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A lovely town, situated on the eastern bark of the Chindwin River, and a major trade center for agricultural produce from the Surrounding Chindwin Valley. It is the gateway to the magnificent Thahboddhay Pagoda complex with its 845 stupas, 7.350 statues and almost 600.000 sacred images as well as the impressive sandstone Hpo Win Daung Caves.
We will make an early morning start in Mandalay to make the 2 ½ hrs journey to Monywa. Not far from Monywa we will visit the first sights, before we enter the city which offers some more interesting spots. If you are interested in visiting the famous caves on the other side of the Chindwin River, you will need to stay overnight in Monywa. Crossing the river early the next morning, you will be able to enjoy a beautiful sunrise over the city while on the ferry. After visiting Hpo Win Daung Caves and Shwebataung Paya we will proceed back to Mandalay or go on to Pakkoku from where we can cross the Irrawaddy and reach Bagan.
Sights : Thanboddhay Pagoda: this attraction lies 20km southeast of Monywa, built between 1939 and 1952 and therefore of relatively modern origin and an interesting sight. Its most imposing feature is the over 500,000 small images of Buddha's disciplines featured inside the Pagoda. From outside, the Pagoda itself looks vaguely like Borobudur in Indonesia, except covered in gold.There is a little watchtower on the compound, which you can climb to enjoy the view over the pagoda.
Boddhi-Tataung (1000 Buddhas): 4km from Thanboddhay Pagoda is this grove of Banyan trees, each with a Buddha image placed at its foot.
Aung Setkya Paya: is a Pagoda near the Boddhi-Taung, which is surrounded by 1060 small zedis. You can get a good view over this compound from in front of the large 90m long reclining Buddha up the hill. It is hollow inside and features some stories of Buddha's life with human-sized figures.
Ledi Kyaung: monastery founded by the famous monk Ledi Sayadaw. There are 806 marble slabs inscribed with Buddhist scriptures in Pali and their Burmese translation.
Hpo Win Daung Caves: these magnificent sandstone caves are reached by a short ferry ride across the Chindwin River followed by a further ¾ hr trip. The caves are named after U Hpo Win a famous alchemist who once lived there, and feature various beautiful fine murals and Buddha images, some of them dating as far back as the 14th and 16th century, mostly the ones with the smaller entrances. Most of the over 200.000 large and small caves exhibit the Inwa (Ava) style from the 17th and 18th century. (Admission: US$ 2,-) (1h)
Shwebataung Paya: (right next to Hpo Win Daung) these large temple-like caves, with very colorful entrances were cut into the sandstone in the 18th century. Amazing are the long stairways with the straight tall walls leading down to the complex. (Admission: US$ 1,-) (½h)
Shwe Gu Ni Paya: is around 20km east of the city. It is one of the most important pilgrimage spots in Upper Myanmar and famous for its wish-fulfilling powers. Dating to the 14th century, its Buddha image has lost its fine lines due to constant application of gold leaf.
If you stay more then one night in Monywa you will also be able to see following points of interest around the city:
Peanut roasting: Monywa is famous in Myanmar for its peanuts. In the morning you can watch the local people roasting peanuts just in front of the city.
Making of Noodles: close to Thanboddhay Pagoda is a village, whose inhabitants are specialized in making noodles, mainly from beans.
Kyaukka village: is right behind Shwe Gu Ni Paya and the point of origin for Lacquer Ware, though these days most are finished in Bagan. The pieces produced here are more utilitarian and basic.
Twin Daung: is a deep lake, known as the lake of love. It grows plants that are supposed to have healing power and used in certain medicine in Myanmar.
