Blogs from Mandalay, Mandalay Region, Burma, Asia - page 2

Mandalay...the name evokes an exotic, almost mythical time and place; of a paradise far away, thanks mostly to the words of the poet Rudyard Kipling and his famous poem. Songs by Sinatra and er, Robbie Williams, add to the air of Western intrigue about the place and the famous Vegas hotel, the Mandalay Bay, ensconces the idea of Mandalay being a haven of Oriental luxury. Mandalay was also the last royal capital of Burma before the country was annexed by the British; the idea of Mandalay being the residence of 'the last emperor' also adds to its aura. In modern times, the place is merely a sprawling, mainly non-descript city and I certainly got this impression as I arrived in Mandalay. The amazing thing about my journey here from Bagan however was the fact that it ... read more

Today we booked to do one of the tours available in the Mandalay area - The 3 Cities, which are three of the former royal capitals of the region and a visit to the famous U Bein Bridge. We did this by private taxi which was great as we didn't have to hang around waiting at all and could miss out the things like the silk weaving which we weren't interested in (only twigged this after having seen the wood carving!). Our driver was a lovely young guy called Si Thu but prefers to be called Peter much to the amusement of his other driver friends who kept taking the Micky out of him whenever we encountered them. As with most of the men here he was wearing the traditional longyi, a kind of sarong and ... read more

Those midnight flights are a killer, Thai Airways 12.30a.m. to Bangkok 8 1/2 hrs, then 4 1/2hr layover and then the Thai budget line Smile up to Mandalay which was only 1 hr 45 mins, all worked like clockwork Insider Journeys rep there to meet us and 14 others. All on the bus and it took about an hour to get to the Mandalay Hills Resort which is the best hotel in town, quite a majestic place big and sprawling over a lot of land, huge pool area and lovely manicured gardens. Got into hotel about 11.30a.m. then time for a wander and a couple of beers before meeting our group leader at 7.00p.m. for briefing, drinks and snacks and then cultural show and outdoor dinner in the gardens with lots of yummy curries and local ... read more

Onze busrit naar Mandalay duurt ongeveer vier uur. Net als twee dagen geleden rijden we over de verlaten snelweg. Het is vandaag ploegdag, de boeren ploegen met behulp van twee ossen hun akkers. Later wordt het landschap vlakker en zien we veel palmbomen tussen de rijstvelden staan. We passeren eerst het vliegveld, wat op een uur rijden van de stad ligt. Het busstation is een grote puinzooi, de bussen staan op een vlakte tussen de hopen afval. We vinden al snel een taxi die ons door de stoffige straten naar ons hotel brengt. Mandalay oogt als een typische Aziatische stad met lange, rechte wegen, lelijke gebouwen, vuil en stoffig. Ons hotel ligt aan de buitenrand van de stad en kijkt uit over de rijstvelden en daarachter gelegen bergen. Waar ze in Indonesie bezeten zijn van vouchers ... read more

We just couldn't face another day of the madness of downtown so decided to look for something quiet to do. The public park of Lake Ina was close by. The inn-keeper suggested a couple of restaurants. We checked out and left our bags in storage for the day. The trek to the lake was mostly through quiet lanes except for one busy road. Even with a crosswalk painted on the pavement, it was completely ignored by the motorists. We got half-way across but just couldn't catch a break in the traffic for a good 5 minutes. Even the local with it was becoming a bit impatient. Finally on the other side, we had view of the lake. It is a reservoir for Yangon but I could see bits of raw sewage floating near shore. There was ... read more