One Day in Mandalay

Yesterday morning we flew into Mandalay, Myanmar from Bagan. And we hit the ground running! It’s truly amazing how much of the city you can see in just one day. Let's recap the places we went!..

Mandalay Royal Palace

A walled city built by King Mindon in 1861 with his Golden Palace in the middle. Unfortunately, many of the buildings were destroyed during WW2 and had to be rebuilt after the war. But you still get a sense of what life was like by walking through these old-style buildings. We also got a bird's eye view from the watch tower.

Mahamuni Buddha Temple

The most revered Buddha image in Mandalay and the most ancient in Myanmar. This Buddha was cast in the life-span of Lord Buddha in the seated posture of relaxed deportment. It is covered in layers of gold leaf which are placed on the image by those coming to worship at the temple.

Gold Leaf Production & Silk Weaving

Speaking of gold leafs, we visited a gold leaf factory where we learned about the ancient and time-consuming process of flattening gold into leafs. We also stopped by a silk weaving factory where we witnessed the intricate and ancient craft of weaving silk for wedding dresses and men's pants (skirts).

Shwe Nandaw Kyaung Monastery

The only original monastery left in Mandalay, The Shwe Nandaw Kyaung was built in 1880 using material from King Mindon Min’s apartment in the Royal Palace. Its an impressive structure, ornamented with detailed teak carvings, mirrored glass mosaics, and gilding. We spent a lot of time here just exploring the fine details and art in the wood carvings.

World’s Biggest Book (aka Kuthodaw Pagoda)

Kuthodaw Pagoda is a Buddhist stupa in Mandalay with 729 marble slabs. Built in 1857 during the reign of King Mindon. The entire 15 books of Tripaka are inscribed on the slabs, each of which is housed in its own small stupa. It is said that if you read for 8 hours a day it would take 450 days to complete.

U Pein Bridge

Named for U Pein who was the donor-builder, U Pein Bridge is a .75 mile long wooden bridge built in 1849 that spans across the Taung-tha-man Inn Lake. It is constructed entirely of old planks and timber posts of dismantled houses from Sagaing and Inn-wa.

Mandalay Hill

This was the most beautiful spot we found in all of Mandalay! Mandalay Hill sits 230 meters above the surrounding city, making it a natural watch-tower for the ancient capital of Myanmar. We drove through switchbacks up the hill and once we reached the top we had to take an elevator up 5 floors to reach the temple on the hill.

That's all from Mandalay! I'd say we saw quite a bit in just 24 hours LOL. Next stop is Thailand's coastal city of Phuket. From there we'll ferry out to explore the island of Phi Phi and then over to Krabi. It's about time we have some relaxation on the beach!! 😁🏝️