Travel Guides > Myanmar > Mandalay Travel Guide
Ahh Mandalay, surely one of the most evocative destination names in the world (up there with Zanzibar and Timbuktu). Rudyard Kipling may have had something to do with that with his poem (On the road to) Mandalay. For our generation, being in the middle of a land that had been under an economic embargo, Mandalay still sounds like it’s from a far away and exotic land, in an era when lands are aren’t as far away any more.
Those who have been will soon tell you that the romance of the name doesn’t match the reality on the ground. Much of the city was destroyed in World War II, and todays Mandalay is built in the cheap Chinese concrete style. There is a palace in the centre of the city, and before I arrived the map kind of reminded me of Chiang Mai, giving me the impression it might be a lovely place to stroll around. The Mandalay Palace you see today is a post war facsimile and houses military personnel, so I just admired the view of these trees along the long stretch of moat the surrounds the palace instead.
Accommodation
Mandalay hotels – Search for discount hotels in Mandalay with lowest rates guaranteed.
Travel Guides
Mandalay Travel Guide – wikitravel.org.
Blog Posts
Heading North – 10 things to do in Mandalay – escapology.eu.
Tours
Mandalay Tours – Tours and things to do selected by Viator.
Guide Books
Mandalay and Other Cities of the Past in Burma – By V. C. Scott Oconner.
Mandalay Map: Gateway to Myanmar (Burma) Map – By Caroline Courtauld.
Photos
At 1.2 km long U Bein Bridge is the longest teak bridge in the world. The bridge crosses over a shallow lake at Amarapura (now a suburb of Mandalay), which was the former capital of Burma.
Most guides recommend coming out in the evening to catch the bridge at sunset. I was leaving that day so I made do with a morning visit. The bridge was streaming with school kids making their daily crossing, and whenever you have a big camera hanging around your neck there are always requests for photos.
Mandalay Photo Gallery – Photo gallery of my trip to Mandalay.
Stunning photo. Great reflections.
You’re right, Mandalay is an intriguing name!
I KNOW Kipling didn’t go there. I KNOW the city is nothing special – but I still need to go there! There is just something about the name!
Agreed! I was warned it wasn’t the prettiest city in the world, but I
really need to see such places for myself before making judgement. So,
you have to go 😉
The first place I went to was Mandalay since the government was clever enough to build a new highway from Yangon, how else can you convince people to head up there? Of all the places I visited in and around Mandalay, U Bein Bridge in Amarapura was the only worth while part. I skipped the Palace, thankfully there is a $10 entry fee. If the people were not so friendly the trip would have been worthless.