Pyu Ancient Cities

Myanmar’s very first WHS came as a surprise in 2014: few will have visited one of the Pyu Ancient Cities before its inscription. History-wise, it is not an illogical choice, however. The Pyu were the first of the civilizations that settled along the Ayeyarwady River, in what is the heartland of current Myanmar. They started building city-states here from the 2nd century BC. They came from the north (the Tibeto-Burman plateau or India) and brought Buddhism with them.

None of the three Pyu cities Halin, Beikthano and Sri Ksetra lie close to the main tourist destinations in Myanmar. While I was staying in Mandalay, I hired a car plus driver and guide for the day and went for Halin. Though only 95 km, the trip took us 2.5 hours. We found our way out of the busy streets of Mandalay, and then passed the lovely Sagaing with its numerous gilded stupas. Afterward it’s a long haul northwards in the direction of Shwebo. The guide had been there once before, but they do not make it out to Halin often. So driver and guide took some time asking around for the right turn-off. It turned out that there is a huge sign pointing to the World Heritage.

From that sign, it’s another 17 km on a semi-paved country road. We had to stop several times to let cattle and goats pass. Halin was and still is a major agricultural area, the land made fertile by irrigation. You’ll mostly see …

I have been to Halin, 2oo9. Archeology-that many writers wrotes. This is a right spot that UNESCO had chosen. But there are many things to learn /study here- ceramic tiles and Kilns, (now obsolete), Sardaw Oak's (the King's overseer of salt production) his house where no nails were used and built over a hundred years ago, salt export to Western Yunnan, Snake cult, Manipuri invasion, mud pots and mud volcanoes,hot springs, Japanese occupation period, Four layers of inhumatioon, Jormon pots (earliest pottery)etc. etc. There will be no end to learn.

I visited this WHS in December 2012. I passed by Halin and Beikthano and decided not to visit due to time constraints and since I had seen quite a number of temples and brick ruins during my 3-4 week visit in Myanmar. Luckily however, I decided to stop and visit Sri Ksetra or Tharay-khit-taya. The main highlights of my trip were the stupas that could be seen at the 4 corners of this large ancient city, one of which was proudly described as "having the shape of a woman's breast". Now that Myanmar has its first WHS I sincerely hope that other sites will follow. Myanmar is a beautiful country and one of its main assets are the wonderful and kind people that live there.

While in Mandalay in December 2013, I felt compelled to visit the remote archaeological site of Halin, as it seems likely to be Myanmar's first inscribed site during the convention in 2014. Had this not been the case, it would be inconceivable to spend a day travelling out to this location, through extremely rutted 'roads' that are normally limited to motorbikes and ox-carts.

The local archaeology department certainly believes that it will be inscribed, and probably the most fascinating aspect of the visit was seeing the site staff in 'UNESCO preparation mode'. A museum was being literally built in front of us, with the small existing part filled with artifacts in plastic bags. Staff were categorising them with photos, and assembling a large table-map of the area. They seemed a bit flustered to have foreigners barging in, but happily charged us for a $5 entrance ticket. An English language brochure was supplied, with 'UNESCO nominated world heritage list' as the initial heading. This was obviously new, as was the English language signage on the building.

The actual site is spread across a large area of peanut farms, with a few dozen specific areas of excavation. These are not impressive ruins like more famous ancient cities or temples, but instead foundations of walls and monuments, slightly rebuilt to about knee height. This is not to say they are not interesting, but do not expect to be awed at first glance.

More shocking were the sites of human burials, but not for …