Naypyidaw, also spelled Nay Pyi Taw, officially replaced Yangon as the capital of Myanmar in 2005. It is officially known by the acronym NPT.
Understand
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Naypyidaw is unique and a little bizarre. It’s a large and fully laid out city but with insufficient inhabitants and buildings for its size, so you can experience the unprecedented Asian scenario of never getting stuck in traffic. Whether this weird situation will remain when Burma’s economy begins to boom is another matter since the lack of gridlock is certainly not down to superb road planning and cutting edge traffic control. What helps are the eight-lane boulevards and Parisian-sized roundabouts.
Naypyidaw was a rather secretive construction project by the ruling military junta in the early 2000s and, in November 2005, was suddenly proclaimed Myanmar’s new capital. Government workers were given two months notice that they would have to move from Yangon with the re-location of all government offices and ministries. Most embassies and international organisations, like the UN, have not relocated since an education and health infrastructure is not yet in place.
Get in
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By car
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A newly built toll motorway connects Yangon to NPT. It’s 320 km (200 mi) long with a service complex containing a fuel station and a large, expensive (by local standards) restaurant just past the halfway point if you’re coming from Yangon.
By rail
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There are several trains daily from Yangon and they take around nine hours. The station is considerably further from the city centre and from the hotels than the bus station, and the bus journey from Yangon is considerably faster (5 hr).
By plane
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To handle increased traffic to the capital, the existing airport at Ela was upgraded to handle larger planes. It lies 16 km (10 mi) southeast of Kyatpyae.
Bangkok Airways flies directly from Bangkok each day in the evening enabling connections to/from the larger international cities. The plane from Bangkok is a ATR turbo prop, not usually a jet, so it can get rather full and bags can get delayed. Bangkok Airways has code shares with other airlines, like Emirates. However, Bangkok Airways does not always honour Emirates frequent flyer benefits (such as extra luggage allowances).
In reality, mainly foreign visitors (usually international development workers) or rich locals fly to Naypyidaw while locals travel by bus (5 hr).
The airport is modern, clean and efficient. It’s also mostly empty of people with most of the gates not in use.
By bus
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A bus on a wide road.
From Yangon buses travel the wide new toll highway for about five hours, including mandatory rest stop, to the capital, which unusually just springs out of nowhere at a nondescript intersection. The bus should eventually arrive at the Myoma Bus Station in the north of the city.
- From Yangon – 6300 kyat, 5 hr (Feb 2017)
- From Bago – 8,000 kyat, 8 hr
Get around
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By motorbike taxi
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This is a common form of transport in Naypyidaw, but it can be risky.
By tuk-tuk
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Similar to those in Bangkok although called a “thaw lar gyi” in Myanmar.
By taxi
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Taxi drivers hang around the shopping centres and bus station and you need to negotiate with them. For foreigners the asking costs can be high at US$5 for even relatively short journeys. Distances between locations are large so finding a taxi needs some effort (best to ask the hotel to help).
An example fare from Feb 2017: 7000 kyat for a 20-minute journey from the Golden Lake Hotel to the Myoma Bus Station. Arranged in advance at the hotel.
See
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Do
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Buy
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Naypyitaw Myoma Market is the commercial centre of Naypyidaw. Other shopping areas include Thapye Chaung Market and Junction Centre Naypyidaw. In the “hotel zone” are two medium-sized shopping malls: Junction and Capital, each of which have reasonable supermarkets and restaurants. Junction also has a cinema. There’s another shopping mall complex further north with a much larger supermarket and an exchange bureau. You can change money (only US dollars, not euros) at the travel agent in the Junction Centre but they sometimes run out of cash. Phone charge scratchcards are available in the Junction Centre. Foreign credit or debit cards are sometimes accepted in shops, however there are plenty of ATMs.
Eat
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Drink
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Myanmar beer is very drinkable and there are several different types. Locally produced whisky is very cheap, 5,000 kyat a litre, even for the best local brands. Wine is also available including local red and white wine. International wines are available, usually around 8,500-15,000 kyat. The Junction and Capital supermarkets have sections selling wine, beer and whisky.
Sleep
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The hotel zone has a handful of villa-style hotels that dot the hills on the outskirts of the city. There are 12 hotels in or near Naypyidaw. Eight of these are within the Naypyidaw Hotel Zone. There are also some very large hotels in Naypyidaw. The distances are quite far between anywhere you want to go and the hotels.
Go next
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This city travel guide to Naypyidaw is a usable article. It has information on how to get there and on restaurants and hotels. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.