Pakokku is quiet and traditional country town on the banks of the Irrawaddy, located 25 kilometres north of Bagan. The town is connected to the village of Nyaung U by a road and rail bridge across the river. Best known for tobacco trading, there is not a great deal to do in the town itself, but 20 kilometres to its northwest you can find the remains of Pakhangyi, with its old city walls, archaeological museum, and one of the oldest surviving wooden monasteries in the region.