On the roads around Mandalay................

Greetings, we are back in Yangon & my grand adventure in Burma is nearly over! Needless to say internet access outside Yangon is non-existent. There are internet cafes in some towns & computers in the hotels, the locals say "the internet is working today but very slow" - I found this to be code for not working ............... I guess they don't like to disappoint the traveller!

In general Myanmar is completely different to what I had expected. While many people here are obviously poor there is none of the visible homelessness, abject poverty and chaos of places like India. Everywhere I went the local people were welcoming and I was impressed with their obvious pride in their home and their community and their capacity to get on with living in spite of the effects of government oppression and international economic sanctions. It is an experience to be here at what is a critical time in the country's political history.

Now back to the sights and sounds............. This has been an amazing experience and of course there is much to tell. I'll start with the exotic sounding Mandalay! Located on the Irrawaddy River, Mandalay is Myanmar's second largest city. Some highlights:

U Bein's Bridge one of Myanmar's most photographed sites. Built over 200years ago this footbridge is made of 1060 teak posts and spans 1km across a shallow lake. We hired boats and were able to see the bridge closer from the water & what a spectacular sight it is!

A close up of the bridge with a local fisherman in the foreground about to cast his net out!

What a sight - a bit tricky to walk along as there are no hand rails and it creaks & moves!

We visited a pagoda on Mandalay Hill to watch the sunset over Mandalay. Unfortunately the heat haze made it difficult to capture the sunset but we did travel up to the pagoda in style - in the back of a ute as the climb was too steep for our bus!

Young monks waiting to catch the sunset...

Traveling in style!

When visiting Maymyo, the former British hill station 2hrs north of Mandalay we experienced another stylist form of transport - a local horse & cart!! It was a bumpy ride but all part of the adventure!

This lady was outside a pagoda we visited in Mandalay selling flowers as an offering to Buddha. She was ever so proud of her baby who was very cutely dressed & decorated! The paint on the baby's face is sunscreen which many people wear but usually only on their cheeks.................

The pagoda's bell ringer, peacefully in prayer!


Just outside Mandalay we visited Bagaya Kyaung, a beautiful monastery built entirely in teak dating from 1834. It is now home to a monastic school providing education to children from the local village.

I'll finish this post with a Buddha, one of many we saw along the way...............................

I say farewell to Burma tomorrow & travel to Bangkok, so will try another post there where the computer facilities are a bit more modern!!

Until the next post, K.....................