Page 184 - The Rough Guide to Myanmar (Burma)

182 Central MyanMar Yangon to MandalaY
Taungoo

Just off the old Yangon–Mandalay road (National Highway 1), and only 10km east of
the newer (and faster) Yangon–Mandalay Expressway, the bustling little provincial city
of TAUNGOO (aka Toungoo) has a cluster of low-key sights and heaps of friendly,
off-the-beaten track character – as well as one of the region’s most appealing guesthouses.
Taungoo’s engagingly small-town atmosphere belies its considerable significance in the
history of Myanmar as the centre of the Taungoo dynasty (see p.362), for a time one
of the largest empires in the history of Southeast Asia. Little remains of the city’s glory
days, however, the royal palace having been obliterated by Japanese bombers during
World War II.
The heart of Taungoo is the original moated city – parts of the original moat survive,
along with a few fragments of the original city walls. Imposing new eastern and western
gates were built in 2010 to celebrate the city’s five-hundredth birthday, with a large statue
of Taungoo’s founder, King Mingyinyo, erected just outside the east gate for good
measure. In the southwestern corner of the walled city, the fine Kandawgyi Lake is a
pleasant spot for a bike ride or stroll, with an attractive string of cafés along its eastern

CHIN STATE Pakokku N
MANDALAY
Mount Victoria Nyaung U STATE
(3053m) Bagan
Pa-aing Meiktila
Chauk
Thazi Pindaya
Taunggyi
Shwenyaung
Pyawbwe
Mrauk U Nyaungshwe
Yenangyaung Kalaw
Sidoktaya Yamethin
Pyechin
RAKHINE Inle Lake
Ayeyarwady River
STATE Minbu Magwe
Hunters Dalet Beikthano
Bay
Taungdwingyi
MAGWE STATE
Ann NAYPYITAW Pekon
Combermere Yenanma Pyinmana
Bay
Lewe
Kyaukpyu
Thayet Aunglan
Mindon Shwebandaw
Ramree Baungdok KAYAH
Island
A R A K A N E Y O M A
0 50 STATE
kilometres B Taungoo
Pyay A
thayekhittaya G
O
HIGHlIGHtS (Sri Ksetra)
Shwedaung Y O
Cycling the backroads M
Paungde A
Fountain Garden Pyu
Zigen
Shwesandaw Pagoda, Pyay Kyangin
Thayekhittaya (Sri Ksetra) Myanaung BAGO REGION
RAKHINE YOMO Ayeyarwady River
Akauk Taung ELEPHANT RANGE
WILDLIFE RESERVE
Beikthano Nyaunglebim
Yenangyaung
Hinthada
Tharrawaddy Sittaung River
Central MyanMar Yegyi (70km) Bago (70km)
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