Experience the best of Nyaung U

Nyaung-U lies on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River in central Myanmar, at the north-eastern edge of the Bagan archaeological zone, which holds more than two thousand surviving temples and pagodas from the 11th to 13th centuries. The town has the gilded Shwezigon Pagoda, begun in the 11th century, a busy market and guesthouses and restaurants for visitors to Bagan.

The temple plain is crossed by dusty tracks best explored by bicycle, electric scooter or horse cart. Ananda Temple, with its white walls and golden spire, and Thatbyinnyu, the tallest of the temples, are among the best known, and Bagan was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019. About 50 km south-east, the old volcano of Mount Popa rises from the plain, with a monastery on a rock beside it.

Burmese food here includes mohinga, a fish noodle soup eaten at breakfast, tea leaf salad, curries with many small side dishes, and snacks made with toddy palm sugar, tapped from palms across the dry plain. Temperatures reach over 40 degrees Celsius from March to May. The cool, dry months from November to February are by far the easiest time to visit, and the rains from June to October are light here.