Ferry trip to Mingon

The Russian couple I met on the train ride shared with me a day trip to Mingun from Mandalay, so I organized a group of six females from my hostel to walk 2.5 kms to take the 1-hr ferry  cross the Ayeyarwaddy river. The ferry leaves at 9am and returns at 12.30pm. All sites there are within walking distance, such as Pahtodawgyi Pagoda, Mingun Bell and the Hsinbyume Pagoda.

The building of Mingun Pahtodawgyi started in 1791. Hand it been completed it would have a height of some 500 feet. It was stopped at 162 feet height. Its girth is about 450 square feet. Tourists cannot go to the top anymore.  This unfinished structure was badly damaged with cracks by the earthquake of 1838 but it is still the largest brick base in the world.










Mingun Bell is a big bronze bell near the Mingun Cedi at Mingun on the west bank of the Ayeyawaddy River. It is the world's biggest ringing bell.

Hsinbyume or Myatheindan Pagoda was built as a representation of the Sulamani Pagoda,which according to the Buddhist plan of the cosmos, stands atop Mount Meru. The seven wavy terraces around the pagoda represent the seven mountain ranges around Mount Meru. This pagoda was badly damaged in 1838 by a quake but King Mindon restored it in 1874.

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