Although the original grandeur of Amarapura is gone as it was used as a wood and stone quarry to build modern Mandalay, there are still many fascinating sites to see. Life of the people can really be seen here whether it's a monk walking to the temple to pray, children playing during recess from the outdoor classes, an old man smoking cheroot while fishing, woman working the looms, or a man fetching water from the lake to take back to his thatched hut. Bagaya Kyuang, is the largest monastery in Burma. It is huge 19th century, wooden monastery with a large population of monks. Before 10 am, you can watch the monks wash their body and their clothes, prepare the food to feed about 1000 Monks that are living and studying here. The morning meal starts at around 11 am. It was very interesting to see the Huge pots of rice that are awaiting the arrival of the Monks. Each monk approached one of the four huge pots to have a scoop of rice placed in their Tabeiq (offering bowl). There isn't any charge to watch but there are donation bins around so it's nice to at least make a small donation to help out. The whole experience was very interesting. It had a bit of human zoo feeling as there were other tourists there also.
Near the monastery is U Bein's Bridge. This bridge crosses the Taungthaman Lake over to a small village and Kyauktawagyi Paya. The bridge is made entirely of teak and is 1.2 km long making it the longest teak span in the world. The bridge has remained for 200 years, a testament of the longevity of teak.

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