Shwedagon Pagoda Impressions

See the location on Yangon Pagodas Google Map


Picture by marhas
On the way to Shwedagon Pagoda Eastern entrance: from Bahan market along Gyar Tawya Street.


Picture by marhas
Where Buddha images are crafted

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Fruits for the visitors

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Picture by Antoine 49
Up the stairway


"At last we reached the great terrace. All about, shrines and pagodas were jumbled pell-mell with the confusion with which trees grow in the jungle. They had been built without design or symmetry, but in the darkness, their gold and marble faintly gleaming, they had a fantastic richness. And then, emerging from among them like a great ship surrounded by lighters, rose dim, severe and splendid, the Shwe Dagon." W. Somerset Maugham, The Gentleman in the Parlour (1930)

Picture by marhas
The middle terrace with a big variety of shrines and pagodas. The whole terrace is inlaid with marble slabs. The terrace was built during the 15th century by Mon kings after the top of the Singuttara Hill had been leveled. The terrace is 275 meters wide from north to south and 215 meters wide from east to west.
Above this terrace lies another level, the upper terrace. Only males are allowed to enter and they need a permission from the security. This terrace is open from 6 an to 6 pm.



Picture by Travel Aficionado

Shwedagon Pagoda is a massive gold covered stupa, 99 meters high. Its circumference is 433 meters. The stupa structure is octagonal. It is surrounded by 64 small stupas – 8 on each side. There are four large stupas across each stairway (north, south, east and west). At each corner of these small stupas is Manoksiha (also Manokthiha), the Burmese version of sphinx with the head of a guardian spirit (dewada) and two conjoint bodies of chinthe (lion).

Picture by marhas
Walking clockwise around the pagoda for merits

Picture by trevphotos
After sunset

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The eastern devotional hall

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Gambling scene

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Picture by marhas

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King Tharyarwady's Bell

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Picture by marhas
On the way to Naungdawgyi Pagoda

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Picture by marhas


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The hall of Singu Min Bell

Picture by marhas

Picture by marhas
Hall of Singu Min Bell

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Close look of Singu Min Bell


Picture by gforbes

Picture by Jeremy Weate

Picture by gabriella_levine

Picture by marhas

Picture by romsrini

A tipp: Go to Shwedagon pagoda just before sunset. The floor is a lot cooler then and you have to walk around bare foot. Most of the locals turn up at this time.


Read: Shwedagon Pagoda Guide
Read: Nine Wonders of Shwedagon Pagida
See: Floor plan of Shwedagon Pagoda


Near Shwedagon Pagoda is Maha Wizaya Stupa. There is a hole in the roof through which the sun will shine onto the Buddha images in the middle of the pagoda. This on Myanmar New Year Day.


Kandawgyi Lake:

Picture by Antoine 49


Read more:
The Yangon Heritage Walking Tour: See old Rangoon before too much ist lost
Yangon Hotel Picks
Yangon Restaurant Picks
Chinatown in Yangon: Temples and a Nightmarket full of flavours
Myanmars ex Spy Chief opens an Art Gallery
From Yangon a Sunset Cruise or by ferry to Twante

Yangon Hotel Picks - and Reviews of Guests

See the locations on Yangon Hotels Google Map

Alamanda Inn: 60b, Shwe Taung Kyar Road (Golden Valley Road). Rooms in a large old house, decorated in a subtle alliance of burmese handicraft and colonial furniture. One room with a private terrace. Restaurant in a tropical garden with french dishes. Very good reviews on tripadvisor.com, only few guests disappointed.


Avenue 64: Opened end of 2012. Close to the airport, but far from the main sights in Yangon, but many restaurants and shops nearby. Good reviews on tripadvisor.com.


Classique Inn: No. 53 B, Shwe Taung Kyar Street (Golden Valley Road). Family hotel in a stilish mansion with a lot of hand-crafted teak wood, in a small tropical garden and located in the township of Bahan, where the rich and wealthy live.

Picture by Classique Inn
Bamboo Terrace Room


The Governor's Residence: From 290 USD. 35 Taw Win Road. Outside the hustle and bustle of the city centre, set in beautiful gardens the colonial style teak wood buildings take you back in time and you can indulge into luxury. The residence, built in the 1920's, is placed within the city's Embassy Quarter and surrounded by a garden with more than hundred different plants. You smell the fragrance of frangipani and jasmine in the air. During the January-through-March rainy season the plants burst into bloom, as The Traveling Gardener describes. Excellent reviews on tripadvisor.com. See video.

Picture by Felix Davis
The main building of Governor's Residence

Picture by Christopher.Michel

Picture by Felix Davis
Beautiful flowers in the garden


East Hotel: 234-240 Sule Pagoda Road. 54 rooms and 3 serviced apartments. A less pricey hotel. Not all the guests are amazed about the showers in a glass box in the middle of the room and the lacking toilet doors. Quite good reviews on tripadvisor.com.

Picture by El Scrapeo


Kandawgyi Palace Hotel: The first building on this site was the Rangoon Rowing Club, used by British officers from 1934. Later it was converted into the National Biological Museum. Around 1979, the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism turned it into a hotel, later adding more bungalows. In 1993 a private company bought the hotel and replaced the bungalows with a modern teak hotel. Ask for the lake view, when you are booking. The pool by the lake has an amazing view. You can stroll around Kandawgyi Lake on wooden footpaths. Very good reviews on tripadvisor.com.

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Picture by John Evans


Savoy Hotel: Visa Cards accepted. Lovely pool. If you want to avoid some noise from the busy street choose rooms at the pool side. Easy walk from the hotel to Shwedagon Pagoda. Very good reviews on tripadvisor.com. See picture.

Picture by Fred Tittle


Sedona Hotel:

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The Strand: From 400 USD. You are in the oldest hotel in Myanmar, in the footsteps of the former guests Rudyard Kipling - part of his "Jungle Book" has been written here - and George Orwell, who put his vision of a totalitarian state into his book "1984". The Strand hotel is a three story Victorian property, which was built in 1901 and carefully renovated, with 32 rooms and suites. See also the blog My life's a trip and the article Rangoon Renaissance: Staying at the Strand.

Picture by ronancrowley

Picture by judithbluepool
The bar

Picture by Hella Delicious
Yangon River seen from The Strand Hotel


Traders Hotel: Well kept gym and a great pool. If you pay in cash you avoid a 4 percent credit card tax. Excellent reviews on tripadvisor.com.

Picture by -AX-
The Traders Hotel, seen from Montgomery street

Picture by mikecogh
Yangon seen from Traders Hotel


Read more:
Read more:
The Yangon Heritage Walking Tour: See old Rangoon before too much ist lost
Shwedagon Pagoda Impressions
Yangon Restaurant Picks
Chinatown in Yangon: Temples and a Nightmarket full of flavours
Myanmars ex Spy Chief opens an Art Gallery
From Yangon a Sunset Cruise or by ferry to Twante