Must-see attractions in Myanmar (Burma)

Virtually rocketing from the landscape is this explosion of craggy limestone and white-and-gold stupas. The mountaintop Buddhist temple compound is Kayah…

The highlight of this squat, little-visited temple is its passageway with bas-relief illustrations of the tribumi (Buddhist visions of heaven, earth and…

Built by King Minphalaung in 1571, Dukkanthein Paya smacks of a bunker (with stupas). Wide stone steps lead up the southern and eastern side of the…

A meditative departure from the usual Burmese 'douse-it-all-in-gold-and-pastels' aesthetic, this gorgeously carved teak monastery is beloved by tourists…

One of Yangon's, if not Myanmar's, most gorgeous buddha images is this 46ft-tall one at the Ngahtatgyi Paya, sitting in calm gold-and-white repose and…

A highlight of the long, slow Mandalay–Lashio train ride is the mighty Gokteik Viaduct. It spans the Gokteik Gorge, a densely forested ravine that cuts an…

This ‘early offering shrine’ is the most important of the temples on Sagaing Hill’s southern crown and the first you’ll come to on climbing the One Lion…

Backed by thick jungle, this splendid white-sand beach curves around a natural bay that is fine for swimming. On weekdays, you are likely to have it to…

The mystical Shwe Myitsu Paya, on an island off Nam Tay village, seems to float on the surface of the lake and is especially atmospheric at dawn when…

This colourful, modern temple is famed for its staggering number of buddha images as well as its carnivalesque exterior, with a unique roof layered with…

At the foot of the great temple-studded hills of Sagaing, you’ll find this little-visited cave monastery. Supposedly built around the 1670s, Tilawkaguru…

Some 650m beyond the restaurants and souvenir stands of Hpo Win 'village' lies Shwe Ba Taung, a smaller, contrastingly different set of 46 cave chambers…

Trained lawyer and maths teacher Robert Om Kee, son of Vakok vilage chief, has dedicated himself to this fascinating and tiny house museum. He'll quickly…

Situated next to the Nga Moe Yeik creek, this Disneyland-ish pagoda is a hoot. Larger-than-life 3D stucco depictions of the Buddha's life and practice…

Directly north of Kyaikthanlan Paya and linked by a covered walkway, this is the largest temple complex in Mawlamyine and easily the most beautiful. It’s…

As the epicentre of the gem trade in Myanmar, Mogok has many marketplaces for gems. The early-morning market is known as the Cinema Hall Market, as it is…

A Myint is a charmingly unspoiled riverside village dominated by a series of 336 higgledy-piggledy ancient stupas in varying stages of collapse. All are…

Also known as Royal Lake, this artificial lake built by the British as a reservoir is most attractive at sunset, when the glittering Shwedagon Paya is…

Rudyard Kipling’s visit to Myanmar spanned just three days, but it resulted in a poem, 'Mandalay', that turned Burma into an oriental fantasy. It began…

Set high on a limestone ridge above Pone Taloke Lake, this winding complex of natural caves and tunnels is filled to bursting with buddha images in an…