Crusing To The Heart Of Myanmar

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Geo: 21.9759, 96.0842

If you're thinking of heading north from Bagan to Mandalay then I would recommend taking the boat up stream. This was a great journey but also a long one as you are going against the current.
It took us 12 hours by leaving at 5.30am. There were only 13 of us so it was great to have room to enjoy life along and on the banks of the river. We got breakfast and lunch as well as a few demonstrations on board eg using a longi and traditional face painting.
The boat only runs in certain days so we were lucky it all worked out with our plans. We arrived in to Mandalay at 5 as the sun was setting.
Mandalay was our departure point for our Myanmar trip and we only had one day. There are a few places in Mandalay to visit but people seem to visit the places outside of the city. It also seems that it is cheaper to go as part of a tuk tuk tour.
We visited the temple hill over looking the city. The views were a tad hazy but still impressive and green. The temple was amazing too with lots of colour and mirrors happening. In the evening we visited the popular Bein U, the longest teak bridge for sunset. We watched the sun set from the bridge but lots of people chose to view from a row boat. And as the sun set, so did our trip to Myanmar. The country exceeded preset expectations and offered more than we had time for. We were there as the elections were taking place and it appears the country is becoming more stable and with that the popularity among tourism will forever increase.

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