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Text and photos:Prevail
Myanmar is separated from Vietnam only by a thin strip of land belonging to Laos, yet its climate is vastly different. Myanmar has three distinct seasons: summer, from March to June; the rainy season, from July to September; and the most beautiful time for tourism – autumn, from approximately October to February.
It took me two flights to get to Yangon from Hanoi. My luggage still included my familiar camera, along with a map of a route I chose to explore Myanmar: Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan, and Inle Lake – destinations where I could learn about, experience, and discover the culture, history, and people of Myanmar, and more importantly, bring back beautiful photos of this fascinating country.
I spent my first day in Yangon gathering some information and tips for my trip and planning my itinerary. I chose Mandalay as my first destination to explore.
I arrived in Mandalay at dawn, after a long overnight bus journey. In my understanding, Mandalay was a peaceful city and the most culturally representative of Myanmar, which was why I chose it for my first experience. A taxi took me to my hotel along a road that gradually brightened in the early morning mist. Along the roadside, locals were exercising, in the distance a few monks were begging for alms, and, surprisingly, the ancient citadel of Myanmar's last feudal dynasty appeared majestically and solemnly beside the emerald green canal that surrounded the capital city.
The people of Myanmar are generally very friendly and hospitable. They have many interesting, strange, and unique characteristics. Myanmar men wear skirts and chew betel nut. Myanmar women apply a type of herbal powder to their faces, making them always stand out. The majority of the population of Myanmar follows Buddhism; sometimes I feel that there are more Buddhists than ordinary people here. The Myanmar people in Mandalay are truly the most "Myanmar." They are gentler than even the gentle people I met in Yangon. And I began my experience of Mandalay with people like that.
I returned to the ancient city of Mandalay before sunrise. The exquisite city walls, with their unique and distinctive architecture, stood solemnly in the dawn light, their reflection shimmering on the calm water. Mandalay reminded me of Hue. The wooden palace, built between 1857 and 1859 when King Mindon moved the capital from Amarapura to Mandalay, was constructed based on astronomical calculations and auspicious omens at the foot of Mandalay Hill. This was the residence of the last two kings of this dynasty.
I hired an old car with a friendly driver and drove along the roads surrounding the citadel. It was vast. It was a shame that the entire wooden palace had been destroyed by bombs during World War II. But I thought, what remained was already amazing. It was precisely this incompleteness that gave it a vague, mysterious, and contemplative quality.
In the distance, Mandalay Hill stretched before my eyes, its summit adorned with colossal golden pagodas. I longed to be there, to gaze upon the imperial city from above. To reach the summit, my driver offered two options: a winding drive through the mountain passes, or a climb of thousands of steps. I took a gamble and chose the hike, a very steep and long journey. It took over an hour to reach the summit from the base. But I had no regrets.
The hike took me past magnificent temples stretching across the hillside, each adorned with colossal Buddha statues. At the summit of Mandalay Hill lies Sutaungpyi Pagoda, unique for its mirrored tiles that reflect light, making the temple shimmer and sparkle against the mountainside whenever the sun shines. Of course, like other sacred places in Myanmar, visitors must dress modestly and go barefoot to the temples, regardless of the weather. From Sutaungpyi, visitors can see in every direction. I had the opportunity to admire the ancient city from the top of Mandalay. It's a profound sense of loss that a capital city with so many magnificent palaces is no longer there.
Leaving Sutaungpyi, I headed towards Mahamuni Pagoda, home to an impressive statue of Buddha wearing a robe and hat, its body covered in a 6-inch thick layer of gold leaf applied by generations of Buddhists. The most special event was the "Buddha face washing ceremony," held at 4 a.m. in a sacred and solemn atmosphere. Next to the west gate of Mahamuni Pagoda is the traditional stone carving village of Kyauksittan. The area is shrouded in a thick cloud of stone dust; this might seem a bit polluting to tourists, but I enjoyed the atmosphere. Kyauksittan village was established when King Mindon built Mandalay. I saw many stone statues and other decorative objects there. The statues range in size from tiny to those tens of meters tall. It is said that Kyauksittan village supplies stone statues to the entire country of Myanmar.
I'm on my way to Taungthaman Lake, home to the famous U Bein Bridge. I've seen many photos by photographers around the world, and I'm really looking forward to seeing U Bein and watching the sun set behind the bridge.
U Bein (or U Bain) is a symbol of connection, antiquity, simplicity, and resilience in the suburbs of Mandalay. Thousands of pillars, planks, and bridge railings are all made of teak wood without a single nail. Mayor U Bein utilized surplus teak wood from the ancient palaces left behind in the former capital of Amarapura and built the bridge around 1850, after Emperor Mindon left the capital. The bridge is now only open to pedestrians and street vendors, primarily to serve tourists. The number of tourists who use the bridge today is almost equal to the number of locals who cross it daily. The city doesn't keep statistics on how many people visit the bridge each day, but it's a must-see destination for any visitor to Mandalay.
I arrived at Taungthaman as dusk was falling. The sunlight bathed the shimmering lake in golden light. In the distance, the golden roofs of temples peeked out from the evening mist. U Bein was truly beautiful and enchanting. I had seen pictures and imagined it, but I was still amazed by the beauty of the bridge that stretched as far as the eye could see into the horizon.
When visiting U Bein, tourists can walk on the bridge or admire it from the lake. In Taungthaman, there's a boat dock with hundreds of boats available for visitors. The boats here are beautiful; just sitting on one is a wonderful experience. I rented a boat for 10,000 Kyat (approximately 200,000 VND) for about two hours on the lake. The boat driver was very friendly. He took me under the bridge, allowing me to admire it from both sides, facing the sun, before stopping a short distance away on the lake to watch the sunset over U Bein.
I sat watching the sun slowly drift towards the horizon. Everything became peaceful, only the sight of the sun becoming round and redder could be seen. People bustled across the bridge, but my feelings were frozen. I captured still, slightly melancholic and wistful images. I had witnessed and felt the most beautiful sunset of my life…
>>> Read Part 2: Exploring the fiery land of Bagan
Additional information:
+ Location: Mandalay is Myanmar's second-largest city, located 700km north of Yangon. It is a bustling commercial center and a repository of ancient Myanmar culture. Considered a gallery of Myanmar's art and architecture, Mandalay is renowned for its stone carvings, wood carvings, silverwork, bronze casting, gold leaf making, decorative carpets, silk fabrics, and other traditional arts and crafts.
+ Transportation:
- High-quality buses are now available from Yangon to Mandalay, costing around 20,000 Kyat (420,000 VND). In addition, there are domestic flights, trains, and regular bus routes.
- In Mandalay, there are rickshaws, taxis, and some other forms of transportation like minibuses. Taxis in Mandalay (and Myanmar in general) are quite cheap compared to Vietnam. If you negotiate well, the price can be as low as 350 Kyat/km, equivalent to 7,000 VND.
Famous attractions in Mandalay:
- Shwenandaw Monastery with its extremely intricate sculptures
- Kuthodaw Paya - the temple housing the world's largest collection of Buddhist scriptures, with 729 "pages" carved into marble.
- Mandalay Hill, with its hiking trail to the summit to watch the sunset over the Ayeyarwady River.
- Royal Palace
Mahamuni Temple
- U Bein Bridge and Buddhist monastery in Amarapura
- Mingun Pagoda
+ Accommodation: Hotels in Myanmar are generally more expensive than in Vietnam. A basic hotel room costs around 35,000 Kyat (700,000 VND).
