lonely-planet-myanmar-burma-11-edition

128BAGAN & CENTRAL MYANMAR AROUND BAGANFRUIT OF THE PALMSOn the way to or from Mt Popa have yourdriver pause at one of the several toddyand jaggery (palm sugar) operations thatare set up along the road. The operatorswill give you a basic demo of how the alcoholicdrink and sweets are made fromthe sap of the toddy palm. After, you cantaste and buy the products.Popa Mountain Resort (%69169, in Yangon01-503 831; rsvpopa@myanmar.com.mm; r superior$70, r deluxe garden/mountain view $150/200;ais), owned by Htoo Trading Company, abusiness affiliated with the government (seep 21 ).Nonguests can take a dip in the pool ($5)or have a meal (Myanmar set menu for $12)at the good restaurant while overlooking thepagodas atop Popa Taung Kalat.8Getting There & AwayMost travellers visit Mt Popa in half a day byshare taxi or by organised tour from their hotel.In Nyaung U, guesthouses could get you a slot ina share taxi (without guide); a whole taxi is $35and, at a squeeze, can fi t four plus the driver.At research time a pick-up truck left NyaungU’s bus station at 8.30am for Mt Popa (K3000,two hours); it left Popa for Nyaung U at 1pm.Less conveniently, you could take an hourlypick-up from Nyaung U to Kyaukpadaung (90minutes) and then another to Mt Popa (45 minutes).This would take a full day.Salaycel%063This Bagan-era village, 22 miles south ofBagan, is rooted in the 12th and 13th centuries,when Bagan’s influence spread. Itremains an active religious centre, withsomething like 50 monasteries for the 7000or so residents! Day-trippers make it here tovisit a few of the 19th-century wooden monasteriesand some select Bagan-era shrines,and peek at a handful of untouched Britishcolonial buildings.It can be paired with Mt Popa on a fulldaytrip, though the two are in different directionsfrom Bagan. Eating choices tend tobe better in nearby Chauk (famous for itsproduction of the sweet tamarind flakes thatare served at the end of all meals in Bagan),but you can get noodles in the Salay market.There are no hotels.1SightsYouqson KyaungBUDDHIST MONASTERYrup'c®uekY;='"(%09-4721 5427; admission $5, camera fee $2;h9am-4.30pm) Designed as a copy of theCrown Prince House in Mandalay, and builtfrom 1882 to 1892, the huge wooden monasteryis the best place to start a visit in Salay.Along two of its exterior sides are detailedoriginal carvings displaying 19th-centurycourt life and scenes from the Jataka (storiesof the Buddha’s past lives) and Ramayana(one of India’s best-known legends);sadly another side’s pieces were looted inthe 1980s. Inside, the 17th- to 19th-centurypieces are behind glass cases, while theBagan-era woodcarvings (including a massivethrone backdrop) stand in open view.The monastery was renovated twice inthe 1990s and the government’s Departmentof Archaeology runs the site (see p 21 ); onsitestaff can point you to other nearby sitesin and outside town.Bagan-Era Monuments BUDDHIST TEMPLESLittle of the history of Salay’s 103 ruins isknown outside a small circle of Myanmararchaeologists working with limited funds.It is said that most of the monuments in Salayweren’t royally sponsored, but were builtby the lower nobility or commoners – thusthere’s nothing on the grand scale of Bagan’sbiggest structures.In the pagoda-filled area about 110ydeast of Youqson Kyaung, you can see PayaThonzu (Temples 18, 19 and 20), which is asmall trio of brick shrines with sikhara (Indian-stylecorncob-like temple finials) andsome faded murals inside. The westernmostshrine (to the left if you come from the museum)has the most visible murals and alsoa narrow set of stairs leading to a small terrace.If it’s locked, ask at Youqson Kyaung.A more interesting feature is the modernmakeover of the Bagan-era ShinpinsarkyoPaya (Temple 88), about 4 miles southwest oftown via a dodgy road (and a couple of dodgybridges). Inside the glass- and tile-filled pagoda,you’ll find an original 13th-century woodLokanat (Mahayana Bodhisattva guardianspirit).The nearby northern entrance passagewayfeatures interesting 19th-century 3-Dmurals (some are torture to see). Original