Mandalay, Myanmar (Burma)

On 26 November we took an 11 hour boat ride up the Ayeyarwady River to Mandalay.  We boarded the boat at 4:30 AM and soon after experienced a very impressive sunrise. 

Fortunately for us, the boat from Bagan to Mandalay was nearly empty. (the boat we passed traveling the opposite direction was packed) It was a very peaceful and relaxing trip without any near head-on bus collisions.

As we approached Mandalay, it became clear that there were still MANY more temples and pagodas to see.

Another really big Buddha.

The skyline was filled with golden-domed pagodas.

By this time in our trip, we were "templed out".  After visiting dozens up to this point, we weren't interested in seeing dozens more.  And dozens more there were, in Mandalay!  Drive-by's would be good enough.

As we pulled into the dock in Mandalay, we must have encountered the latest project from the Myanmar TV show, "Pimp My Barge".  This is an over-the-top bling'ed out hotel on the water complete with golden dragons and elephants.

Getting off the boat, there is absolutely no escaping taxi drivers demanding to give you a ride.  Naturally, we told our taxi driver that we were not in a hurry to get to our hotel.  Something must have been lost in translation since he sped up and honked his horn more as he passed every scooter and vehicle in front of us.

"World's Largest Book"  At the Kuthodaw and Sanamuni Pagodas there are 729 of these small stupas.  Each contains a stone "page" containing Buddhist teachings.

More "pages" from the World's Largest Book.

We wisely chose to pay a dollar each for a ride to the top of the very tall Mandalay Hill where we had a great view of the city.   Kassie could not pass up ringing the bell.

In addition to covering your legs, going barefoot is another requirement in all temples and pagodas.  It turned out to be a half-hour walk down hundreds of steps to descend Mandalay Hill.  We were very happy to put our shoes on again.

A young nun.  A large number of nuns and monks are orphans and Myanmar has the most of any country, we're told.  Becoming a nun or a monk is one way to obtain an education.

Young, and fashionable, monks.

We visited the 1.2 kilometer-long U Bein Bridge .

Longest and oldest teak wood bridge in the world built in 1850.

Several fishing boats.

Two more innocent victims of Kassie, "May I take your picture?"  We have an enviable number of monk pictures!

These are wedding pictures taken before the actual ceremony.

The traditional dress is very beautiful.

One of the primary tourist attractions in Mandalay is the Mahagandayon Monastery at lunch time where approximately 1000 monks and nuns line up for their last meal of the day.

Overall, we found it difficult to find something good to eat.  Almost no English is spoken or written on signs in most restaurants. We didn't even come close to eating anything cooked by a street vendor in Mandalay. And that's after eating street food nearly exclusively in Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Also, it was rather difficult to get around without a personal driver.  There are taxis, of course.  However, they only hang out near the handful of tourist attractions or your hotel can arrange for one.  Mandalay was hot, dirty, and had a lot of traffic.  We're glad we went, but the negative reviews you read about visiting Mandalay are fairly accurate.