Mandalay

So NewYears Eve came and went. The BBC reported that Burma joined in the international celebrations for the first time. It was the first time they has open air public celebrations here for 50 years and it was live on Tv. Our NYE was spent in the sky bar of our hotel which had a lovely view if the Ayawaddy river (Irrawaddy in English). But having the schedule we did we were off and out the next day at 8am so no revelling by any of us!

New Years Days early morning excitement included

• A drive up Mandalay hill to survey the surroundings and visit the hilltop temple. Amazed to report it. Was gaudy and golden! It was the scene of a a WWII battle where the allies had to retake the hill to gain control of the local area.
• A trip to see the worlds biggest book at a temple. It wasn't a big book merely 728 inscribed stone slabs each in its own mini temple.
• An afternoon cruise down the Irawaddy to visit an ancient town. The ancient town was a bit 'same same ' with more stuphas and temples . But the cruise was excellent. Lovely top deck views in comfy seats. Nice cold drinks on the way back and watching the people live their lives. The picture is above as we now have slow Internet again. Mandalay seems to have more power cuts than anywhere else so at 6am I'm being woken up by clicking power outages

New years Day evening meal was a trip to a local restaurant . I haven't really commented on the food here as there's not a lot to say really. There are very few restaurants to visit - here in Mandalay with 1 million people there are only 10 or so that we could go to. Lots of local street cafes but as George our guide says ' not recommended'. The food is pain and healthy - lots of vegetables and fish - but uninspiring so nothing to blog home about . Ang isn't doing a cooking course!

 

January 2nds highlights included a visit to an old 1.2km teak bridge and a pony cart ride around an island.

 

The bridge was a lovely experience . The bridge itself was rickety and a health and safety nightmare but there was so much life going on around that I could have stayed there for hours. Lots of local fishermen farmers, rice growing, children, duck farming and cafes to watch the world go by. But no time for us as the next temple beckoned!

 

Anyway I can't get photos loaded so ill post this and quickly try a smaller post

 

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