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The Asia Diaries - Mandalay, Myanmar

-As of earlier this year (2024) it appears the current status of Myanmar has become dangerous and the advice is not to travel. Please check up to date travel advice before considering travel.- Day 1 We travelled to Mandalay from Bagan, we treated ourselves to a minibus journey which cost about 10,500 kyat (apox £7) and took about 6 hours. We stayed at ET Hotel which was about $25USD a night as some friends we had made in Bagan were already staying here. The hotel is a typical budget hotel, it’s quite noisy with lots of people coming and going and annoyingly there were lots of mozzies in the communal areas but when we were there, there was the most amazing street food stall right across the road which made it the perfect place to stay. I don’t know if it is still there or not but they were making the most amazing Indian street food we both had chapattis, vegetable curry, fried rice and banana pancakes all for just 2,800 kyat (about £1.70) amazing! We have found the accommodation in Myanmar a lot more expensive then we had anticipated but the food in general seems to be pretty cheap which helps. Day 2 After a basic breakfast at the hotel we decided today we would explore Mandalay and the area around. We headed off towards the Palace but after 45 minutes of walking we hadn’t even made it past one of the walls, it is huge!

The walls of the Palace - Mandalay, Myanmar

​​The picturesque walls of the Palace We walked into a side street and tried to find a taxi to drive us around for the day, we had read you can pick one up for about 20,000 kyat but we had no chance with this rate and ended up agreeing on $25USD. We drove to Amarapura where they have the longest teak bridge in the world U Bein’s Bridge, it is 1.2km long and 200 years old. We were expecting some beautiful ornate wooden bridge but it turned out to be more of a basic type of affair! We walked over it for a bit, there are some nice views from up there and we could see the farmers ploughing the fields the old fashioned way with cows so it was quite interesting. There is a market at the beginning of the bridge where you can grab a drink or snack.

U Bein's Bridge - Mandalay, Myanmar

The impressive but not quite as ornate as I had hoped, U Bein Bridge

Next we drove to Inwa which you have to get a boat to as it is cut off by a river, although we didn’t know this and doubted whether this was the case for a while until more travellers turned up all doing the same route. Once you are across the river you hire a horse and cart for around 8,000 kyat (about £5) to take you around the sites. We are not big fans of animals being used in this way but it’s the only way around so we had no choice other than to head back across on the boat. We saw some of our favourite sights yet, I’m pleased we did it. There weren’t that many other tourists here so it was pretty quiet and the little sights were all quite atmospheric where parts of the buildings had fallen away leaving the backdrop of the jungle, some of it was brilliant.

One of the sights at Inwa - Mandalay, Myanmar

The jungle starting to reclaim the sights

However, be warned, the horse and cart bit goes on for quite some time, ours went a bit off road a couple of times and it was so bumpy, there is hardly any suspension so prepare yourselves for a bit of a bruised behind! We saw the teak monastery Bagaya Kyaung which was really interesting, you will need one of the Mandalay Archaeological Zone passes which cost 10,000 kyat (£6) to get in here so if you haven’t needed to purchase one yet and you want to go in here you will need to buy a ticket from the booth. The horse and cart then took us to Maha Aungmye Bonzan which is a brick monastery and Nanmyin which is worth a look ,if it is still standing, it’s a 27m tall watch tower that was leaning very precariously! Back over the river and into the cab we drove to Mandalay Hill for sunset, it was such a beautiful sky, I think Myanmar has some of the best sunsets I have ever seen. Mandalay Hill was a great place to watch the sunset with some brilliant views, just such a shame it was so crowded and busy, you also have to pay a charge of 1,000 kyat for your camera so you can take photos!

Sunset from Mandalay Hill - Mandalay, Myanmar

The beautiful sunset from Mandalay Hill

Sunset from Mandalay Hill - Mandalay, Myanmar

Sunset just got better and better the longer we watched

My top tip would be if hiring a taxi for the day like this, there are so many that look the same, before you leave it at the first stop take a photo on your phone or camera of the license plate so that you can track it down later if you’ve forgotten what it looks like in the sea of cars! Sadly we didn’t stay long enough in Mandalay to see Sagaing or Mingun but I would have liked to have seen them. Day 3 We headed to the shopping area to stock up on a few bits and my husband got a local hair cut! We tried out the local ‘transport’ a kind of open backed truck thing where we had to sit on the floor, you have to try it at least once! Then before we knew it we were on another bus heading to our next destination Kalaw...

Basic language (written phonetically) Hello – Min-ga-la-ba Thank you – chei-zu-tin-bar-te or lots of people shorten it to chei-zu-bay MANDALAY TOP TIPS

- Try and negotiate a good deal for a taxi to drive you around the sights - Take a picture of the taxi's registration number to help you find it again - While it means tackling the tourists you are in with a good chance of an awesome sunset from Mandalay Hill NEXT STEPS - Book accommodation or look at options in Mandalay here

- Purchase the Lovely Planet for Myanmar here

- Purchase a good travelling backpack I swear by my Berghaus 65 litre Rucksack like this one here Read previous post - Bagan

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