Page 192 - The Rough Guide to Myanmar (Burma)

190 Central MyanMar Yangon to MandalaY
Mandalay (139km)
Bus
MeIKtILa Station
N
CB
Bank
Clocktower rainbow
travels
YA N G O N M A N D A L A Y R O A D
aGD
Meiktila Lake Bank

Market

Railway
Station Thazi (22km) & Naypyitaw (163km)

Naypyitaw (via Expressway, 157km) & Yangon (via Expressway, 513km) San Statue Pagoda Daw U Pagoda ayeyarwady
nagaryon
Phaung
aung
Bank
antaka
4 TAW KOANE Champion Bakery 2 1 4
Yele Paya
eatInG
Gold Rain Tea Shop
Lecker Corner
QUARTER
Pan Nu Yaung
aCCOMMODatIOn
0
Wunzin Hotel
metres 200 PAN CHAN STREET Honey Hotel 3 1 2
streets – although present appearances belie the town’s turbulent past. The town is
famously the site of one of Southeast Asia’s bloodiest conflicts when, between February
and March 1945, British forces killed 20,000 Japanese soldiers in a final battle for the
control of Burma, devastating the town. Later, catastrophic fires enveloped Meiktila in
1974 and 1991, while in March 2013 the town hit the international headlines when
Buddhist mobs went on the rampage against their Muslim neighbours (formerly
comprising around thirty percent of the population), killing over forty people and
forcing an estimated 12,000 others from their homes while government security forces,
it’s alleged, stood by and watched.
Meiktila Lake

In the middle of town is Meiktila Lake, fringed with shrines and stupas and crossed
by two bridges. Next to the southern bridge you’ll immediately notice Meiktila’s most
memorable landmark, the striking (in a Disney way rather than a beautiful way)
Phaung Daw U Pagoda, constructed in the form of a large boat, with soaring stern
and the head of a mythical karaweik (aka karavika) bird. Inside, the temple’s single
wood-panelled hall is largely bare, save for a single gold stupa and a few entertaining
paintings illustrating moral fables from ancient and modern Burma.
Crossing the bridge, you’ll see (on your left) the diminutive Antaka Yele Paya,
comprising a small stupa and shrine perched amid the waters of the lake, connected
to the shore by a long wooden footbridge. At the time of research it was undergoing
restoration, but you could still walk to it. Continuing along the main road just past

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