Mandalay …

Now that we are done with Bagan, let’s go to Mandalay with the night bus. It should take around 8h and I try to convince myself I will sleep. But it happens that the Burmese pop music loud enough for a deaf, doesn’t really help ! Talking about the Burmese pop, I have a kind request to the the local population : There is a reason for Madonna being so successful : because her songs are good the way they are , so please, no need to translate it ! I swear God, after listening to Like a Virgin  in Burmese, I can rest in peace !

Arrival in Mandalay was quite something as well. No one knows the hotel we have booked, no one knows English and even less knows how to read a map ! My Lonely goes from hand to hand in the bus, unsuccessfully. It is 4 in the morning, we  stop playing smarty –pants !  The bus drop us in  the middle of Mandalay, in the middle of the night, no idea were we are. But once again our lucky star is around ! We find a very nice man who knows the hotel and guide us in the good direction ! I think without him we would have slept for a while on the sidewalk. I am not gonna talk to long about the scandalous guesthouse, and the bunch of retarded who runs it. Whatever, it is 5 am,  I juts want to sleep. Tomorrow will be a better day.

After 3 hours sleep, we are ready (or not) for a new day ahead ! We book a “blue taxi” ,the cheapest, to drive us all day long, between Amarapura and Sagaing. We understand quickly why those are the cheapest ! It is actually a small pick up with two planks at the back for my delicate behind !

In Amarapura, we visit the Maya Ganayon Kyang monastery, home of hundreds of monks. Going there around 10 am allows you to watch the meal taken by these hundreds of monks in total silent. Apparently it is impressive ! Unfortunately we missed it, we reached there too late. We visit the monastery with a nice monk, and leave for Sagaing in our coach. We climb to the top of Sagaing Hill, visit the Golden temple at the top (yes one more !) and admire the 360 degrees view around. From now on, lets call that country Stupa Land, cause there is stupas, stupas, stupas everywhere !!!

 

After a quick break at Sagaing Hill,where we try to rest a bit and find a slice of shadow to prevent melting under this damn sun, we drive back to Amarapura to see THE place to be of the city : the U Bein’s bridge, the longest teck bridge in the world and probably one of the most famous spot of the country. We saw it this morning from the monastery and it was nothing impressive to be honest. Well, nothing more than a bridge. But when we come back just before sunset, the sight is completely different.  The sun is low already and the golden sun nicely light up the bridge. We cross the bridge and cross path with monks, Burmese, children jumping in the river, fishermen … It is really beautiful ! When we reach the other side, we rent a small boat to come back. From the boat, the view is just amazing, the sun being behind the bridge … Here it is … I strongly believe it is the top of our trip, the most beautiful pictures I will do …

Anyway, lets get ready to see pics of a bridge, a bridge, and a bit more of a bridge !

Hostel in Mandalay : AD1. Forget about it, it is ugly, dirty, old and the staff is retarded.

Blue taxi for a day to drive though the ancient cities, and see a lot of Buddhas and Pagodas ! : 20,000 K

Boat the see the sunset in Amarapura : 4,000 K