In Retrospect: Mandalay

As the internet carries the news that a cyclone in the Indian Ocean is threatening Myanmar, it brings back memories of my trip to that beautiful country in February 2004. I didn’t spend much time there – just two weeks, but I was especially struck by the beauty of the country and the friendliness of the people. Despite the poverty, the oppressive government, and a generally grim future, the local people I met managed to find something to laugh about everyday.

Mandalay was the capital of the Burma kingdom when it came under British control. Situated along the Irrawaddy River, Mandalay is Myanmar’s cultural and religious center of Buddhism.

Mandalay is in the center of Myanmar

Myanmar is nicknamed the Land of Pagodas for a good reason

This sign is posted on the door of the toilet on the boat we took up the Irrawaddy to Mandalay. There were no local passengers on the boat at the time, so I wasn’t sure if it was enforced.

The Irrawaddy is a major transport route down the length of the country

Dinner at a sidewalk eatery under the buzzing street lamp

Washroom haiku, posted over the toilet at the guesthouse I was staying in

On sale: wheels made with folded low-denomination bills – for offerings at pagodas, for funerals, I’m not quite sure

The street market just outside of my guesthouse, with the bell-shaped pagoda of a monastery at the end of the street

The reconstructed royal palace is now a sterile museum

Intricate woodwork on one of the buildings in the royal compound

The golden paint on the building glint in the afternoon light

A VW Beetle makes its way out of the eastern entrance to the royal compound

People’s Desire: something straight out of 1984

The climb up Mandalay Hill is made easier with the covered walkway

View over the city from top of Mandalay Hill

Novice monks taking a break

The monastery building is bathed in the low afternoon light

Burmese script on the pillar: poetry? scripture? warning signs?

Tourists watching the sunset in the haze at the top of Mandalay Hill