More mysterious than Mecca and more difficult to reach than Lhasa. That is how Joseph Kessel describes it in his novel. In the heart of the mountains, located some 200 kilometres north-east of Myanmar’s second largest city, Mandalay, the valley of Mogok has been producing the most beautiful rubies and the most unusual legends for over a thousand years. 
Yet Mogok has much more to offer than just precious stones. Little towns, villages and gardens are dotted here and there across the hills, which are covered with shrubs and flowers and decorated with well-kept Buddhist shrines. The tips of the gold leaf-covered pagodas stretch towards the sky like golden sculptures jutting out of rock formations and line the only main road in the region, as well as gravel roads and footpaths.