The long painful bus trip from Bago was tiring, so I’m happy to not do too much after arriving in Mandalay. I find a cheap room in a hotel, then go to view the sunset from on top of Mandalay Hill. The stairs up are never-ending. Hundreds of steps. I start my ascent late, so I don’t make it to the actual top for sunset, but the view is still far-reaching. To the west, you can see the wide Ayeyarwady River. Through the haze of dust, smoke and pollution, the horizon is a vague blurry line in the distance. Descending slowly back down the concrete stairs, I meet some young monks who are studying at a monastic educational centre. They tell me it’s the largest in Myanmar with 7,000 students. We talk and they practise their
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