Bagan Viewing Tower unveiled

Bagan

The newly inaugurated 13-storey Bagan Viewing Tower, 60 metres high and 16.5 metres in diameter, has been opened to the public. The tower, designed to withstand storms and earthquakes and installed with three 11-person-capacity lifts, features a business centre, offices and a shopping mall on the ground floor, waiting lounges on the first floor, meeting rooms, the Bagan History Video Showroom and coffee shops on the second floor, offices from the fourth to seventh floors, restaurant decks on the ninth and tenth floors, and view deck on the 11^th floor. The admission fee to enter the Bagan Viewing Tower is 10 USD per person.

Resort information

Myanmar Andaman Resort Mergui Archipelago

The Amara Resort Hotel in Kalaw is offering a special rate of 25% off the normal rate for a stay from now until 30th September. Please contact myanmar@exotissimo.com for bookings.

The Aureum Palace Hotels Group is opening three new upscale 5-star resorts, including the Aureum Palace Ngwe Saung with five villas and 57 guest rooms, the Aureum Palace Ngapali with 42 villas and the Aureum Palace & Resort Bagan with 73 villas and guest rooms.

The new Haw Inle Hotel, just south of the Inle Princess Resort, is nearing completion of its first phase and will open for the coming high season. Bookings will be accepted in mid-July for the hotel's 18 villa bungalows and 12 duplex cottages.

In late May, a new eco-friendly resort, the Myanmar Andaman Resort, soft opened on Fork Island in Southern Myanmar’s Mergui Archipelago. Located at the end of its own private bay with three beaches, the resort is a great and quiet hideaway. Ten superior cottages (with fans) are available now and an extension of eight more superior cottages and eight suite chalets (with air conditioning) will be ready for the grand opening later this year. Activities like snorkelling, kayaking and trekking are already available and the first official scuba diving centre in Myanmar is also set to open before the end of the year. The resort can be reached by the hotel's own speedboat service within two hours from the town of Kawthaung. Kawthaung itself is reached from Yangon by domestic flights and from Thailand via the city of Ranong.

The Myanmar Treasure Resort New Bagan, in the Bagan Archaeological Preservation Zone, offers 94 comfortable superior and suite guest rooms that are equipped with air conditioning, en-suite bathrooms, satellite televisions, mini-bars and safes. Facilities include a restaurant, coffee shop, lobby bar, business centre, spa, swimming pool and Internet access. The Myanmar Treasure Resort Inle Lake is scheduled to open in early 2006 with more than 120 guest rooms.