Highly recommend Bangkok Airways (after one flight!). Excellent. Thought getting into the country was going to be a bit more stringent from what I had read. But a relatively 'pleasant' experience really. Been in Mandalay 2 days now so will take it a day at a time. Hired a taxi for the day on day one and did some of the usual stuff in these parts. Mandalay Hill is a hike for maybe half an hour or so, barefoot, up a covered stairway, which passes a number of shrines, to a viewpoint at the top. It can't be much more than 300 metres high, nonetheless good panoramas across Mandalay's landscape. Flat as a pancake! And if you've ever wondered about the worlds largest book, I can tell you it's set in stone and situated at the foot of Mandalay Hill! Then a couple of the major temples, the highlight of which was Shwe in Bin Kyaung, a beautifully carved teak monastery. Lastly, to Amarapura, a short lived former capital city, famous for U Beins Bridge, the longest teak bridge in the world!! All day I was wondering where all the tourists in Mandalay were. Well they were here! You could hardly move on the bridge itself for sheer number of bodies! But a good experience that I wouldn't have missed. I like it here. I know I've only been here 2 days, but there just seems to be something more authentic about it than Thailand.
First picture is the entrance to Mandalay hill, then a couple from prayer points on the way up, and lastly yours truly at the top!
G x
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