Day 15 - Mandalay

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The previous night we sat down and looked at the things we would like to see in Mandalay and made a list. In the morning straight after breakfast we headed out to find a taxi driver who for a reasonable price would be able to take us to these sights. As it turned out we found one right outside the hotel door who told us it was possible to do everything on our list in just one day and for a price we could afford. Without wasting any more time we set off to see what Mandalay had to offer. The first thing we saw was the magnificent Mahamuni Paya, and a glistening golden Buddha.The OH was able to approach much closer than I and had he wished he could have placed a square of gold leaf on the statue of the Buddha. Women are not permitted to do that either. The gold leaf is apparently about 15cms thick everywhere except the face. If we had felt so inclined we could have arrived around 4am and watched the daily washing of the Buddha’s face. The 4 covered approaches to the Buddha are a myriad of little shops selling mostly Buddha statues, prayer beads, and the like. The Buddha was impressive to say the least if a bit misshapen from all the applied gold leaf. There were quite a few fake monks there begging off the tourists. When the locals caught them they seemed to cop a tongue lashing as they soon took their bowls and disappeared

We visited quite a few of the streets near the pagoda. They were all dedicated to one thing or another for example it was really interesting to see how brass casting of various religious figures, mostly Buddha, was done. No fancy equipment was being used and the crane used to lift some of the massive statues was nothing more than a tripod and an endless chain. One particular statue that went to Vietnam or China I think had taken 3 years to complete.

Next stop on the day’s tour was Amarapura, one of the old capitals of the Burmese empire. We stopped in at a monastery where tourists could take pictures of the monks lined up for lunch. The people who had donated the monk’s lunch at considerable cost were also there handing out not only the rice to the monks but also items such as washing powder, apples, books and what looked like a toothbrush and toothpaste. I found the whole event quite voyeuristic and even now I am unsure whether it really is simply staged for the tourists as there were many local looking people watching as well and they didn’t seem to be guiding any tourists or tour groups.

After this rather unsettling event we headed off to U-Bein’s Bridge. The wooden bridge is constructed primarily of teak and is about 1300m long. It was possible to walk from one side to the otherand then to catch a small boat back. This is exactly what we did. The walk was quite relaxing even with the considerable number of tourists on the bridge. The most we have so far seen. It is a favourite spot to take sunset photos and it is even busier then. Apparently you need to book a boatman a couple of hours before the event to be assured of one. We had decided not to worry about seeing sunset here. I am sure it would have been beautiful as has been the sunset in many other places we have seen. After walking across the bridge we found a boatman and a couple of snack stalls….can still remember the taste of Chinese donuts stuffed with fresh coconut and sugar. Our boatman knew all the great photographic spots and the trip was well worth the small sum of money we spent. It was now past lunch and we were running out of time to complete the things on our list. Lunch was at a local noodle shop where our driver had to order lunch for us. After lunch we handed off to see a teak Monastery. In actual fact we saw two. The first was Shwe In Bin Kyaung in central Mandalay. The carvings on this monastery were beautiful and so intricately detailed. We also visited the more famous Shwenandaw Kyaung or Golden Palace Monastery. This one we simply snapped a picture from outside as it is part of the $10 combo ticket. The last two major monasteries we saw before heading off to Mandalay Hill was the Kuthodaw Paya, the world’s biggest book and Sanda Muni Paya, we nicknamed the world’s second biggest book. One of the highlights of the day was tasting Myanmar Pancakes cooked on the side of the road by a lady with just a little cooker heated with thin strips of wood. They were extremely delicious and made a great snack washed down with fresh tea in little Chinese teacups.

The last sight on today’s agenda was Mandalay Hill. We briefly stopped on the way to look at the walls of Mandalay Palace although we didn’t go inside to view the Palace. One because of the $10 combo ticket and also because of the stories of how it was reconstructed after being burned down during WW2. We didn’t walk the steps up to Mandalay Hill but took the lazy person’s way and our driver drove us up. The last of the climb was done by escalator…go figure. The view was incredible but it was very hazy and so it probably could have been clearer. It was still a wonderful experience to see over the city of Mandalay and off into the distance.

On the way back to our hotel our driver pointed out various restaurants and places to eat. We decided to head off and find the little Indian street stall restaurant that sets up every night in the same place on 82^nd and 27^th streets. Chapattis and mutton curry with a huge bowl of dhal and of course heaps of rice. The food was better than anything we had in India. At the end of the meal we even had a chai tea. Although not authentic it was a pleasant way to end the day.

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