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Attractions around Taunggyi
Lake Inle
The unmistakably most important attraction in the area surrounding
Taunggyi is Lake Inle. It begins about 30 kilometers south of
the town and reaches about 100 kilometers from North to
South, in some stretches becoming as wide as 2 kilometers. The
extent of the lake in the third dimension is a lot less impressive.
Although one usually expects mountain lakes to be rather deep,
the floor of Lake Inle is on the average only about 4 meters
below its surface. The lake is rich with fish, but what makes
it unique is the way it is used for gardening. Inside the
lake myriads of gardens have been created by building a surrounding
wall and filling the inside area with loam from the floor of the
lake. For the surrounding walls mostly water hyacinth were used.
The resulting ground is extremely fertile and is mainly used for
the cultivation of tomatoes and beans. In some parts
of the lake these vegetable gardens are so extensive that the
lake appears like a system of channels between plots of land.
Pindaya
Pindaya is a small town about 100 kilometers from Taunggyi. It
features only one, but all the more impressive attraction: the
Pindaya Caves, or Shweumin pagoda, as they are called
due to their religious relevance. This is a system of caves inside
a limestone mountain, which according to the latest count from
1990 accommodate altogether 6226 Buddha statues. In the
meantime there should be several more, because the faithful constantly
bring in new statues, which they donate to the monastery administrating
the caves. But it seems that the count stopped at 6226. In March
of each year at the caves a temple celebration takes place
attracting thousands of pilgrims.
This page: http://www.cockatoo.com/english/myanmar/myanmar_taunggyi_attraction.htm
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