Mandalay

We arrived at the Mandalay bus station at 6am, and it was not as scary or chaotic as it was when I first arrived in Saigon. Yes, there were people trying to solicit their hotel and trying to offer taxi rides, but I read on WikiTravel to just by pass this all and walk West outside of the station to take a pick up to the center of town. The ladies who were already waiting in the pick up said it was K300 to get into town, but everyone else was telling us K400. It was a little frustrating, because even a monk told us it was K400! So we just went along with it. After all, it was a fraction of the price of a taxi. We ended up getting door to door service, right to our hotel.

I had to take a nap, since I didn't sleep much on the bus, so we had a late start on our first day in Mandalay. We started off with a late lunch at this food stall we stumbled across. We had chicken curry and rice, which came with a vegetable soup, and several side dishes, like kimchi sprouts, boiled spinach, fresh cabbage/lettuce/cucumber/mint leaves, fried peanuts, and a few other dishes down the table I didn't get to try. All for K800! It was the cheapest meal we have had in Myanmar, but it came with so much stuff.

After that, we planned to go to two sights that day; the Mahamuni Paya and Mandalay Hill. But they happend to be at opposite ends of the town. Easiest way to get around? Rent a bike! Sure glad we did too, because it would have been one hell of a walk. Since it was later in the day too, the guy only charged us K1000 instead of K1500.

Mahamuni Paya was interesting to people watch. I'm starting to see a common theme of the Payas here....it's where locals just hang out, and where some pray. There are usually sections too where there are vendor shops or just vendors selling food (if not outside, it's inside the paya grounds). People will have lunch or a snack at the temples. Another thing we are learning, just carry your shoes when you have to take them off at the temples. Or else you have to pay K200. Oh, bike parking was K100.

Afterward, we biked all the way to Mandalay Hill, on the northern side of town. We were trying to get to the top by sunset, but the only thing that stood between us was the stairs. Oh...the stairs. The climb up the stairs was pretty tiring. We had to take our shoes off, so walking up on concrete stairs just got harder and harder on the feet. And at every platform, there was a Buddha image to see, with another flight of stairs waiting for you to get to the top. When we reached a (seemingly) top platform, we saw the sunset over Mandalay, but then learned we WEREN'T at the summit. Andi felt she had to just climb to the top, since we were there anyway, so I followed suite. Maybe after 10 minutes of stairs, we ran into Martin, the Czech traveler we shared a taxi with to Mandalay. He said it was about 15 more minutes to the top, but since it was after sunset, we figured it was best to start heading down since we would have to bike back to town in the dark (darn).







After getting back into town, we were pretty famished. We went to a popular chapati stand for dinner, and we had a great meal. I had the mutton curry, 2 chapatis, and tea for K1500. I am so glad the curries here aren't spicy. I was getting tired of ordering Thai food, only to find it was too spicy for my taste buds! But the curries here are just right for me :)



When we finished dinner, we took a walk down to the "Entertainment" district (I'm not sure what that describes, honestly) and caught The Mustache Brothers show in their little home garage theater. The comedy troupe had been performing for years (even performed for the Lady), but were arrested and even detained in prison for making jokes at the governments expense. They put on a comedy/cultural/dance show every night at 8:30pm for foreigners (they aren't allowed to perform in Burmese/for Burmese people). It costs K8000, but the proceeds go to political prisoners. It was pretty silly at times, but definitely entertaining and worth supporting. After the show, we took some pictures with the Brothers and chatted with them for a little bit.