U Bein Bridge

U Bein crosses Taungthaman Lake on more than a thousand teak posts, running about 1.2 kilometres from Amarapura to the far shore, and it has been the local route to work and to market since the mid-nineteenth century. The timbers were reused from the old palace at Inwa when the capital moved. It is still a working bridge: monks, cyclists, traders and schoolchildren cross it all day, and the postcard silhouette at sunset is a genuine crowd rather than a staged one.

History

The bridge was built between 1849 and 1851, when the Konbaung capital moved to Amarapura, with wood taken from the former royal palace at Inwa, and it is named after Maung Bein, who had it built. Its 1,086 pillars were set out by traditional methods, the engineers measuring distances by counting footsteps (Wikipedia, U Bein Bridge).

The main sights

• The span - over a kilometre of teak decking on more than a thousand posts.
• The crossings - monks, traders and commuters using it as an ordinary route all day.
• The lake - shallow water that dries to farmland in the hot season and floods in the monsoon.
• The boats - rowing boats hired to sit under the bridge for the sunset silhouette.

When to go

November to February for the weather. Sunrise is far quieter than sunset and the light is as good. The lake is full from roughly August to December and largely dry by March, when you can walk under the bridge instead of boating.

Good to know

Sunset is genuinely crowded, with boats packed in below and a queue of photographers on the bank. Sections of the decking have been replaced in concrete, which disappoints purists. There are no handrails for much of the length and the drop is real.

Nearby

Inwa and Sagaing are both a short drive further south-west, and Mandalay is twenty minutes north.

Key facts