Monywa Burma (Myanmar)

The fascinating, yet rarely-visited town of Monywa lies just to the west of Mandalay in Burma’s (Myanmar’s) Sagaing Division.

As usual, on our Southeast Asia tours, the issue isn’t which destinations to include but rather which ones time restraints force us to omit.  There are myriad wonderful sites to be seen but if you included everything the tour would last for months! The leisurely Mandalay to Bagan boat trip down the Ayeyarwady, (Irrawaddy), being a case in point.  It’s a fine way to travel between the 2 towns; provides a change from minibuses and domestic flights and the early morning views as the boat passes by the pagoda-topped hills of Sagaing and the afternoon views of river bank temples as we reach Bagan, provide fantastic views and photographic opportunities.  In between times, it provides a welcome relaxing day in a sometimes busy schedule as you watch the river go by from your deck chair; sup a hot coffee or cold beer, mingle with your fellow passengers or catch up some reading or emailing time.

On our Images of Burma, special – to keep those trigger-happy photographers occupied – we’ve amended the itinerary to travel overland from Mandalay to Bagan via the fascinating, and photogenic, town of Monywa.  In order to free up a half-day workshop window, the photo special tour already includes an afternoon boat trip up the river to Mingun, while the regular Discover Burma tour offers a day trip to the old hill station of Pyin U Lwin. (As we said, you can’t do everything!)

Anyway here’s a few photos of our new destination, Monywa and please note that with flexibility being a key part of our tours we would try our best to fit in any specific requests, or sites not usually included in the itineraries. Furthermore aside our various, suggested, optional add-ons; The Golden Rock, Kengtung, Ngapali, Ngwe Sang, balloon rides and so-on, we’re open to any other suggestions you may have.