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Published: January 20th 2015
We were not looking forward to leaving our beautiful hotel in Bagan and heading up to Mandalay, however it far surpassed our expectations. Mandalay was once the capital of Myanmar (but then it seems most towns in Myanmar were the capital at one time or another). King Min Dong (sounds like someone from Flash Gordon) was the last major King of Myanmar before the Brits colonised and it seems he had a penchant for using teak for his houses and monasteries. His Royal Palace constructed totally out of teak and gold leaf was unfortunately bombed in WW2 by the Japanese, so none of it remains, but I'm sure it would've looked awesome. The military rebuilt it using concrete, tin and hardwood after ironically, they were given original photos by the German embassy, as they had been guests at the palace before the war. Mandalay is rich in crops such as mango, dragon fruit, avocado, watermelon and also produces 70 percent of the country's potatoes. Its inhabitants are also renowned for their production teak carving, tapestry, bronze and marble crafting (especially Buddha statues ) and the very labour intensive gold leaf manufacturing. Mandalay is famous for housing the world's biggest book. It
The worlds biggest book
729 of these stupas contains the teaching of the Buddha. It was written in Pali language which is the ancient language.
comprises of 729 marble slabs on which are inscribed all of the Buddha's teachings agreed and written down during the fourth Buddhist synod. A remarkable collection but one that causes some confusion and disappointment to tourists to find it's not actually a book but lots of stones housed in little stupas. We spent a day visiting other ex-capitals of Myanmar which are Ava, Amarapura and Sagaing. The sites all have deeply religious connotations for the Myanmar population and there are Monks and Nuns aplenty. We visited the Mahagandayon monastery, which is home to 350 novice monk (monks under the age of 20) and is renowned for its monastic study and strict religious discipline. Monks and Novices never cook their own food, and rely on financial donations from the community. It costs at least 1000 US dollars a day to keep these 350 novice fed, but there is a six month waiting list for donors so there is never a shortage of supplies. One of our most emotional moments so far has been a visit to the Aung Myae Oo Monastic education school with 2092 children - many who have been left by their parents who can not afford to feed,
house, educate them. Many too have no parents at all, and have been orphaned at a heart-breaking young age. They live in either the nunnery / monastery but go to school everyday, not only to learn about Buddism but also to gain a basic education. We were struck by how at least a dozen children seemed to be fascinated by playing with a single spinning top - they appeared to be without a care in the world, which was a very nice thing to see. With a bottle of Myanmar in hand, we watched the sun set over U Bein Bridge, which is the largest teak bridge in the world spanning 1.2 km - it's probably the wobbliest one too! We met Ne Ma La, a local monk who improves his English by talking to the foreigners and had an awesome smile. We're off to inle lake so will send more soon
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liliram
liliram
Ava
Hi there! I also just got back from a trip to Mandalay, went to same sites you visited but missed Ava. Would love to see more Ava photos if you don't mind. Nice blog, btw!