Backpacking Myanmar Series: Mandalay

Mandalay is located North of Yangon and formerly the capital of Burma. While preparing for this trip, I only expected to be amazed by Bagan but Mandalay was quite a pleasant surprise and provided a perfect end to our Burma trip. Thanks to our new found friends Kriz and Apol (whom we "made alliances" with in Bagan, hehe), we not only got to share the tour expenses with 2 more tourists but they also chanced upon the taxi driver Ye Lwin who toured us to the most important places to see.

On the first day, we visited the Shwenandaw Kyaung teak temple near Mandalay Hill. It had very intricate carvings and is definitely one of the prettiest temples I've seen to date. We then proceeded to the largest book in the world which is Kuthodaw Pagoda. This is a funny story. When we entered the temple (which at this point of the trip we were so immune to doing after visiting a LOT in Yangon and Bagan), we started looking for a literal book complete with its cover and pages only to find out that we were actually "inside" the book. The whole place apparently houses the pages. They were made of marble tablets with the teachings inscribed in these stones and were encased in rows and rows of mini stone houses.

Apol posing in Shwenandaw teak temple

The pages of the world's biggest book: Kuthodaw Pagoda

The next day started at 10am as we made our way to Mahagandayon Temple to observe the monks during their lunch routine.

The monks rationing their lunch

The local village folks prepare lunch for the monks

Cute Burmese kids with Thanaka in Mahagandayon

We then went to the ancient city of Ava (Amarapura) but in order to get there, we had to cross the river through a motorized boat. Tour the city via a horsecart and imagine the grandeur of the place back in its glory days.

Bell tower, Amarapura

Horsecart tour in Amarapura

We chased the sun setting in U Bein Bridge and hired a boat to get the perfect angle of the sun casting its rays against the silhouette of the bridge. We all had to take a moment and reflect on what this tour had provided us. We couldn't imagine how breathtaking the sceneries were and how we all 4 met in a foreign land and just instantly gelled well together. Thus this U Bein bridge entry deserves its own paragraph. :)

Sunset at U Bein Bridge