Taungoo

Located 175 miles from Yangon and is the only place for the tourists where you can get good accommodations on Yangon-Mandalay road. Taungoo (Kaytumadi City) was founded by King Mingyinyo in 1510 A.D and later innovated by King Minye Kyawhtin. All the four sides of the city wall are still very conspicuously seen, with the exception of the part of the southern wall. The wall is built of bricks. The moat surrounding the city is dried up, except in some of its sections on the eastern side, where it is purposely kept and properly maintained. About 6.4 m from the wall city is the first moat filled with soft mud, which is about 9.6 m wide. It is one of the main gateways to Bago Yoma and its teak forests and is worth exploring. It derives much of its importance these days from the timber trade and the teak forests on which its economy depends visibly seen on the mountain ranges lying to the east and west of the town beckon visitor. Even its ancient empire has long since crumbled; Taungoo remains an important pilgrimage site for Buddhist devotees who flock regularly to Shwesandaw pagoda.