Mandalay

5 May - The "Flight" to Mandalay

We were in for yet another early flight, today from Bagan to Mandalay, on another twin prop plane, but this time a much newer one. The majority of the processing for the flight is done manually - from placing a round sticker onto your clothing to 'authorise entry' through the security checkpoint, to being physically patted down.

The ticket is printed on heavy paper that states the airline's name.  The destination code is STAMPED onto the card by the check-in counter staff.  Another staff member stamps the day's date.  The flight number is handwritten by another staff member. 

The flight is a shuttle service, a bit like a bus run, you get on, sit where you like, and if it's not your stop, you stay on the plane until you get to your stop. You soon realise why people are jockeying to get through the gate first to board the bus for the 50 metre trip to the plane's steps.

Mandalay is Burma’s second largest city.  It is a former royal capital and is the main commercial centre for the Northern part of Myanmar, particularly for its trade with China.   
 
Mandalay is much greener and cooler than the dry plains and 45C temps of Bagan and is served by two main rivers, which clearly have massive benefits for the locals and their ability to produce food.

Our guide took us to the Maha Gandayon (Golden Palace) Monastery where ~1,000 monks live which gave us a first-hand experience into their daily life.  The monks study hard learning various languages as well as their Buddhist teachings.  At ~10.30am, the monks emerge from their dwellings and line up to form a procession.  “Honoured donors” then serve food to each monk as they pass by them.  Unfortunately, this has become somewhat of a “tourist” event.  

To us this event seemed distasteful; however, as you can see by the photo, we were part of it too.  We had time to explore the complex and very fortunately, a young 25 year old monk, Jovan (pronounced Johanna), sought us out and we had a long chat with him.  He previously studied in Yangon but transferred to this monastery as it offers more university courses.  He is extremely knowledgeable and we talked about world affairs and geography and Australia of course.  He also gave us some insights into their daily life.  We exchanged email addresses and hope to keep in touch.

We had seen a lot of Pagodas and Temples whilst in Bagan and we were feeling a bit “Templed-out”, so we decided to limit it to two per day.  The Shwezagon Paya has a striking golden Stupa.


The golden

The Kutodaw Pagoda has the “world’s largest book” - 729 slabs of marble, engraved on both sides and each contained in its own small stupa.  It has been recognised by UNESCO as the world’s largest book.

Standing between the pages of the world's largest book 

 Sadly, at the Shwezagon, we saw some young girls, just 13 years old, carrying small boulders/rocks on their heads.  They were employed doing some repair/construction work.   For many of the poorer families, one of their children is sent to work in order to get money for their family which enables their siblings to stay at school, or become a monk, or simply to help feed/house the family.

A gorgeous smile - in between carrying rocks on her head.

Where are the rocks, John?  Photo is on my ipad and it's too late!

Sagaing Hill, which is 25 km south of Mandalay, is famous for the sunsets.  We chatted with some local monks as the sun set over the city of Mandalay.

Sunset over Mandalay

As Mandalay sits on the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River, which is the major river that flows through Myanmar, we were fortunate to travel up the river to Mingun to see what was intended to be the world’s largest stupa.  However, construction ceased when the then king was advised against completing it by an astrologer, as he would have bad luck and die.  Only the bottom portion was ever built.  Astrology was very important here in ancient times and for some, it still is today.    

Earthquakes and time have decimated the Stupa

Told that the walk from the "jetty" to the pagoda was going to be "arduous", we opted for a bullock driven "taxi".

Taxi!!!

It was not the most comfortable of rides and fairly quickly, John bailed and decided walking was better for his back! 

It was a bumpy and fairly smelly ride.



A few leaves from the tree for a job well done.

The Mingun Bell is the second largest in the world.  The largest is in Russia – but that bell does not ring.  Therefore, the Mingun Bell is the largest bell in the world that rings!

Certainly, one of the most picturesque sights in Mandalay is the U-Bein Bridge.  It is the longest wooden (teak) bridge in the world and certainly one of the most photographed. 

The famous U-Bein teak bridge, Mandalay,

Sunset over the U-Bein Bridge, Mandalay

A gorgeous picture - shame it's side-on.