Mandalay
 Mandalay, the last royal capital of Myanmar Kingdom was
founded in 1857 by King Mindon and became royal capital in 1861.
Mandalay is also the second capital of Myanmar as well as the
second gateway to travel by Air to Myanmar. Being rich with
cultural heritage, you can still see considerable cultural and
religious significant places in the city of Mandalay. It is
famous for its traditional artifact and handicrafts. The legend
says that Lord Buddha had made a prophecy during his visit on
the Mandalay Hill that a great city could be founded at the foot
of the hill. Kuthodaw Pagoda with 729 marble inscriptions of
three baskets of Buddha Pali cannon, often called “the world’s
Biggest Book” built by King Mindon in 1848 is one of the
highlight you should not miss.
 Located on the western bank of the river Ayeyarwaddy,
approximately 7 miles north of Mandalay. It is reached by
ferryboats across the river and takes 1 hour for up-river and 40
minutes for down-river. It is famous for many Buddhist shrines,
monasteries, meditation centres and monuments of historical and
cultural importance. A boat trip to Mingun is pleasant with
plenty of life on the river to see. It is about 11 miles from
Sagaing and you can reach there by road. It takes about 30
minutes. And you can also travel to Mingun from Mandalay but you
can get there by road. It is about 7 miles up river from
Mandalay and you can accessible only by boat. Via Gawwein jetty.
The journey takes 45 minutes.When you come along the motor
way to Mingun from Sagaing, you will first arrive at Kandawgyi,
one of the prominent big four in Mingun. Kandawgyi was formed
while digging earth to make bricks for building of Mingun
Pahtodawgyi. It was built by King Bodaw Badon in 1791. You will
arrive at Mingun Pahtodawgyi from Kandawgyi .Now, we are here at
the Mingun Pahtodawgyi from the top of the Pagoda you can view
the scene of Mingun and Ayeyawady river. You can use this stair
to climb to the top and there are all together 174 steps.
 Sagaing lies 21km south-west of Mandalay on the west bank of
the Ayeyarwaddy River. Sagaing became the capital of an
independent Shan kingdom around 1315 after the fall of Bagan.
Its period of importance was short, for in 1364 the founder's
grandson, Thado Minbya, moved his capital across the river to
Inwa. From 1760 to 1764, Sagaing was once again the capital.
Today, Sagaing is known as a meditation centre. Myanmars all
over the country would visit Sagaing for the purpose of
religious retreat.
Inwa was formerly known as Yadana Pura. It was first founded
as a capital by King Thado Minbya in 1364 A.D. It is the
confluence of the Ayeyarwaddy & Myint Nge rivers. But the king
had a canal dug to join the Myint Nge and Myint Tha rivers thus
cutting off the capital as an island, safe from enemy attacks.
As successive kings ruled the war
 with King Raza Darit of Bago
for many years, the Shan chief Thohan Bwa took the advantage and
overran the capital. Gradually the kingdom grew weaker and
finally it became a vassal to the Taungoo Empire. Later kings
shifted the capital from Inwa back and forth many times until
King Bayint Naung's son King Nyaung Yan re-established his
capital at Inwa in 1596 A.D. It continued to be capital till
1782 when Bodawpaya moved the capital to Amarapura. But his son
King Bagyidaw moved his capital back to Inwa. It was destroyed
by the earthquake of 1838. The ruins of the palace, the massive
fort walls and moat can still be seen of the splendour of the
past when it had been the capital for more than four and half
centuries. Inwa lies south of Mandalay and can from there in
only 30 minutes of drive be attained. This old king city was
long time capital of Oberburma. The foreign country was at
present well-known Myanmar as the Kingdom of Ava.The king palace
at that time does not exist any longer, however still the
Nanmyint awake tower. From 27 meters height of bird perspective
one can examine the range of the historical place. Numerous
pagodas, temple and monasteries outlasted however Inwas'
eventful past. The monastery Maha Aung Myay Bon Zan built with
brick and stucco is particularly interesting. It was established
to 1818 by the queen Me Nu for the royal abbot at that time U
Po.
 Lies on the left bank of the Ayarwaddy River. A suburb of
Mandalay, it is also known as Taung-myo (Southern Town) or
Myohaung (Old City) which is founded by King Bodawpaya in 1783
as his new capital. Amarapura means City of Immortality.
Amarapura was the capital city of Myanmar, during the Konbaung
Dynasty. It was founded by King Bodawpaya in 1782 AD, as the
king transferred the capital from Innwa (or Ava). King Bagyidaw,
grandson of Bodawpaya shifted the capital back to Innwa in 1823,
but King Tharrawaddy his successor again took the capital back
to Amarapura in 1837 and it remained as the capital until King
Mindon built Mandalay in 1857 and shifted the capital there in
1860.
It is 69 km away from Mandalay and over 1000 m above sea
level. Pyin Oo Lwin is well-known for its colonial style housing
with pine trees, eucalyptus and silver oak. It is cool and
pleasant the whole year round. Botanical garden of 175 hectare
with beautiful flowers, Pwe Kauk and Ani sakan waterfalls and
Peik Chin Myaung Cave attract the visitors with tranquil
beauties.
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