We arrived in Mandalay around 4:30AM fresh off a night bus from Inle Lake. We missed an opportunity to get off the bus near our hotel and ended up having to take a taxi back towards the center of the city. Our driver had a great command of English, so we arranged for him to pick us up in the morning and give us a day-long tour of the city before taking us to the airport that evening. After a nap and a shower at the cheapest hotel we could find, we were ready to go.  We were surprised to see a completely different taxi driver waiting for us – he explained that our original hire couldn’t come because he had a date with his girlfriend (who knows; if it’s true, props to her for slaying).

First stop was Mandalay Hill, the single giant bump on the flat plain that is Mandalay. At the top of the hill is Su Taung Pyi Pagoda, offering impressive views of the city below. I was unprepared for a Pagoda visit and unfortunately had to borrow a longyi, but was happy that I didn’t have to miss out on the views. (Sorry for no photos of the view, it was a dusty day and none of my photos looked that great)

Next stop was Kuthodaw Pagoda, home of the Kuthodaw Inscription Scribes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The central stupa is surrounded by 729 mini temples, each containing a huge slab of marble inscribed with Buddhist scripture (the entire Tipitaka Pali Canon) in round squiggly Burmese script. The King of Burma had these commissioned in 1860 because he was worried that that the teachings of Buddha would be lost due invasion of the British. The slabs have been given the nickname the “world’s largest book” – however the Guinness Book of World Records would disagree.

As we headed next door to the Sandamuni Pagoda, a sweet girl near the entrance offered to decorate my cheeks with some thanaka. Knowing that this was a gesture of kindness, I obliged and ended up with a sweet makeover for the day. The thanaka smelled great and felt cool in the heat, and I can totally understand why it was so popular and common among the locals.

The Sandamuni Pagoda features a huge golden stupa in the center, surrounded by thousands of smaller white stupas housing 1774 marble slabs inscribed with commentary on the Buddist scripture featured at Kuthodaw. They call this “Volume II of the World’s Largest Book,” and I found this space to be more peaceful and awe-inspiring than it’s more famous neighbor.

At this point in our journey Aleksiy and I were feeling stupa-d out, so we opted to visit some local workshops instead of more temples. We went to a textile workshop, a wood carving/tapestry workshop, and (my favorite) a gold leaf production site.

In a lot of the temples/pagodas/stupas we visited, there were women selling little pieces of gold paper that we discovered to be gold leaf. People buy them and attach the gold foil to statues of Buddha as an offering. Here, we got to see how those little sheets of gold leaf were created.

The last stop on our whirlwind tour of Mandalay was a visit to the “Bridge of Mandalay,” formally known as the U Bein Bridge. The bridge is about ¾ of a mile long, built around 1850, and is said to be the oldest and longest teakwood bridge in the world. That said, why we decided to walk back and forth across it remains a mystery, but I am glad we did it, because it was extremely entertaining.

First of all, Aleksiy and I are quite a bit larger than your typical Burmese person. Average height for a full grown male is 5’6” – I’m guessing average weight would be around 120. Lets just say the builders of the bridge were not considering Aleksiy and I.

Second of all, walking the bridge (especially on a Sunday) is a decidedly popular local activity, and I really think we were the only foreigners out that day. We were asked to take photos with people not once, not twice, but FOUR TIMES. Especially Aleksiy, with his tattoos (or maybe just his handsome good looks)– people were fascinated. I was so entertained.

We made it back to the cab, not knowing whether to feel like celebrities or freak shows, and headed toward the airport. I have to say, this was probably the best way to do Mandalay, as everything is pretty spread out, it was 102 degrees, and the whole day tour only cost about $30. I was a little sad to be leaving the wild frontier that was Myanmar, but very much looking forward to a more modernized Chiang Mai – and a return to delicious thai food!