Things to see and do Mingun

To the north of the site, following the trail along the river, the Hsinbyume pagoda looks like a big cream cake. Built on a circular plan, it has seven concentric terraces, finished with wave-like parapets representing the seven mountains and oceans around Mount Meru. At the top of the highest of the terraces rises a sanctuary set in a cylindrical body. Access by three staircases covered by arcades carved in stucco.

Located in the heart of the village, the Mingun bell is the largest working bell in the world. The one in Moscow is even bigger, but cracked... Just for that alone, it's worth a little detour around here. It was melted down in 1808 and floated away. It fell in the earthquake, but was rebuilt by the British. All Burmese will tell you about the bell if you show interest in Mingun. And for good reason, it is the main attraction of the city. You can't miss it.

At first glance, Mingun is a small Burmese village, with its oxcarts and dusty dirt tracks. A dispensary overlooking the river, where old Burmese women dry garlic, floating bamboos waiting for their transit, and the biggest pile of bricks in the world: King Bodawpaya's unfinished project of the world's largest pagoda. Greedy for power, he only had time to build the pagoda's promontory where two lions, damaged by the 1838 earthquakes, stand at the entrance of the site. Since his death in 1819, the project has remained like this.