See the first part first! We arrive in Taungdwingyi, Magway Region, in central Myanmar. Our goal was to find the Beikthano ruins, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the oldest of the Pyu Cities. Founded about 200 BCE, this is the oldest city in Myanmar.
The Taungdwingyi Loop - 1
A journey through the Bago Hills from Naypyitaw to Tangdwingyi. Our goals was to reach the ruins of the ancient city of Beikthano. SO scenic, such interesting people and even the roads were nice. One of my favorite journeys in my life.
The History of Burma
The history of Burma begins with several city-states inhabited by the Pyu People along the Irrawaddy River from c. 200 BCE. During the 11th Century, they were united under the Kingdom of Pagan, laying the foundations of the Burmese state. Burdended by tax-exempt Buddhist monastaries in the 13th Century, Pagan became easy prey for Mongol armies, who destroyed the kingdom in 1297.
Several weaker states followed over the coming centuries, such as Myinsaing, Pinya and Ava. Burma was again revaged in the early 16th Century by Shan peoples to the north, cultimating in the destruction of Ava in 1527. From the ruins, a new Toungoo Dynasty emerged and began to dominate South East Asia for the next two centuries.
Political turmoil in the 18th Century lead to the rise of the Konbaung Dynasty, which ruled all of Burma until it was conquered by the British Empire through three wars between 1824-85. Occupied by Japan during the Second World War, Burma gained independence in 1948, experimenting with various forms of government since.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Original Map: arcgis.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MUSIC: Magnus Ringblom - Chinese Wall