Old Mandalay

Divine. As soon as I stepped off the plane from Yangon, I went straight to my hotel which was the Hotel by the Red Canal, Mandalay. I was greeted with a nice cold cup of tea after spending the day in a sweaty, not up to standard plane.

For only $119 a night I got massive value, free daily breakfast, fitness centre access, internet access all day in my room and not to forget, but of course a beautiful, stunning room overlooking the pool.

After enjoying a nice cocktail during the cocktail hour I met a local who gave me a few tips about where I should go and what I should do. The first destination on my list was the Zaycho market located in the heart of Mandalay. They sold many things from puppets to tapestries. After picking up my new textile for only a mere $2, I made my way to a beautiful restaurant for my first dinner outside of the hotel. I had some lovely hot and sour soup with beautiful prawns that created this lasting sensation in my mouth. This was followed by an unusual, but lasting dish called the Kyauk Kyaw, which is literally seafood jelly, with some coconut milk topping it off. At first I thought that this was a bit strange but when I tasted it, I realised what they have created.

The next morning I got up, ready for a very jam-packed day before soon saying goodbye. I went to the U Bein’s bridge over the Taungthaman Lake, it is the longest wooden bridge built in the world, spanning 1.2 km’s across.

Coming back from the visit to the lake I decided to go up and look at the Mandalay Palace, which was the last royal palace of the Burmese Monarchy. It was built in 1857 by king Mondon’s founding of Mandalay. I had walked around the grounds, which were rebuilt in the 1990’s after several destructions and other uses of it had run the palace down. It was good to see the Royal Mint and Watch tower, which were the only things to survive an allied bombing in WWII to still be standing, like they used to.

Unfortunately it reached the time of my journey to go home. I will never forget what a wonderful place it is that I have visited here and I do hope to come back some day soon.

Damon