Mon State attractions

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 built in the typical Mon style with covered brick walkways li…

Rudyard Kipling’s visit to Myanmar spanned just three days, but it resulted in a poem, 'Mandalay', that turned Burma into an oriental fantasy and began with the lines ‘By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin’ lazy at the…

The excursion to this incredible balancing-golden-boulder stupa is a must-do, especially during the peak pilgrimage season (November to March) and when the sun is shining. The small stupa, just 24ft high, sits atop …

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, Bilu Kyun comprises 78 villages that are home to more than 200…

A local pilgrimage site, Nwa-la-bo is still relatively unknown outside Mon State and, currently, very few foreigners make it out here. This is surprising because the pagoda is a smaller but, geologically at least, f…

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 by Queen Shin Saw Pu in 1455. Among the temple’s many outsta…

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 pineapple plantations, interspersed with golden pagodas half-hidde…

Known to the locals as 'Banana Mountain', there's no hill to climb here. Instead, it's an expanding Buddhist complex of shrines and an attractive monastery, all dominated by four vast sitting Buddhas grouped around …

Unlike most of Myanmar's regional museums, Mawlamyine's is actually worth a visit, even if the collection here isn't huge. It's dedicated to the Mon history of the region, and the exhibits include stelae with Mon in…

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 famous golden rock and a golden zedi. Best of all are the stunni…