Page 144 - The Rough Guide to Myanmar (Burma)

SoutheaStern
MyanMar
Bago
BAGO MOE YUN GYI KAYIN 0 75
REGION SANCTUARY kilometres While BAGO is a provincial town today, its
WILDLIFE STATE
Yangon (95km) Thanlyin River THAIL AND outskirts retain hints of its magnificent and
turbulent past. Formerly known as Pegu, the
Mount Kyaiktiyo
Bago Kyaiktiyo town was the capital of several Mon and
Kyaikhto
MON Burmese kingdoms, and flourished as a
STATE bastion of Theravada Buddhism in the
Thaton
YANGON Hpa-An fifteenth century and as a regional trade
REGION nwa La Bo entrepôt in the sixteenth. Each period of
Mottama Myawaddy Mae Sot dominion brought with it a new layer of
Ka Lwi Gyaing
Mawlamyine River Kawkareik gilded pagodas and languorous reclining
Gulf of Bilu Khayone
Cave
Mottama Kyun Buddhas, and today the admittedly noisy
Kyaikkami Mudon Ataran Hongtharaw River and chaotic centre makes a fine place to
hIGhLIGhtS Setse Thanbyuzayat spend a day or two cycling between its
Bago River gold-coated sights.
Nam Chon Some 80km from Yangon, Bago sits astride
Kyaiktiyo Reservoir the Yangon–Mandalay railway and the old
(Golden Rock) Ko Phadaw
yin
Hpa-An Lay highway, making it a convenient stop-off
Ye between the two cities. If you really wanted
Mawlamyine three Pagodas
Pass
Bilu Kyun Khao Laem to, you could also visit on a very rushed
Reservoir day-trip from Yangon.
Dawei THAILAND
T
Myeik TANINTHARYI E N SAI YOK Brief history
Archipelago NATURE A NATIONAL
RESERVE S PARK According to Buddhist legend, the newly
S
Maungmagan E enlightened Siddhartha Gautama made a
Beach R I Phu
N Launglon Dawei M Nam flying trip to Lower Burma, which at that

San Hlan Htee Kee Ron time was covered by seawater. Seeing a
Zat Sar Aw Shin Maw H female hamsa sitting on the back of a male,
Po Po Kyak I L perched on a tiny island of dry land,
TANINTHARYI L
REGION Buddha foretold that this spot would
S
Mali become the centre of a prosperous
AND AMAN Island Palaw Tanintharyi River kingdom 1500 years later. Roughly on
SEA Kadan schedule, once the waters had receded, two
M y e i k A r c h i p e l a g o Daung Myeik Lutlut TANINTHARYI known as Hanthawaddy in 825 AD. The
Mon princes founded the town then
Island
Tamok
double hamsa motif can be seen all over
NATIONAL
Bago today.
PARK
Auckland
Island
After centuries sandwiched
Bay
Tanintharyi
uncomfortably between the armies of
Bagan and Ayutthaya, the Mon kingdom
Letsok-Aw Island Kanmaw
Island moved its capital from Mottama, near
LENYA
NATIONAL Mawlamyine, to Bago in 1369. The town
LAMPI ISLAND
MARINE NATIONAL PARK became a major religious centre under the
PARK Lampi Bokpyin fifteenth-century reign of devout Queen
Island
Clara Island Shin Sawbu, who passed her throne to an
Kadin
Pila Island alchemist monk named Dhammazedi, to
Lord Loughborough Buda whom the queen had married her daughter.
Island Island Maliwan Chumphon
Waterfall During his 32-year reign, Dhammazedi
Zadetkale
Macleod Island Hastings entrenched Bago’s position as a centre of
Island Island
Zadetkyi Island Kawthaung Ranong GULF OF Buddhist orthodoxy, expanding pagodas,
Than Island THAILAND funding pilgrimages and holding mass
Christie Island THAILAND ordinations.
Krabi (300km) Surat Thani (215km)
138-177_Myanmar_B2_Ch3.indd 142 30/06/17 2:20 pm