Nay Pyi Daw

Nay Pyi Taw is the administrative capital of the Union of Myanmar, located at the center of Nay Pyi Taw Union Territory. Nay Pyi Taw was built in the central basin of Myanmar in the early 21st century to serve as the country’s new administrative center. The city officially replaced Yangon as the administrative capital of Myanmar in 2006. Centrally located, it is 391 km from Yangon and 302 km from Mandalay. It is notable for its unusual combination of  large size and very low population. The city hosted the 24th and 25th ASEAN Summit, the 3rd BIMSTEC Summit, the Ninth East Asia Summit, and the 2013 Southeast Asian Games.

Naypyidaw, located near Pyinmana, officially replaced Yangon as the capital of Myanmar in November 2005. It officially goes by the acronym of NPT and officially spelled Nay Pyi Taw.

Nay Pyi Taw comprises eight townships.

  1. Zeyar Thiri
  2. Pohba Thiri
  3. Uttara Thiri
  4. Zabu Thiri
  5. Dekina Thiri
  6. Pyinmana
  7. Lewe
  8. Tatkone

Weather Conditions

In Nay Pyi Taw, the summers are short, sweltering, humid, and partly cloudy, the winters are short, warm, and mostly clear; and it is dry year round. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 61℉ to 103℉ and is rarely below 56℉ or above 108℉.  Based on the beach/pool score, the best time to visit Nay Pyi Taw for hot weather activities are from late February to mid April and from early November to early December.

Transportations

In this city, the best transportation includes Nay Pyi Taw International Airport, Myomazay Bus Stations and Nay Pyi Taw Taxi& Car Rental.

Nay Pyi Taw International Airport

Nay Pyi Taw International Airport is located 16 kilometers southeast of the city. There are several domestic flights daily linking Nay Pyi Taw with Yangon. It is a clean and beautiful airport. Due to the lack of International Traffic, the terminal is empty for almost 3 quarter of the day. However, the domestic is almost bustling of flights.

Myomazay Bus Stations

Nay Pyi Taw has two bus stations. The closest to the hotel zone and other key points is the Myomazay Bus Station, west of the Thabyaegone roundabout. Nay Pyi Taw’s handiest bus station lies near the Myoma market and has regular services to Yangon and Mandalay. Services from this station depart regularly for Yangon(MMK6,000, five to six hours), Mandalay (MMK5,300, four to five hours) and, less frequently, Bagan(MMK 11,000 , around six hours, daily at 7am and 8pm). Other departures include Kalaw, Taunggyi and Pyay.

Nay Pyi Taw Taxi & Car Rental Services

Run by government-affiliated Max Myanmar group. A taxi from the airport to town is about MMK20,000. Competition for taxi and car rental business is heating up in Nay Pyi Taw as “official” taxis take to the streets. But the only official approved taxi and rental firm is the Nay Pyi Taw taxi and car rental service run by Max Myanmar taxi and car rental service run by Max Myanmar Group of Companies, which started in early 2007. The company runs 50 VW saloon cars, including 20 that have red number plates. It has a different prices depend on the location.

Getting Around

There is no place for walking in Nay Pyi Taw. There is also no public bus service so the best way to get around the city by taking private car, taxi or motorbike taxi. Given the great distances to go anywhere, you are better off hiring a taxi for the day. Rates are around MMK10,000 per hour and MMK50,000 to MMK60,000 for the whole day. A motorbike taxi costs about MMK3,000 per hour.

Top things to do in Nay Pyi Taw

  •  Lets drive on the wide lonely road
  • Learn about Thatta Thattaha Maha Bawdi Pagoda
  • Visit the Uppatasanti Pagoda
  • Wonderful Nay Pyi Taw Water Fountain Garden
  • Get around the Gem Museum
  •  See the wildlife in Nay Pyi Taw Safari Park
  •  Study the attraction places around Myanmar form Landmark Garden

 

Lets drive on the wide lonely road

Wide lonely road refers to the 20 lane highway in Nay Pyi Taw. There aren’t many capital cities in the world which boast 20-lane highways and fewer still where its possible to lie in the middle of the road and take photos. As mentioned before, you can take photo in the middle of the road but this time I would like to recommend to drive on this road. There is no traffic and you can drive as much as you want. I think every car user has a dream to drive on the long road with high speed and without traffic. If you have a same dream, this road can fill your dream. So, you should visit this road to drive on or take a photo if you have a plan to Nay Pyi Taw.

Learn about Thatta Thattaha Maha Bawdi Pagoda

For the public reverence, replica Buddha Gaya in India, Thatta Thattaha Maha Bawdi Pagoda(162ft) is being built on the Udayayanthi Hillock in Pohbba Thiri Township. In this pagoda, every places and sites are very similar to Buddha Gaya and you are not disappointed to visit this place. You can learn and see about Buddha’s history without going Buddha Gaya. If you are in Nay Pyi Taw, you should pay a visit to this place.

Visit the Uppatasanti Pagoda

Uppatasanti Pagoda is an outstanding landmark in Nay Pyi Taw. It is also called Peace Pagoda. The pagoda houses a tooth relic from China. It is nearly a same-sized of Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon and stands 99 meters (325ft) tall. It also has a same pattern of Shwedagon Pagoda. It is a beautiful and fresh place for visitors but it will extremely hot in the day time so I recommend you to visit night time.

Wonderful Nay Pyi Taw Water Fountain Garden

In Nay Pyi Taw, Water Fountain Garden is one of the attraction places that you should visit. The garden was set up near the Naypyitaw-Taungnyo Road. The 165-acre garden is situated near the Naypyitaw City Hall with a steel structure arch-way. It also included a main pond with three fountains and 11 small ponds with 13 different fountains, a 30-foot (9.1m) high clock tower, nine recreation centers, two small gardens, two stone gardens and ten feet wide buggy road and footpaths. This place is very suitable for children and the best place to spend time with your family.

Get around the Gem Museum

The gem museum located in Zabuthiri township, Nay Pyi Taw. The large area of upstairs museum decorated with large wall glasses and beautiful and wonderful decorations in modern designs. In Gems museum, precious jewels such as ruby and sapphire, quality jade lots and the largest pearl in Myanmar are put on display. At there, you can find unique gems and learn about precious gems from staff. The staff are eager to answer your questions.  Its open from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm except Monday and Government days.

See the wildlife in Nay Pyi Taw Safari Park

Visit the largest zoo in South East Asia is definitely a fantastic experience to do on a Nay Pyi Taw tour.Safari Park is a wildlife park located in Nay Pyi Taw. The park consists of a Asian Safari, a Australian Safari, and a African Safari. You can see various kinds of wild animals and species in this park. At there, you have an opportunity to explore the exotic animals around the world in three parts of Safari.

Study the attraction places around Myanmar form Landmark Garden

A 400 Acre park built in the shape of Myanmar, sits alongside the Yangon-Mandalay highway in the northern part of Yay Sin dam area between Pyinmana and Tat Kone. The garden shows a mini version of Myanmar’s famous sites. Hop aboard a golf cart, and zip from Kachin state to Mandalay, down to Yangon and beyond, while taking in diminutive versions of Golden Rock, Inle Lake and Shwedagon Pagoda. The site is so big so you should hire own transport to get around. This garden’s opening time is from 8:00 AM- 5:00 PM and no closing day.

Places to visit

  •  Myoma Market
  •  City Hall
  • Myanmar International Convention Center
  • Defense Services Museum
  •  National Museum
  •  Nay Pyi Taw Zoological Garden
  • White Elephants, Nay Pyi Taw

Myoma Market

It is situated near the residential areas of government office workers. Fruit, vegetable, clothing, dining and daily necessities are available at this market. Prices are cheap and the sellers are friendly and helpful. I recommend you to visit this market in evening, it comes alive and better to get around. There is also the restaurants, garment stores, hardware stores, etc. It is active till late evening.

City Hall

City Hall is one of the prominent Land Marks of Nay Pyi Taw. It is located in Taungnyo Road, Nay Pyi Taw. Nay Pyi Taw City Hall has many characteristics of Stalinist architecture, but with a Myanmar-style decorated roof. Behind the city hall, there is a park with a playground and water fountain complex, which hosts a musical light show every night. It opens 24hours in all day.

Myanmar International Convention Center (MICC)

MICC is located on 16 acres of land with 312,000 square feet in Zabuthiri Township, Nay Pyi Taw, is a perfect venue for all events. It was built by the People’s Republic of China and completed on 15 March 2010. The MICC has plenary hall that can accommodate 1900 persons. The MICC building is formed with listening rooms, holding rooms, meeting rooms, VIP summit room, news briefing room, singing room and the 720 person capacity Banquet Hall. Large scale events such as Euromoney and ASEAN Summit were recently held at the Myanmar International Convention Centers (MICC 1 &2). It is open form 8:00AM to 5:00PM, except on Saturday and Sunday.

Defense Services Museum

Nay Pyi Taw boasts an impressive Defense Services Museum; the 603 acre site is on a gentle slope to the north east of the city. It takes 30 minutes-drive outside of Nay Pyi Taw. This museum has a fine view across the city and countryside with a back drop of the Shan hills. It is divided into 3 main sections, the Army, Navy and Air force. At the entrance, tourists have to exchange the passport/ID card against a free day pass, and also driver’s ID is kept too. If you come with by taxi, you should keep it because one service area to another place is too far. This museum gives you a very interesting insight into the history of Myanmar and the achievements by the people and the military form the struggle for independence until present day. Around the building are collections of old and more recent military machinery, planes including spitfires, tanks, guns and ships.You also bring a bottle of water, you can’t find any vendors at this place. You should take at least a day to visit all of places in this museum. The museum closes at 4:00PM.

National Museum

Nay Pyi Taw National Museum is a modern museum located near the Kumudra circle, in Ottrathiri Township. Beside the older National Museum of Myanmar in Yangon, it is the second of the two national museums for Burmese art, history and culture in Myanmar. It was completed in 2015. The museum is open from 9:30AM to 4:30PM, except on Mondays and public holidays.

Nay Pyi Taw Zoological Garden

Nay Pyi Taw Zoological Garden is the largest zoo in Southeast Asia Located on the Yangon-Mandalay highway about 250 miles (400km) north of Yangon. The 612 acre zoo opened its doors on Myanmar’s Armed Force Day (27 March) in 2018 with about 420 animals trucked in from the Yangon Zoological Gardens. In December 2009, the zoo had 634 animals of 89 species, including 304 from 34 different mammal species, 265 from 44 bird species, and 65 from 11 reptile species. If you rent mini cars, just 45 min and 1 hour is enough. It opens from 8:00Am to 5:00PM and opens everyday.

White Elephant, Nay Pyi Taw

There is 9 white elephants in Myanmar and 6 of them are in Nay Pyi Taw. The elephants are also white(more pick) from head to tail and it is fascinating to see them. If you want to see them, you can come and visit this place. It is located on Pobba Thiri Township. You can also visit the pagoda which is very glory and gives you a unique feeling. You can feed the elephants and it costs MMK1,000, but the people there feeds the elephants.

Restaurants

As for restaurants, these are 5 top restaurants in Nay Pyi Taw.

Emerald Restaurant (Vegetarian Friendly)

Cuisines: Italian, European, International
Location: Yarza Thingaha Road, Nay Pyi Taw.

L’Opera Italian Restaurant and Wine Bar( Vegetarian Friendly)

Cuisine: Italian, Pizza, Mediterranean, Apulian, Southern-Italian
Location: No. MH-3,4 Yar Za Thin Gaha Nirvana Hotel, Nay Pyi Taw.

YKKO

Cuisine: Asian, Burmese
Location: Capital Hypermarket, Nay Pyi Taw.

Element Restaurant (Vegetarian Friendly)

Cuisine: Asian, Burmese
Location: No JV-001 Taw Win Thiri Road, Hilton Nay Pyi Taw.

Tai Kitchen (Vegetarian Friendly)

Cuisine: Asian, Thai, Vegetarian Friendly.
Location: Yaza Thingaha Road Tungapuri, Nay Pyi Taw.

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