Blogs from Mandalay, Mandalay Region, Burma, Asia - page 6

Our train to Mandalay was only twenty minutes late. By Burmese standards this can be considered extremely punctual. Some fellow travellers had faced a delay of EIGHT hour a few days before. I was lucky enough to have a window seat, but this turned out to be a mixed blessing. There was only one train per day along this line, which was not frequent enough (or fast enough) to carve a proper path through the surrounding foliage. The windows were open, so at lower speeds, you were slapped around the face by the occasional leafy branch. At higher speeds, the trees and bushes were sheared off, and so you were sprinkled with a flurry of leaves, flowers, insects and twigs. An hour into the journey and I was covered with bushy shrapnel, looking as if I ... read more

Dear All Trip update number seven, second missive from Burma, this one coming from the fantastic city of Mandalay, in the northern reaches of the country. Still having a fascinatingly interesting time in this country, again with everything being both so different from elsewhere experienced, and also so untouched by tourism with a relatively small trickle of fellow tourists passing through these places. Since I last wrote, I feel I have delved deeper into the Burmese way of being, as well as having seen some pretty amazing places way off the global tourist circuit. Whilst it is true that after 5 weeks of travelling and sightseeing, I am just about ready for my own home, there is still some energy left within me to continue with my last week here in South-East Asia. And it’s difficult ... read more

A longer-than-expected gruelling 8h overnight bus ride later, and I'd finally arrived in Mandalay. Not a moment too soon either, alighting at the bus terminal at 4 a.m. 11km outside of town, before being shuttled by motorbike taxi to ET Hotel, only to be greeted by a surly receptionist who was obviously displeased about being awoken from his slumber. I asked to see the rooms and quickly settled on a tiny, almost cell-like single on the roof (yes, roof!), which turned out to be an absolute oven under Mandalay's searing afternoon sun! But I forgive the place because of its laundry service and free wifi (YES!) The bus ride to Mandalay threw up an unexpected surprise though, as I believe en route we passed through Nay Pyi Daw, the new capital which is supposedly officially out-of-bounds ... read more

The old Burmese capital, Mandalay is where the last king of Myanmar, Thibaw, held court, before the British exiled him to India in 1885. Our stay here was once again a beautiful array of temples, pagodas and monasteries. We visited the Shwenandaw Kyaung/Golden Palace Monastery a fine teak monastery temple with intricate wood panels and Kyauktawgyi Paya, a 19thcentury temple. At the heart of this temple is a 900 tonne Buddha that is carved from a single piece of marble. It apparently took 10 000 men 13 days to transport it from a canal to its present location for the dedication in 1865 by King Mindon. The most important Buddhist Temple in Mandalay is the Mahamuni Paya an enormous complex which is home to a 13ft high seated Buddha believed to be 2 000 years old. ... read more

Minglaba ( Hello) On Saturday 11th Feb. early in the morning we landed at Yangoon. Arranging our night train to Mandalay and we idled around. Mandalay is the second largest city in Myanmar but there are very few activity for tourists unless you go to North districts. We stayed at AD1 hotel (16 US$ per room), centrally located. We climbed up the Mandalay Hill and visited the pagoda at the top. Enjoyed the sunset at the world longest teak wood bridge and another day we sailed an hour for Mingun, ancient temple. On Wedesday 15th. Feb. We took the slow boat to Bagan. The journey took all the day from 5 AM to PM. We enjoyed a lot with the tourist crowd and had our first massage from Myanmar woman on the boat. We are now ... read more