The ancient cities
Trip Start
Aug 23, 1996
1
132
557
Trip End
Ongoing
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Up early for the visit to the 3 ancient Cities. We headed of towards Sagaing, but as this is Myanmar, there was an entry fee for these 3 and also the 4th City, Mingun. There was not much left of the old place with the highlight being Kaunghmudaw Paya. It looked like a huge white washed breast in front of the gate!!!!! We moved on to Ava. They put you in a boat, you cross a river, and then you get in a horse and carriage. It was fun, but not for the horses. We travelled around, looking at the old ruined Payas and then arrived at Bagaya Kyaung. Completely made of wood and very old. We watched a teacher, teaching his students, then we jumped back into the carriage, to look at more. We went off road and passed Nanmyi, an old tower with a greater lean than Pisa's !!!!! Then we were at Maha Aungmye Bonzan Paya. It was big. It's hard to believe they left this place. We went back over the river and then we were on our way to Amarapura. There were a few old Payas around, but we came here to see the world's longest wooden bridge. Its about a K in length and is only for walking. We crossed, we came back. The day was over, so we headed back. Dinner was had as usual, on the streets. In the morning, we jumped in a cyclo to take us to the wharf where we had to get the boat to Mingun. The boat took a while to get there, and then it appeared, Mingun. It was the size, that made this place was special. It was massive. Every side was 140 metres long and at least 100 metres high. Now I come from N.S.W. where everything is big, but this towered over them. An earthquake had stopped the locals building this. It was 2/3rds finished when this happened. We climbed to the top. No safety rails, just the edge !!!! Great views. Once down, we looked at the other Payas around and then it was time to go back. Back in Mandalay, I had succumbed to flu like virus, so I was asleep by 9 on New Years. Anyway, we had a boat to catch to get to Bagan
