Myanmar
When
Nov to Feb
Price
From 2 700€ excl. flights
(based on 2 people sharing)
How long
5 nights
Ideal length
Mrauk-U, capital of the Arakan kingdom for over three hundred and fifty years until its fall in the 18th century, ranked, according to the accounts of European merchants of the time, among the wealthiest cities in Asia, rivalling Amsterdam or London in commercial power. Unlike Bagan, the remoteness and long-restricted access to this region of western Myanmar have spared its hundreds of temples and stupas from mass tourism, offering a rare discovery experience.
Mrauk-U reigned for over three hundred and fifty years over an Arakan kingdom powerful enough to host Portuguese and Dutch embassies, and to raise an army capable of threatening neighbouring Bengal. Accounts from passing European merchants described a city as populous and wealthy as the great trading capitals of the era, before the kingdom was conquered by the Burmese Konbaung dynasty in 1785, precipitating a decline that paradoxically preserved its temples from any modern reconstruction.
Shittaung Temple, literally the "shrine of eighty thousand images," holds a maze of concentric corridors adorned with Buddhist bas-reliefs dating from the 16th century, while Koe-thaung Temple, even larger, is said by local legend to have once held ninety thousand Buddha statues. The region's remoteness, long accessible only by river and subject to travel restrictions, has preserved the whole complex from any modern reconstruction, unlike some temples at Bagan.
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A Kaladan Riverside Lodge
A simple lodge on the banks of the Kaladan River, rooms overlooking the water, a convenient base for exploring the temples of Mrauk-U by bicycle or ox cart.
A Guesthouse at the Heart of the Temples
A family guesthouse nestled among the temples of Mrauk-U, a terrace offering views over the surrounding stupas at sunset, meals prepared following Arakanese culinary traditions.
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