Mahagandhayon Monastery

A line of monks for as far as the eye can see wait for their daily meal at the Mahagandhayon Monastery in Amarapura observed by almost as many tourists. Photo by David Lansing.

Just a few minutes walk from U Bein’s Bridge, the longest teak bridge in the world, is another remarkable site, Mahagandhayon, one of the largest Buddhist monasteries in Myanmar. Over a thousand monks live in the monastery so you see them everywhere in Amarapura but the big thing to do is to go to the monastery around 11am when hundreds of monks line up to receive their one daily meal.

It’s quite a sight. As is watching the almost equal number of tourists jostling each other to take photographs of the monks.

Photo by David Lansing.