Modeled after the majestic Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, the most predominant landmark and tourist attraction in Naypyidaw is the Uppatasanti Pagoda. Although it’s a replicate, the Uppatasanti Pagoda is a foot shorter than its original because the government doesn’t want it to be bigger than the country’s iconic landmark and religious symbol.

The first impression I got at Uppatasanti Pagoda is its grandeur. The pagoda is gigantic and you can easily spot it from afar. As you drive closer and closer, the majestic golden pagoda could propbably be compared to the great pyramid of Egypt! No matter who you are, shoes have to be taken off when you walk up the stairs leading to an expansive area with the golden pagoda in the middle. When you get so close to the pagoda, the only way to see the top of it is to bend your head backward as far as you can. Beside its height, the massive pagoda would take 15 – 20 minutes to walk around its base! As the people of Myanmar is very religious, you would always see locals with flowers and incense in their hands. The men would dress in white long sleeves top and a salong while women would be in their tidiest dress. It’s very common to see men chew on betel nuts and women with thanaka powder on their cheeks. So is you want to see beautiful traditional Myanmar dress, temples and Uppatasanti Pagoda are the places to experience it, especially on important religious days..

ppatasanti Pagoda is where White Jade Buddha is kept. The inside is a large hall with extra high ceiling and 4 doors, one to the north, south, west, and east. This kind of pagoda is called a “Temple Pagoda” while pagodas that you can’t go inside are called “Solid Pagoda” which most pagodas in Bagan plains are.

Just steps from Uppatasanti Pagoda is an important elephant house in Myanmar. The elephant house is home to 5 – 6 rare white elephants which are Myanmar’s national animals. These elephants are treated extremely well as the people in Myanmar believes white elephants are elegant animals for kings.

Hiring a taxi for a day is the best way to travel around Naypyidaw because each zone is enormous and far apart. Most attractions are in the hotel zone, but you can drive to see what residential, ministry, and military zones are like although there won’t be much to see and you are not allowed to take pictures in those zones. Naypyidaw has 2 Olympic standard sport stadiums built for the 27th SEA Games in 2013, but you might be disappointed to learn that the stadiums only open during big sport events. Our driver mentioned that the stadiums are closed since SEA Games ended! This is probably because Naypyidaw is still quite new and has little population.

Although Naypyidaw is the center for government administration, there are still many attractions to see. The next morning, I woke up early to catch a 30 minute motorcycle ride to the Morning Market. Here, you can see the unseasoned lifestyle of the people. See how they eat, think, talk, use, or travel around. Everything happens at the morning market!

The morning market was more active than I had expected. It’s separated into 2 zones, indoor and outdoor zones. The indoor zone sells mostly dried food, cloth, and everyday use items, while the outdoor zone is where you can find fresh vegetables, fruits, meat, flowers, and exotic wild food. Tourists don’t usually come to the morning market, so I knew from the face and actions of the merchants I was quite the talk of the market even though I don’t understand Burmese.

Here, I tried a common Myanmar food called mohinga (rice noodle in soup) and it was one of the most impressive dishes in Myanmar.

If you love shopping, Naypyidaw’s day market, evening market and fruit market will easily leave your wallet empty, especially if you love to try exotic food. You’ll get to see the daily life of the people as well as try traditional flavours of Myanmar. I grew quite fond of Myanmar sweets which are dried bread or fruits, perfect with Myanmar’s instant 3 in 1 tea I bought at the market. Myanmar’s tea culture is influenced by Indian tea culture, so there is no surprise why they taste very similarly, and you can see a lot of people spend time relaxing at local tea shops.

A day in Naypyidaw gone by very quickly as a lot of time was spent in the taxi. I got to see the traditional life of rice famers in between the ride from one zone to another. It was monsoon season and the farmers were planting their second crop while their first harvest were being processed right there beside the road. It was an extraordinary and rare scene today to see the whole community help one another one field at a time. But more impressively, it felt like going back in time as the farmers still use buffalo and wooden cart to transport their harvest and get around.