Mandalay

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Mandalay

"For the wind is in the palm-trees and the temple-bells they say;

Come you back you Bristish soldiers, come you back to Mandalay !" -

Rudyard Kipling

The Road to Mandalay 1887

MANDALAY

Mandalay Hill & Lake

Mandalay - the capital of Upper Burma is a young barely more than a century old, but its lyrical name ignites images as ancient as the languid Irrawaddy river flowing past the city. Sprawling across the dry plains of the upper Irrawaddy rice-growing district, Mandalay with a population of about 700,000 is dusty and often quite a hot city, lacking the tree-lined neatness and colonial character of Yangon (Rangoon).

Trishaws, pony carts and bicycles are more numerous than motorized vehicles which more often than not are World War 2 vintage Jeeps, trucks and buses. To the Burmese people however this is Mandalay which is regarded as the centre of Burmese culture and Buddhist learning.

Mandalay was founded in 1857 by King Mindon to coincide with an ancient Buddhist prophecy. But the dream of Mandalay was short lived - on November 29, 1885 King Thibaw handed the town over to British General Prendergast and went into exile with his queen. Mandalay became just another outpost of British Colonialism.

Burmese (vintage) Bus

Mandalay Moat

Taking a natural bath in Mandalay

You should start your visit to Mandalay by climbing the famous Mandalay Hill which rises 236 meters (774 feet) above the surrounding countryside. British and Indian troops suffered heavy casualties here in March 1945, storming the Japanese stronghold which controlled the plains around Mandalay. Today there is only the regimental insignia remaining near the hill's summit.

Tonga's (Jet Carts) in Mandalay

Reclining Buddha

Monk Offerings

Beauty Contest

Market Centre of the North

The city of Mandalay is not only the religious and cultural centre of Upper Burma, it is also the economic centre. For the Chins of the West, the Kachins of the North and the Shans of the East, Mandalay is the primary market for goods. The Zegyo Market located on the west side of the city centre on 84th Street between 26th and 28th roads is Mandalay's most important bazaar. The market becomes especially active in the evening hours, then the so-called night market is set up along 84th Street with goods illegally smuggled across the border from Thailand being offered for sale under the carbide lamps of makeshift stalls. For a few hours the streets are filled with shoppers as the flavor of an Eastern Bazaar is combined with the 'gray market' availability of Western consumer goods.