I decided to stay in a hotel in Mandalay. The place was quite good and the staff were very friendly. On my first day I spent most of the time in the hotel catching up on some ‘administrative’ matters including booking accommodation for my return to Australia.
In the late afternoon, I went for a walk around the area near to the hotel. It was less crowded than Yangon, and my impression was that the city is less prosperous.
Trip to all the sites
The next day I hired a taxi to take me to the sites of the city. The Royal Palace was quiet interesting. It was originally constructed between 1857 and 1859 as part of King Mindon’s founding of the new royal capital city of Mandalay. It is inside a walled fort surrounded by a moat. All buildings of the palace are of one storey in height.
The place was largely destroyed during WWII, however it was rebuilt to the original design.
Lots of Temples
After the Palace, I was taken to a number of Pagodas. I must admit that it soon became a case of ‘if you have seen one, you that seen them all’.
Mandalay Hill
The exception the above was the Sutaungpyei Pagoda which is on Mandalay Hill.
The hill is a 240 metres hill that is located to the northeast of the city centre. You get a great view of Mandalay from the top the hill. There are four stairways called saungdan leading into the Pagoda the south, southeast, west and north.
You have to make note of which one you entered by so you can take it back to your car and driver.
The hill was the site of a ferocious battle at the end of WWII when the British retook Mandalay from the Japanese.
Bike Trip
The next day I went on a bike ride with Grasshopper tours. The company runs a number of tours including long distance rides to Bagan and down to Yangon. They are part of a rapidly growing ‘adventure’ holiday industry in Myanmar.
This tour was only short, about 21 klms. There were on four of us on the tour. There were two English women about my age. They had been trekking in the countryside near Inle Lake before coming to Mandalay. They were a couple of characters. They told me that they met working in Nigeria in the 70’s. One was particularly dirty on Shell and what they had done to the country. She told me that she had inherited some Shell shares, but sold them immediately in protest.
The tour took us out of the city, and stopped in couple of villages and through paddy fields. It was quite interesting and the guide was very good. He was a university student who did the tour guide job to “improve his English”.
U Bein Bridge
In the evening I went to U Bein Bridge. The 1.2-kilometre bridge was built around 1850 and is believed to be the oldest and longest teak bridge in the world.
What is more interesting that the bridge itself are the crowds of tourists – both foreign and locals. There are thousands. They all go at sunset. Check out the Flickr photos and video.
Underutilised airport
In the morning I took a taxi out to airport for my flight to Bangkok. The airport in notorious for being underutilised.
As Wikipedia says: “The largest and most modern international airport in Myanmar hasn’t met the high expectations in the past; instead it has come to represent the military junta’s money-wasting white elephant projects”.
It is surreal, there is so much space and so few people,
After a short flight I was in Bangkok.
Flickr
Garmin
Temples
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/970721598
Grasshopper Tour
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/970721602
U Bien Bridge
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/970721607
Link to Grasshopper Tours
http://www.grasshopperadventures.com/en/day-tours/magnificent-mandalay-mornings.html
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