, stupas and other religious structures were built in the 42 square kilometre area between the 11th and 13th centuries. Horse-cart remains the preferred vehicle for touring the ruins.