Mawlamyine
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…
Must-see attractions in Mon State
Mawlamyine
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…
Mon State
The excursion to this incredible balancing-golden-boulder stupa is a must-do, especially during the peak pilgrimage season (November to March) and when…
Mawlamyine
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,…
Mawlamyine
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…
Mawlamyine
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,…
Mawlamyine
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…
Mon State
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…
Mon State
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…
Mawlamyine
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…
Mon State
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…
Mawlamyine
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…
Mon State
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…
Mawlamyine
Only 8.5 miles south of Mawlamyine, the monastery teaches satipatthana vipassana (insight-awareness meditation) and, at 500 acres, is one of the largest…
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…
Mawlamyine
Thanbyuzayat, 40 miles south of Mawlamyine, was the western terminus of the infamous Burma–Siam Railway, dubbed the ‘Death Railway’ by the thousands of…
Mawlamyine
This picturesque little isle just off Mawlamyine’s northern end is so named because, during the Ava period, the yearly royal hair-washing ceremony…
Mawlamyine
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,…
Mawlamyine
This modest museum in Thanbyuzayat is located at the actual western terminus of WWII's infamous 'Death Railway', which connected Myanmar to Thailand and…
Mawlamyine
On the southern spur of the ridge overlooking Mawlamyine, this pagoda was named after a former monk who dreamed of finding gems here, then dug them up and…
Mawlamyine
This lake formed by Azin Dam (a water storage and flood-control facility that’s also used to irrigate local rubber plantations) also boasts a tidy…
Mawlamyine
Spirited away in the back of the little-known, dark and dank Kha-Yon Caves are rows of ghostly buddha statues and wall paintings that come lurching out of…
Mawlamyine
Kyauktalon Taung is a strangely shaped, sheer-sided crag rising out of the surrounding agricultural land and crowned with stupas. It’s a sticky 20-minute…
Mon State
Ye's small gold market – just to the west of the main market – features mostly jewellery, rather than gold leaf or gold bars. It is worth a stroll and a…
Mon State
Ye's principal shrine sits close to both the lake and the market, its golden pagoda easily visible. There are two main prayer halls, both in the Mon style…
Mawlamyine
This rickety and dilapidated 100-year-old wooden monastery is famed for being the place where King Mindon's Mon queen, Seindon, sought refuge after…
Mawlamyine
This temple was built to commemorate U Khanti, the hermit architect of Mandalay Hill fame. U Khanti supposedly spent some time on this hill as well. It’s…
Mon State
This pagoda sits in the middle of the lake in the heart of Ye and is accessed by a concrete bridge under which many fish gather. It's a popular spot for…
Mawlamyine
This long-disused hotel was Mawlamyine's premier place to stay back in the colonial era.
