ALFREDO & NOËMI on the road: Mandalay

After two very relaxing weeks in Hua Hin we hit the road again! We decide to travel to Myanmar :-) So we fly from Bangkok to Mandalay... Already at the airport we experience how helpful Burmese people are - we get a free ride into Mandalay from some very friendly people (it's more than 30km...). And also at night we have a great first dinner in the streets of Mandalay - what a warm welcome!

Here some first daylight impressions...

Walking the streets of Mandalay we meet a nice taxi-driver who offers a great tour to see the highlights of Mandalay. So the next 2 days are "full program" days :-) First we see how tiny leaves of gold are made. Buddhist use these to "put" them on a golden Buddha statue at Temple Mahamuni...

Later we visit a factory that focuses on handicraft...

Next is Mahamuni Temple, one of the most known temples in Mandalay.

This is the golden Buddha were Buddhist can put gold leaves on - only men are allowed inside...

Shwe Inn Bin Monastery

Ku Tho Daw Pagoda

For sunset we climb up Mandalay Hill - a lot of stairs in front of us!

We are rewarded by some amazing views of the city and surroundings...

The next day we drive to Amarapura with its famous U Bain Bridge made out of wood...

We then go to the Mahagandaryom Monastery where at 10.15 a.m. monks line up for breakfast - well actually it's their lunch already since they wake up at 4 a.m. every morning. We are approached by a monk of the monastery that is a teacher and we can ask all the questions we've always wanted to ask a monk :-) He even gives us a short introductory meditation lesson - very interesting!