Around Southeast Asia in 24 Days – Mandalay, Myanmar

Welcome to pixontrips. This is the first post in a new series called Around Southeast Asia in 24 Days. I’ll be writing on a weekly basis about the various destinations I visited over the span of three and a half weeks this May.

My first touchpoint in Myanmar was in Mandalay—the country’s second largest city after Yangon (and also the name of a popular Las Vegas hotel). Located in the northern part of the country, at last count in 2014, the city was home to 1.2 million people. Mandalay is filled with run-down buildings and restaurants, sheltered by only a steel roof. Motorycles dominate the roads and seem to get on just fine, in the absence of traffic lights. The seeds of Western civilization have only recently started to sow themselves, as seen by the Telenor blue umbrellas and signs that are ubiquitous around town.

View of city from the Ayarwaddy River View Hotel, Mandalay, Myanmar

The people in the country are amongst the most gracious and hospitable I have ever encountered. With the country’s tourism boycott having been recently lifted in 2010, many Burmese are still fascinated by foreigners and will often ask for a photo. In this country, history and tradition are beautifully preserved, witnessed by the abundance of ancient religious monuments still standing, but more widespread, through the hanaka (a light yellow paste made from ground bark) used by the Burmese on their skin to protect themselves from the sun—a practice that is over 2,000 years old.

Arriving in Mandalay was admittedly a little overwhelming. Our driver blasted loud Burmese music in the car (which was strangely alluring and exotic) while driving in from the airport. The road was primative and devoid of almost all signage, and outside all that could be seen was yellowing fields and trees, save for the occasional pagoda in the distance—no buildings until almost an hour later when we had finally reached Mandalay. Driving past sprawling block after block in central Mandalay, I remember worrying about having decided to come, as the city projected a grungy, hectic vibe, and the heat was almost unbearable in the mid-forties (Celsius), having come from a country where the hottest of our summer days reached a meagre 35.

Street with people and cattle in Mandalay, Myanmar at sunset

Having only settled in late afternoon, we decided to relax the rest of the day and went to the rooftop restaurant at the Ayarwaddy River View Hotel to catch the sunset, as recommended by the staff at our home stay. We bumped into this security officer on the way into the hotel who was happy to be photographed.

Scruity officer in front Ayarwaddy River View Hotel, Mandalay, Myanmar

True to its name, the rooftop restaurant offered views of the Ayarwaddy river.

View of river from the Ayarwaddy River View Hotel, Mandalay, Myanmar

The next day, not wanting to try our hand at riding motorbikes in the Mandalay traffic, we hired a taxi driver to take us around for a day. He had learned some English at school and fed us tidbits of information on the sights we saw throughout the day. He proudly explained that he owned the car he was driving (it had cost him US$8,000, which is more than six times the country’s GDP per capita) and that his wife had been studying to become a lawyer before deciding to assume the duties of a full-time mother.

Taxi driver showing photo of family, Mandalay, Myanmar

Mandalay is famous for its workshops and it seemed appropriate to start off our morning by visiting sculptors, carvers and weavers.

Boys carve Buddha statues in Mandalay, Myanmar

Men load sculptures for export, Mandalay, Myanmar

Inside wood carving workshop, Mandalay, Myanmar

Wood carvings in workshop, Mandalay, Myanmar

Dyed silk thread in workshop, Mandalay, Myanmar

On our way to the next attraction, we found ourselves stuck in traffic, in the form of a Shinbyu or novitiation ceremony (entering monkhood). These ceremonies often happen during the school breaks. Young boys dressed ornately in gold attire, often with extensive embroidery, brought to a monastery to be robed and have their heads shaved. After asking permission, they then become novices, with novitiation seen as a rite of passage in the primarily Buddhist country.

Seeing as though we weren’t moving, we asked our driver to pull over and watched the ceremony from the crowd.

Novitiation ceremony in Mandalay, Myanmar

Next, we made our way to Mahagandayon Monastery to watch the monks line up for their lunch at 10:00am. Our driver explained that there are over a thousand monks living in this monastery, many of whom are trying their hand at monkhood, but will leave after mere months. These monks eat two meals a day, both early in the day. Volunteers and donations make these meals possible. It was a truly remarkable experience witnessing their daily routines, hindered only slightly by tourists obstructing their line formation to photograph.

Monks line up for lunch at Mahagandayon Monastery, Mandalay, Myanmar

I snapped this picture of an adorable little boy who was approaching us carrying (presumably) his sister. He later asked us for money.

Boy holds his sister in Mandalay, Myanmar

We also saw this monk who was clipping leaves for food from a tree.

Monk clips leaves from a tree for food, Mandalay, Myanmar

We then headed to Shwe In Bin Kyaung monastery, where we were shown Buddhist writings said to be over 500 years old, locked up in a musty, dark room downstairs. We felt extremely privileged as our driver later explained that the writings were only shown to foreigners. We were also allowed to touch the old papers, despite our choosing not to, and mused that someday this would likely become a museum with hordes of tourists visiting as opposed to just a guide and the four of us.

Guide at Shwe In Bin Kyaung monastery in Mandalay, Myanmar showing 500 year-old Buddist writings

We went to Sagaing later that morning and then took a boat to Inwa or Ava after lunch, the ancient imperial of capital of Myanmar between the 14^th and 19^th centuries, much of which was destroyed by earthquakes in the mid 19^th century, when it was then abandoned.

View from boat to Inwe, Mandalay, Myanmar

Despite initially planning to walk around the island ourselves, we eventually caved and took a horse carriage. We all agreed that this was a good decision in the end given the size of the island.

Tourists on horse carriage on Inwe, Mandalay, Myanmar

Maha Aungmye Bonzan Monastery, Mandalay, Myanmar

Leaning tower of Inwe, Mandalay, Myanmar

The sun had started to set by the time we had returned from Inwe. We made our way to the U Bein Bridge for sunset, the last stop of our day tour. It is the world’s oldest and longest teakwood bridge at approximately 176 years old and spanning 1.2km.

Tourists watch sunset from boat beside U Bien Bridge, Mandalay, Myanmar

Close-up view of U Bein Bridge at sunset, Mandalay, Myanmar

On either side of the bridge, fishermen had taken a break from their day job to take tourists on their boat to catch the sunset, while a few children were swimming in the water.

Near U Bein Bridge at sunset, Mandalay, Myanmar

The next morning, we woke up early to catch the sunrise at Mandalay Hill.

Sunrise at Mandalay Hill, Mandalay, Myanmar

Sunrise at Mandalay Hill, Mandalay, Myanmar

We then stopped at Kuthodaw Pagoda to see the world’s largest book and Sanda Muni Paya, where tablets of Buddhist texts are housed in stupas.

Stupas at Sanda Muni Paya, Mandalay, Myanmar

This was followed by a visit to the palace to round off our time in Mandalay.

Mandalay Palace, Mandalay, Myanmar

Mandalay Palace from watchtower, Mandalay, Myanmar

During my two and half days here, I uncovered Mandalay’s hidden gems and can say that this was one of my favourite destinations this trip—easily overlooked at face value and highly underrated. Following our time in Mandalay, we took a bus to Bagan, which will soon have a post of its own!