Mandalay is the second largest city is Myanmar, and the economic center of the upper part of the country. It is a big city by any measure. Unlike Yangon, Mandalay has no ban on motorbikes, so traffic is as crazy as you’d assume it would be in a big city, but with more honking. Much like the Italians, the Burmese are fond of their horns.
Military gardener watering outside of the palace walls.
Mandalay Palace
It is home to a complete replica of Mandalay Palace, which covers an area of 413 hectares and is surrounded by 4 walls measuring 2 km in length and a real life moat.
The original palace was destroyed in WWII, but parts of the wall and a couple of buildings managed to survive. They built a replica of the palace starting in 1989, but ran into funding challenges.
Teak, which was used exclusively for the original palace, had become very costly, and the reconstruction time would have to be extended. So the resourceful Burmese hewed closely to the overall design, but incorporated both traditional and modern building techniques. Concrete was used extensively for the buildings, and corrugated tin and lower quality wood used for the roofs. The result is pretty impressive.
The Queen’s rooms at Mandalay Palace. There were up to 4 queens, with one Chief Queen.
The Golden Palace
Shwenandaw Monastery, also known and the Golden Palace Monastery, is a big attraction in Mandalay. Built in 1878, this hand-carved wood and gilt masterpiece was originally part of the royal palace at Amarapura, before it was moved to Mandalay.
Detail of Shwenandaw Monastery. All wood and carved by hand.
The golden Buddha inside the Shwenandaw Monastery. The entire interior is covered in gold.
Interior of Shwenandaw Monastery
Mandalay Hill
View of Mandalay from the temple at the top of Mandalay Hill
The city got its name from Mandalay Hill, which overlooks the town, and is considered an important religious and historic site.
Mandalay Hill is known for its large number of pagodas and monasteries, and is a major pilgrimage site for Burmese Buddhists. The road that goes to the top of the hill is commonly walked, but we made the trip in the back of a covered truck- which was a little easier on the joints.
Many of the pagodas and temples were covered in mirrored mosaics, a common technique in this part of the country. The result is stunning.
Detail of column at the temple on top of Mandalay Hill
Mirrored mosaics are a common decoration at the temples on Mandalay Hill
Handcrafts
Inside the wood carvers workshop in Mandalay
Mandalay is also home to a number of workshops producing handcrafted art and textiles. You don’t realize just how much work goes into something until you see it being done. The delicate work takes years of practice and they start at a young age.
We were able to tour a wood carving shop, a marble carving shop, and a textile and clothing maker. The range of skills was incredible to witness, especially as there was no automation and most everything was created with hand tools.
Both men and women worked in the shops, with the men handling more of the carving and the women doing more of the finishing. The exception was the textile shop, which was mainly women working the looms.
Weavers hard at work on a custom piece of fabric.
Longyi
At the textile workshop, we all bought longyi, a long tube of fabric that is tied around the waist. Longyi date from colonial times, and are updates of the traditional paso for men and the htamein for women. The main difference is the amount of fabric- the traditional paso could be made of up to 30 feet of fabric- the more fabric, the higher the social status. The more modern htamein also has less fabric, and is shorter than the traditional, which had something of a train. Though worn by both sexes, the way longyis are worn varies, and there are different patterns for men and women.
The weaver that we visited specialized in clothing for special occasions, like weddings and celebrations. Most of the fabric was custom made, and could take several months to complete. They sold “western” longyi at the shop (basically a long wrap skirt), but if you wanted something more traditional, they’d whip one up for you in minutes from your choice of handmade fabrics. I got one with orchids embroidered on it because I just couldn’t resist.
U Bein Bridge
Later in the day, we drove out to Taungthaman Lake near Amarapura to see the U Bein Bridge. Built in 1850, U Bein Bridge is thought to be the longest and oldest teakwood bridge in existence, and is quite the popular place to see the sunset or sunrise. The bridge was constructed of reclaimed wood from the former palace in Inwa, which was abandoned when the Ava Kingdom relocated to Amapura. It is an important passageway for the locals, especially during monsoon season. It’s also a popular place for tourists and throng of souvenir sellers.
Waiting for the sunset under the U Bein bridge
We arrived a bit early for sunset, so we drank beer at a beer station on the lakefront, and watched some chinlone, or cane ball. Apparently, it’s set to become a new Olympic sport.
The lake was very low, since we were there at the beginning of the hot season, and had canoe-like boats pushed up on the shore. Since it was blazing hot, not many folks were out on the water, but that changed as the sun started to go down. We loaded into canoes for a cruise out onto the water in anticipation of the sunset.
Sun setting at the U Bein bridge.
Big red sun through the U Bein bridge
There’s a good reason this place is so popular. The sunset views are amazing.
You can see a huge portion of the city in one day, but Mandalay really requires more time to see properly. I would go back in a minute to get a more in depth look at the last Imperial city.