Blogs from Mandalay Region, Burma, Asia

Today has been a much more successful sightseeing day than yesterday. Whilst overcast it did not rain and we were able to get out and about without getting drenched. We initially got a ‘grab’ tuk tuk to Mandalay Hill, the furthest point from our hotel that we wished to see today. Here we passed between the 2 huge lions that guard the entrance to the top. Shoes off we started the 45 minute ascent. The walk is interesting as there are a number of small pagodas to see along the way. My personal favourite was a pink one. There’s also one with a large standing Buddha, pointing towards the city, foretelling that Mandalay would become the capital of Myanmar. Stephen enjoyed the ordination hall - a concrete building that’s quite literally falling down and is a ... read more

Having see the sunrise from land on Sunday and from the air Monday today (Tuesday) we saw it from the water. Our alarm clock has been set earlier and earlier this week and we are both looking forward to a lie in tomorrow. This morning we were up at 0400, checked out and ready to leave the hostel by 0430. The hostel had arranged a taxi for us and this arrived on time. The driver was kind enough to wait patiently whilst the staff checked our room and I had a quick cup of tea. As we left we were provided with a little packed breakfast of a jam sandwich, boiled egg and banana. Perfect. The boat jetty is just over 4km from the hostel so the drive didn’t take long. Our friendly driver soon got ... read more

Despite having been woken up overnight to torrential rain when our alarm went off at 520am it was fortunately dry. By the time we left the hostel the clouds were clearing and we could see the stars. Walking along the dusty track towards the viewpoint in the dark the sun started to tinge the sky red and we could soon pick out temples across the plain. Soon after walking past the temples people used to watch the sunrise from (now shut), we started to see other people arriving. At first a few e-bikes and tuktuks passed us, then a couple of cars, then some coaches. Coaches, along a single lane dirt track. This was not what we were expecting. By the time we rounded the corner and saw the viewpoint we weren’t surprised to see hundreds ... read more

Firstly, yes, a day bus from inle lake to bagan exists, and it’s a coach not a mini bus. Googling it I couldn’t find any evidence of it’s existence so I was pleased to find it. It does make for a slightly dull day to report though... We woke up early to more rain so we could grab breakfast and pack before catching the bus to Bagan. I hope it stops raining soon! Most of the buses on offer seem to be night buses but arrive at about 4am which is rather miserable when hotel check in isn’t until 2pm. Unlike the bus between Yangon and Mandalay there isn’t a new highway across the country between inle lake and bagan which means it’s very bumpy and windy and I suspect not conducive to sleep. The other ... read more

This morning I woke up to the sunshine coming through into our room. We opened the curtains to see the view and went back to bed with tea to enjoy it. Despite the good weather forecast it wasn’t long before the mists descended over the hills and the clouds got worse. We went to enjoy a very good breakfast instead. Having splashed out on quite an expensive hotel it had a swimming pool I had been planning on using. Despite the clouds it wasn’t that cold so I went for a swim anyway - it was rather bracing and definitely not sunbathing weather but I enjoyed it anyway. I then used the outside shower in our room which was quite a fun experience. Packed up we checked out and got in the boat back to Nyaung ... read more