Must-see attractions in Mon State

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…

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…

The excursion to this incredible balancing-golden-boulder stupa is a must-do, especially during the peak pilgrimage season (November to March) and when…

Bilu Kyun (Ogre Island) isn’t a hideaway for nasty monsters. Rather, it’s a beautiful island directly west of Mawlamyine. Roughly the size of Singapore,…

A local pilgrimage site, Nwa-la-bo is still relatively unknown outside Mon State and few foreigners make it out here. This is surprising because the…

If you thought you’d seen some big old buddhas, just wait till you get a load of this one. Draped across a couple of green hillsides at Yadana Taung,…

The small town of Kyaikmaraw (က်ိဳက္မေရာ), 15 miles southeast of Mawlamyine, is the site of Kyaikmaraw Paya, a temple of serene, white-faced buddhas built…

You approach this mixed Mon and Kayin village of wooden stilt houses perched over the Ye River along a road that winds through betel nut, rubber and…

Known to the locals as 'Banana Mountain', there's no hill to climb here. Instead, it's an ever-expanding Buddhist complex of shrines and an attractive…

Unlike most of Myanmar's regional museums, Mawlamyine's is actually worth a visit, even if the collection isn't huge. It's dedicated to the Mon history of…

Thirty white-faced standing golden buddhas rise up the steep track that leads to this peaceful temple, with its own, smaller version of Mt Kyaiktiyo's…

Founded by American Adoniram Judson in 1827, this was the country's first Baptist church. In addition to this place of worship, Judson's legacy also…

Ye is a centre of betel nut production, as well as retailing a lot of fish, and the town's busy market features both products, as well as produce, clothes…

Only 8.5 miles south of Mawlamyine, the monastery teaches satipatthana vipassana (insight-awareness meditation) and, at 500 acres, is one of the largest…

This silver- and gold-plated pagoda overlooks Mawlamyine.

Located 15 miles northwest of Thanbyuzayat, Kyaikkami was a small coastal resort and missionary centre known as Amherst during the British era. The town…

Thanbyuzayat, 40 miles south of Mawlamyine, was the western terminus of the infamous Burma–Siam Railway, dubbed the ‘Death Railway’ by the thousands of…

This picturesque little isle just off Mawlamyine’s northern end is so named because, during the Ava period, the yearly royal hair-washing ceremony…

With much better beaches further south now open, few foreigners make it to Setse these days. Around 50 miles southwest of Mawlamyine, Setse is a wide,…

This modest museum in Thanbyuzayat is located at the actual western terminus of WWII's infamous 'Death Railway', which connected Myanmar to Thailand and…