Mandalay Myanmar
Myanmar
Frequently Asked Questions
At the Gawein jetty at the end of 35th Street, or on the Shwe Kyet Yet bank facing the Sagaing hills. Central Mandalay is about seven kilometres away, roughly twenty minutes by road.
No, seven kilometres separate the jetties from the centre. River cruise excursions cover the main sites; independently, taxis and three-wheelers can be hired by the day.
Mahamuni pagoda, Kuthodaw pagoda and Shwenandaw monastery make a coherent sequence, rounded off by Mandalay Hill late in the day if time allows.
Because worshippers apply thin sheets of gold to it every day. It is the country's most venerated image after the Shwedagon in Yangon, and its outline thickens year after year under that accumulated devotion.
Kuthodaw pagoda at the foot of the hill, which sets out 729 marble slabs inscribed with the entire Buddhist canon, each sheltered under its own white pavilion.
The present palace is a reconstruction, the original having been destroyed in the Second World War. The one surviving building is Shwenandaw monastery, entirely of carved teak, whose panels give a precise idea of the vanished city.
Yes, by long covered stairways walked barefoot, or almost to the top by vehicle. The terrace reveals the plain, the river and the Sagaing hills bristling with stupas.
Yes, in the gold beaters' quarter between Mahamuni and the centre. With hammers, workers thin the metal for hours into sheets finer than a breath. The workshops can be watched freely.
As a perfect square two kilometres on each side, ringed by red brick walls and a moat reflecting the watchtowers. The walk along the moat is one of the country's most recognisable urban scenes.
Shoulders and knees covered and shoes that come off easily: religious sites are always entered barefoot.
