Kyaik Htee Yoe Pagoda, Myanmar

 

Kyaik Htee Yoe Pagoda, Myanmar, Mon State It is a pagoda located

on the top of Paunglong Mountain. It is one of the most famous

pagodas in Myanmar. The mountain where Kyaik Htee Yoe Pagoda is

located is 3615 feet above sea level. The way Kyaik Htee Yoe Pagoda

is standing is amazing. On the edge of a large, steep rock, a head-

shaped boulder about 50 feet in diameter was about to fall. A pagoda

with a height of about 15 feet is built on top of that rock. The stone

on which the pagoda is built moves with just one push. You can push

the stone and insert the needle thread between the stones and pull it.

Ava Bridge(Irrawaddy River,Sagaing Region,Myanmar)

 

The Ava Bridge (Burmese: အင်းဝတံတား) is a 16 span simply supported bridge between Ava and Sagaing, Mandalay Division, Burma. It was built by the British in 1934. The bridge was destroyed by the retreating British Army during World War II and was rebuilt in 1954 after Burmese independence. It was the only bridge to span the Irrawaddy River until recent times, when a spate of bridge construction has been carried out by the government, including the new Irrawaddy Bridge.Photo:Wikipedia",

U Bein Bridge(Taungthaman Lake near Amarapura,Myanmar)

 

U Bein Bridge is a crossing that spans the Taungthaman Lake near Amarapura in Myanmar. The 1.2-kilometre (0.75 mi) bridge was built around 1850 and is believed to be the oldest and longest teakwood bridge in the world. Construction began when the capital of Ava Kingdom moved to Amarapura, and the bridge is named after Maung Bein who had it built.It is used as an important passageway for the local people and has also become a tourist attraction and therefore a significant source of income for souvenir sellers. It is particularly busy during July and August when the lake is at its highest. The bridge was built from wood reclaimed from the former royal palace in Inwa. It features 1,086 pillars that stretch out of the water, some of which have been replaced with concrete. Though the bridge largely remains intact, there are fears that an increasing number of the pillars are becoming dangerously decayed. Some have become entirely detached from their bases and only remain in place because of the lateral bars holding them together. Damage to these supports have been caused by flooding as well as a fish breeding program introduced into the lake which has caused the water to become stagnant. The Ministry of Culture’s Department of Archaeology, National Museum and Library plans to carry out repairs when plans for the work are finalised. From 1 April 2009, eight police force personnel have been deployed to guard the bridge. Their presence is aimed at reducing anti-social behaviour and preventing criminal activities, with the first arrest coming in September 2013 when two men were reported for harassing tourists..Photo:Wikipedia

The Sittaung River(Myanmar)

The Sittaung River is a river in south central Myanmar in Bago Division. The Pegu Range separates its basin from that of the Irrawaddy. The river originates at the edge of the Shan Hills southeast of Mandalay, and flows southward to the Gulf of Martaban. Its length is 420 kilometres (260 mi) and its mean annual discharge is around 50 cubic kilometres (12 cu mi) per year. Although it flows through fairly flat country, the Sittaung has a notorious tidal bore at its mouth which has precluded any but very small craft navigating the river. The river is navigable for 40 kilometres (25 mi) year-round and for 90 kilometres (56 mi) during three months of the year. The Sittaung empties into the Gulf of Martaban where the tide-dominated coast is a Ramsar wetland of international importance.The river is used primarily to float timber south for export.Strong currents make the river even less valuable as a means of transport in eastern Burma. Its basin does not have the same richness for agriculture as the Irrawaddy because there is no soil flowing down from the Shan Hills. Photo:Wikipedia

The Salween River(Myanmar)

 

The Salween is a Southeast Asian river, about 3,289 kilometres (2,044 mi) long flowing from the TibetanPlateau south into the Andaman Sea. The Salween flows primarily within southwest China and eastern Myanmar (Burma), with a short section forming the border of Burma and Thailand. Throughout most of its course, it runs swiftly through rugged mountain canyons. Despite the river \u0027s great length, only the last 90 km (56 mi) are navigable, where it forms a modest estuary and delta at Mawlamyine. The river is known by various names along its course, including Thanlwin in Burma and Nu River in China. The commonly used spelling as Salween is an anglicisation of the Burmese name dating from 19th-century British maps.Due to its great range of elevation and latitude coupled with geographic isolation, the Salween basin is considered one of the most ecologically diverse regions in the world, containing an estimated 25 percent of the world\u0027s terrestrial animal species and thousands of plant species. Along its course the Salween provides water for agriculture and supports abundant fisheries, especially in the delta region. The Salween basin is home to numerous ethnic minority groups, whose ancestors largely originated in the Tibetan Plateau and northwest China. Starting about 5,000 years ago, people began migrating south along the river, establishing small kingdoms and city-states.During the last 1,000 years, the Salween has defined various frontiers of the Burmese empires to the west, the Kingdom of Siam to the south, and Imperial China to the east,with the Shan States along the middle Salween being a frequently contested area. In the 19th century, the British Empire invaded Burma with Mawlamyine serving as the colonial capital for many decades. Since Burmese independence in 1948, the Salween basin has been a battleground for severalfronts of the Burmese Civil War, with large areas in Shan State and Karen State (Kayin State) contested between the Burmese military and local ethnic militias.The Salween is one of the least fragmented large river systems in Asia, with only a few small dams in the headwaters of the river and on tributaries. The river has extremely high hydropower potential, with a fall of more than 5,000 metres (16,000 ft) from its source. Since the 1970s, the Burmese and Thai governments have sought to build massive hydroelectric dams along the river. China also planned to dam the upper Salween, but in 2016 these plans were dropped in favor of establishing a national park. The future of dam projects in Myanmar and Thailand remains uncertain.Photo:Wikipedia

The Chindwin River(Myanmar)

 

The Chindwin River, also known as the Ningthi River is a river

flowing entirely in Myanmar, and the largest tributary of the country

\u0027s main river, the Ayeyarwady. Its official name is also spelled

Chindwinn.[6]The Chindwin originates in the broad Hukawng Valley

of Kachin State of Burma, roughly 26°26′18″N 96°33′32″E, where the

Tanai, the Tabye, the Tawan, and the Taron (also known as Turong or

Towang) rivers meet.The headwaters of the Tanai are at about

25°30′N 97°0′E on the Shwedaunggyi peak ofthe Kumon range, 12

miles (19 km) north of Mogaung. It flows due north for the first part until it

reaches the Hukawng Valley. In 2004, the government established the world

\u0027s largest tiger preserve in the Hukawng Valley, the Hukaung Valley

Wildlife Sanctuary, with an area of approximately 6,500 km2(2,500 sq mi); later,

the Sanctuary was extended to 21,800 square kilometres (8,400 sq mi), making it

the largest protected area in mainland Southeast Asia. The river then turns to the

west and flows through the middle of the plain, joined by the Tabye, the Tawan,

and the Taron rivers from the right bank. Theserivers drain the mountain ranges

to the north and northeast of the Hukawng valley.The Tanai exits the Hukawng

valley through the Taron or Turong valley and through a sharp defile in the river.

It then takeson the name of Chindwin, and maintains a general southerly course.

It passes the town of Singkaling Hkamti on the left bank, then the town of Homalin,

also on the left bank.The course of river is generally southwesterly until the town of

Mingin. It then takes a more southeasterly course entering into broad central plain,

passing the city of Monywa on the left bank. Its course at this point forms the boundarybetween the Sagaing District of Sagaing Region and the Pakokku District of Magway

Region.It enters the Ayeyarwady River (Irrawaddy) at about 21°30′N 95°15′E. \

The extreme outlets into the Ayeyarwady are about 22 miles (35 km) apart, the interval

forming a succession of long, low, partially populated islands. The lowest mouth of the

Chindwin is, according to tradition, an artificial channel, cut by one of the kings of Bagan

(Pagan). It was choked up for centuries until 1824 when it was opened out by an exceptional

flood. Satellite pictures show this lowest channel to bethe widest one today.Photo:Wikipedia"

The Irrawaddy River(Myanmar)

 

The Irrawaddy River is a river that flows from north to south through Myanmar (Burma). It is the country\u0027s largest river and most important commercial waterway. Originating from the confluence of the N\u0027mai and Mali rivers,[7] it flows relatively straight North-South before emptying through the Irrawaddy Delta in the Ayeyarwady Region into the Andaman Sea. Its drainage basin of about 404,200square kilometres (156,100 sq mi) covers a large part of Burma. After Rudyard Kipling\u0027s poem, it is sometimes referred to as \u0027The Road to Mandalay\u0027.As early as the sixth century, the river was used for trade and transport. Having developed an extensive network of irrigation canals, the river became important to the British Empire after it had colonized Burma. The river is still important today because it is used for a significant amount of traffic and (export) goods. In the Irrawaddy Delta, rice is grown using river water as an irrigation system.In 2007, Myanmar\u0027s military dictatorship signed an agreement for the construction of seven hydroelectric dams, yielding a total 13,360 MW, in the N\u0027mai and Mali Rivers, including the 3600 MW Myitsone Dam at the confluence of both rivers. Environmental organisations have raised concerns about the ecological impacts on the river\u0027s biodiverse ecosystems. Animals potentially impacted include the endangered Irrawaddy dolphin and the critically endangered Ganges shark.Photo:Wikipedia