Asia trip - July 2015

Mandalay, Myanmar, July 23, 2015

7.00am: the bus to Mandalay did not appear. It was meant to pick me up at my hotel at that time. Eventually it did arrive, an hour late but, most importantly, it did make an appearance. The bus was much less comfortable than the one from Yangon to Bagan. It was a local bus and people hopped on and off frequently. The bus rattled along very loudly and I was shaken about quite a bit. The vehicle had clearly seen its best years decades ago. It wa a much less comfortable journey but also much more interesting. 

We passed through lots of smaller and larger villages and the teeming life at each of them was fascinating to watch. We also passed plenty of cow or bullock herds and their shepherds. The fairly sizable herds frequently obstructed the road and were chased away with great efforts and even more shouting and swearing by the bus conductor. The cows and their shepherds remained unimpressed and just continued slowly trotting away. The bus simply had to wait much to the displeasure of driver and conductor. I quite enjoyed the spectacles. 

We also saw oxen drawn ploughs, women balancing heavy loads on their heads, plenty of dogs everywhere as well as nosy and curious kids. The journey lasted 5 hours and we stopped twice, once for a longish lunch and once for a very hurried toilet break. Theew was plenty of water on board however.  Evnetually at mid-day or so we saw the outskirts of Mandalay and soon traffic increased manifiold. It seemed to be even more chatoic than in Yangon at first though the houses or what goes as houses - but there were also a number of very nice solid ones - were also rather poor and in various stages of disrepair (or so it seemed from the bus). The bus dropped various passengers at their destinations and eventually my small hotel was also found. 

The hotel was excellent, very inexpensive and very nice helpful service and a great room and shower. The main concierge immediately set about to explain what I needed to see during my brief visit and organized a very young and enthusiastic taxi driver for me. 

We soon set off for the Royal Palace (constructed in the 18th century, partially rebuilt after destructions by fire and earthquakes). It is very large and impressive. I enjoyed the view from the watchtower overlooking all the gilded and wooden buildings of the palace system.  I got talking to two monks. One of them was just visiting for a few days; he was studying Buddhism in India and would return to India soon. He had little understanding for my skepticism about spending your life as a monk.  He seemed to have a great time or so he said, but he looked like he enjoyed it.

After the Royal Place we set off to a number of Pagodas one more famous than the next one but difficult to differentiate between to the untrained eye. They all featured different figures of impressive looking Buddhas. People were praying aloud sometimes - a magic sort of singsong - which added to the atomosphere. There were alwyas the usual hawkers waiting for the unsuspecting visitor along the entrance paths to the inner sanctums of the pagodas. In one of them, the largest, that featured a huge white Buddgha and hundreds of white spires, I got lost. I couldn't find the entrance I had come in. There were other exits but the one where I had left my shoes (one has to be barefoot), and where the driver was waiting, I couldn't fine despite several attempts. Eventually a kind soul, a guy with some English, took pity on me and guided me to the right exit, which was just round the corner.

Then off to Mandalay Hill for viewing the sun-set. We were a bit late so the elevator was already closed. There was the prospect of having to walk the 2-3 km uphill to get to the top. Luckily my taxi driver knew the elevator conductor, who was a friend of his, and miraculously the elevator was set in motion again for our sake. Lucky us. At the top there was a small pagoda and a large viewing platform. There were quite a few foreigners wandering about and making enjoying the nice view over the city. There also were lots monks in their orange tunicas who liked to mingle with the visitors to practise their usually English. There was no proper sun-set as it was quite cloudy but the view over the city of Mandalay and the surrounding hills and rice paddies was good nevertheless.  Back by escalator (which also was about to shut in just a few minutes).  We drove back to the hotel, all sweaty and quite tired.

Later in the evening I tried out the restaurant with traditional Burmese food that had been recommended by the hotel concierge. Excellent food; also inexpensive. They always seem to serve their chicken on the bone I noticed. I ordered a main course and they restaurant provided lots of little dishes with various vegetables, and rice of course, the national dish. I even managed to find my way back to the hotel in the dark; it was at least a 20 minute walk.