Mandalay Favorites

Favorite thing: We met up with these children at a temple at Taung Thaman village across the U Bein's bridge. They were enjoying their lunch in a cool spot at the temple. We circled and finally went in and spoke to the children and their teacher, took some pictured, showed them the photographs (which is always a hit!), and gave the teacher the equivalent of about US$5 to purchase supplies for their school.

A really lovely interaction with the teacher and the children.

Favorite thing: Rudyard Kipling started his ` Mandalay ` poem with the words ` By the old Moulmein Pagoda , lookin` lazy at the sea...`
This is Kyaikthanlan Pagoda in Mawlamyine city ... Mon state...
Sea and Thanlwin river kiss there.
But it is not main thing.
The point is that there is the Ward in Mawlamyine city , called " Mandalay "...
Kipling was referring to Mandalay Ward located at the base of Kyaikthanlan pagoda, but not the Mandalay city in central Burma , as most people think...

Favorite thing: " Ravings of a madman " ... oh , sorry...

" Diary of a madman "

Directed by vodolaz
Copyright 2006. All rights reserved.

Thanks to :
Ministry of Industry (1) , " The Last Way " travel agency , interpreter Bobby and his daughter , chinese driver , steward in the darts room , bright boy on the brewery, all of people in Mandalay.

Special thanks to my wife , my fat lovely son , my parents , my dog who is in army now and I can sleep easy , and very very special thanks to God for I am a madman...

2 more images

Favorite thing: Aunque no muchas tambien se ven monjas en Myanmar.
Se cortan el pelo y visten tunicas de color de rosa .
Hacen funciones similares a los monjes aunque socialmente no estan tan respetadas como ellos

Though not many you may see nuns in Myanmar
They cut their hair and dress with pink colour robes
They have similar functions as the monks though socially they are not so respected

Favorite thing: The best thing for me in Mandalay was the view from Mandalay Hill. You have 360 degree views of the countryside around the hill (236m high). There is a small monument in the middle and you basically walk around the perimeter.

I'd recommend having a map with you so you pick out nearby landmarks ;-)

Favorite thing: We spent about 4 days in Mandalay, staying at a US Guest House for diplomats & their families. Nice place (Understatement of the year.) There were no other guests, but our family/group of about 10 and we had the whole estate to ourselves with a few household staff members to cook/clean. Each day we would drive to the outskirts of Mandalay and beyond to see, uh, temples and it was very nice.

Fondest memory: We had unofficial escorts. My brother was a US diplomat and naturally, Myanmar 'escorts' followed our every move. While driving out of Myanmar, we got lost. My brother was getting kind of frustrated. He got out the car, and talked to the escorts and asked them for directions. (I'd normally call them spys or snoops, but they were NOT trying to hide their presence.) They helped us get on the right road.

Favorite thing: I didn't see a whole lot of cars but mostly small motorcycles,bicycles,pedestrians,buses, trishaws. Getting on the buses is real tricky if you have even a small backpack as they are usually packed with people.

Favorite thing: The south-west corner of the Mandalay Fort is a great place to take in the sunrise. Too bad those ugly power wires have to be in the picture but it was such a great morning anyways. Also there are thousands of locusts(i think) rising up off the water of the moat! They are pretty cool to watch! I had seen the same phenomona at Ankgor Wat last year in Cambodia. I don't have pictures of either event though.