Disembark at Amarapura

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Geo: 21.8906, 95.9983

The river was too shallow to sail all the way in to Mandalay so we disembarked and got on a coach 30 minutes out. Mandalay was almost completely flattened by Japanese bombing in WWII and it has been largely rebuilt.

First we visited a 1,200m long, 160 year old teak pedestrian bridge, built from timber salvaged from an imperial palace. This was when the capital was relocated from Amarapura to Mandalay. Then a visit to a 1,200 monk monastery and followed with a look and shop at a silk weaving factory.

Checked in to our less-than-excellent Mandalay Hill Resort hotel, on the north side of Mandalay at the foot of Mandalay Hill.

Another monastery in the afternoon then a visit to Kuthodaw Pagoda and its identical white stupas. They were built in the mid-19th century by the king to each house a large tablet inscribed with Buddha's teachings. Quite impressive. Then we reluctantly agreed to bus up to Mandalay Hill to "watch the sunset", but again the sun disappeared into the haze well above the horizon. Apparently Nov is the best time to visit Myanmar: the temperatures are milder, it's after the wet season so the countryside is green, and the skies are clear of the heat haze that obscured views we might have witnessed.

A great dinner at the hotel accompanied by a Myanmar culture show of puppets and dancing. We had to concentrate to get past the discordant music that seemed to be lead by a duck hunting whistle!

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Photos

Teak bridge
The king died in his palace and his superstitious son had the palace demolished and donated the timber to the monks, who built a bridge across the lake to their monastery.

Model of the White stupas
729 of these!

A few of the stupas
Sadly I didn't think to have someone pose beside these to give an impression of scale. The stupa openings are about normal door size.

Lord Buddha's teachings
Each stupa contains a large tablet inscribed on both sides with teachings. It is said it would take a year and a half to read all the tablets and therefore they cheekily say the stupas house the 'largest book in the world'.

Mandalay Hill
The hill is 170m above the city and therefore commands impressive views. This picture shows our Hotel.

Myanmar dance
Lovely setting for the show. Pity about the music - the "orchestra pit" is behind the screen at the foot of the stage.

We had donuts and coffee
Clint had Red bean donut and I had cappuccino donut

Comments

[Kerrie]

Blue sky days need to be embraced by the government. Is it blowing in from China? or are they making this by themselves? How much is of their currency worth in A$? Do you need to tip Chinese style in $US?

[kerrie]

I am enjoying your blog. How is the food? As usual I am interested ?fruits ?pork

[robselclark]

They use Kyat or USD (new notes only) in Myanmar. 1 USD buys 1,040 kyat at a money changer, but in the streets if the cost is 5,000 you simply pay 5 USD. If you pay in USD they will give change in USD, if you ask for it. They don't recog
nise AUD. The food is good. Even set-menu tour lunches are tasty, way better than our experiences in China.

[robselclark]

Our tour package included all gratuities but we gave a few extra dollars to a masseur, or to the tour guide at the end of the cruise. On the times I haven't tipped it seems to be no problem.

[ROSS AND KATIE]

Wow guys.. seems like you have done so much. What a great holiday. The countryside looks huge and 5he food looks good. You certainly are the adventurers. zTime is nearly up to come home but live your holiday well. Cheers Clint and Sue. Stay
safe. Ross and Katie