Saturday, August 6, 2016

Day Trip Outside Yangon - TWANTE



Busy road in Twante

The towns of  Twante is a short drive from Yangon across the river of the same name. Where Yangon is a bustling city of more than five million inhabitants, Twante show what Yangon might have been had the British not established their base in the city.
A pretty sleepy town that can be reached either by car or boat. The boat option is certainly a more attractive journey that begins with a ferry ride from Yangon, across to the town of Dala on the other side of the Yangon River for $2. From there you’ll need to wait for a pick-up truck bus heading to Twante, which can take up to 45 minutes. Or, there are taxi waiting around you could simply hire that.
Prior to Cyclone Nargis, the town of Twante was relatively famous within Myanmar for its pottery industry, which has only partially recovered from the devastating storm in 2008.

One attraction for tourists within the town, besides the fascinating pottery factories, are Snake Temple where snakes are come to live in the pagoda by themselves and Shwesandaw Pagoda, which is about a kilometer from the town, and whose 76 meter high stupa is about the same age as Shwedagon.  
ref: Simon Whiting
Ferry to Dala
Pottery is the main business in Twante
Pottery Oven
Making a pot
Drying Process
Snakes at the temple
Friendly snake and Nun
Giving bath the snakes at the temple