Taunggyi

Taunggyi is the capital of the Shan state of the Burmese Union and is with 150,000 inhabitants the fourth largest town of Myanmar (after Yangon, Mandalay and Maw-La-Myne, formerly Moulmein). Taunggyi is situated 1,400 meters above sea level about 500 kilometers north of Yangon and about 10 kilometers southeast of Mandalay. The town on a steep mountain side in the southern reaches of the Himalaya is mainly inhabited by Shans, a people ethnically not related to the Burmese but rather to the Thais.

Taunggyi has no unique, architectural attractions, but is more of an attraction as a whole concerning its location on a steep mountain side and its atmosphere due to the Shan population. Furthermore, the surrounding mountain landscape with the Inle lake is exceedingly picturesque.

To reach Taunggyi you first have to fly to Heho, about 40 kilometers to the West, because the town itself does not boast an airfield.