A RECENTLY OPENED REGION OF MYANMAR

If you are interested in Buddhist art or just want to see something different, a visit to the caves of Po Win Daung should be included in your Myanmar itinerary. About 200 kilometres north west of Mandalay and a one hour drive from the typical Burmese town of Moniwa, Po Win Daung has dozens of cave temples decorated with ancient paintings representing Burmese court life and the Buddhist religion in the 17th century. This site is thought to contain the richest collection of Buddhist mural paintings and statues in the whole of South East Asia. Most of the paintings are surprisingly well preserved, especially the ones on the ceilings. Scenes of the royal family taking rides on sacred white elephants, princesses looking after the sleeping queen and servants paying respect to Buddha can been seen as well as scenes of everyday life from the period. In addtion to the paintings all the caves have large collections of ancient Buddha statues which have been covered in gold leaf by generations of visiting Burmese pilgrims.

While visiting Po Win Daung it is definitely also well worth paying a visit to see the caves of Shwe Ba Daung, where an entire village of monasteries and temples has been carved out of the rocks. Moniwa, the small town that is the base from which to visit the surrounding areas is well-known in Myanmar for the Thanboddhay Pagoda, were more than 500,000 Buddha images cover every wall and archway of this huge Buddhist temple. Moniwa is also home to the colourful Schweguni Pagoda and an impressive reclining Buddha, the largest in Myanmar at 100 metres in length and 27 metres high.

Apart from Buddhist temples and caves a visit to this area offers a unique opportunity to see rural life in villages that were "off-limits" for foreigners until very recently. The charming village of Kyaukka is famous for it’s lacquerware workshops, especially the black rice baskets that are used by every Burmese family to store their rice-stock. The best way to visit the Moniwa area is by road from Bagan following the Irrawaddy river northwards. It makes an interesting alternative to travelling directly to Mandalay from Bagan. En route is also possible to visit Pakokku, a lively, Burmese town with a strong craftwork tradition producing colourful blankets, papier-mache toys and traditional sandals. 20km to the north east of Pakkoku is Pakkangyi with one of the oldest surviving wooden monasteries in Myanmar.

Ca Na Beach, one of southern Vietnam’s most scenic beaches, will be turned into a giant theme park and resort complex under a plan hatched by a HCM City. The resort complex will be financed entirely by the local Ninh Thuan Tourism company. Ninh Thuan Tourism has also signed a memorandum of understanding to lease 11 hectares of the beach to a French company which plans to build a US$10 million luxury beach resort.