Sites to See

The Shwedagon Pagoda is the most sacred pagoda (Buddhist Temple) in Burma. It contains relics of the previous Buddhas, including the hairs of Siddhartha Gautama, the first Buddha who created the religion itself.

North Mandalay has many sites, more impressive among them the Kuthodaw Pagoda, which is surrounded by 730 stupas, each containing one of 730 slabs on which the Pali Canon, a book of Buddhist scriptures, is inscribed.

The city of Bagan is surrounded with dozens of temples, the most impressive of which is the Htilominlo Temple, a massive pagoda which towers over the landscape at 46 meters tall.

Mt Popa is a national park 50 km southwest of Bagan. At its peak it houses a beautiful temple to Myanmar's ancient gods.

Shwenandaw Monastery is located near the Kuthodaw Pagoda in North Mandalay. Made of wood and intricately carved stone, it is clearly open to the public, this shown by all the people holding selfie stick in google street view.

Htauk Kyant War Memorial Cemetery is a memorial to all of the Burmese soldiers who died fighting the Japanese on this little known front during the second world war.

Mandalay palace is surrounded by a complex on a man made island surrounded by a square moat. Constructed from 1857 to 1859, it was the palace used by the emperor until 1885, when the British took the city of Mandalay.

Karaweik is a barge that was based off of the Burmese royal barge. It serves as a restaurant and, although built in the seventies, still has the look of so many Burmese temples. It's definitely worth checking out, whether you're hungry or just need something to do.