Mandalay

Ever since the sanctions were lifted off Myanmar, we had been very interested in visiting the country - particularly before it had become commercialized with Starbucks, McDonalds, etc. This lack of international investment made it very difficult to travel there as only until recently did ATMs start popping up and credit cards became more widely accepted, even at hotels. With these complexities, we decided to use a tour company to help us with the logistics of navigating our trip through several cities, the first of which was Mandalay. 

Our adventure began in the north of the country in Mandalay. Teak comes from this part of the country so many things were made from this hard wood and this monastery was no different. 

The wood allows for some beautiful carvings but unfortunately many of the temples have burned down over the years.

Our first day in Mandalay we learned real quick how to dress in a Buddhist religious site. Shoes off, pants below the knees and no sleeveless tops. This made for some very dirty feet by the end of the day. Men and women also wear a longyi.

At the main pagoda in Mandalay, we were lucky to witness a "novice ceremony" -  where a family sends their kid off to to live with the monks for a period of time. Since it is such an elaborate ordeal with rented clothing, traditional umbrella holders and even photographer and video recorder, many families will do it once for multiple children at the same time or split the cost with another family. After the party, off to shave some heads!

We visited U Bein the worlds longest wooden bridge -  at least what was left of it. It was a shell of its former self with missing guard rails, missing boards, and rotted wood, but it is 150 years old. Needless to say you had to watch every step you took.

Once reaching the half way point, we climbed down and took a boat back to get a closer look at the bridge and the farmers living around the lake. After rainy season, the farmers will leave their villages and farm the fertile once submerged land but leave once the rains come as the water will cover the entire area.

Our guide in Mandalay 

We took another boat ride to Ava which is an island in the middle of the river to see some more sites. At the bank of the river, we picked up a horse cart to take us around the island. Before we could jump in the cart, we were accosted by several kids trying to sell us souvenirs. I made the mistake of telling them my name - then it was used repeatedly! "Philip, Philip you have a hard think, Philip" after I told them I was not interested.



As the cart drove off, one girl jumped on her bike and followed us for quite awhile. Admiring her persistence, we bought a little something.

There were more old teak temples.

 There were also huge stone temples.

We finished the day at a pagoda on Sagaing Hill which offered really nice views of the surrounding areas. While taking pictures, we were stopped by a family who wanted to take some pictures with us. This was the first of many times this happened during our trip as many people had never seen a foreigner in person. This was especially true in some of the more remote regions of the country that we traveled to during our 10 days in Myanmar.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a temple for nuns. This was the first place where we saw so many nuns but with most families sending their children to the monastery at some point growing up, it was not a surprise. The guide said she didn't do it when she was growing up because she didn't want to shave her head. Even though she has since changed her mind and offered to shave her head with her two daughters, they don't want to go since they would have to shave their heads also.

At the airport and off to our next stop, I noticed our boarding passes didn't have our names on them!? I guess it goes with the carnival token thing they attached to the checked bag as a baggage tag.