Day 133 Mandalay 17 June 2012

Our guide surprised Ana this morning on our way to the airport with a birthday gift: a painting of Myanmar’s version of Romeo and Juliet. After our flight we were welcomed to Mandalay by a new guide and continued to Mandalay’s most famous Buddha image. Since only men were allowed (according to our guide this might change within 5 years) to visit the actual statue, Martijn climbed up and was handed some gold paper by a friendly worshipper to press on the Buddha.

The Buddha image has grown significantly over the years.

Even though Ana said she was no lady she was not allowed in.

After a visit to a gold paper factory and a very hot monastery we had some lunch at a tourist restaurant.
After check-in at our hotel we continued to the Mandalay palace, according to the Lonely Planet built by forced labor. According to our passionate guide this was not the case, he knew some of the people involved. However this brought up a story of him earlier in life needing to perform forced labor- it made a deep impression on us. If one thing was clear during our total visit to Myanmar is that although things are moving in the right direction, much is still required in reforms. Since 40 percent of the population are linked to the army and the rest of the country fears and hates them, this only shows some of the trouble that needs to be overcome.

Our next stop was at the the biggest book in the world, as it consists of many  plaques spread out over a huge pagoda complex.

Our visit today ended at Mandalay hill where we enjoyed a nice view over the city at sunset.

Following the advice of our guide we headed to a barbecue restaurant for some more adventurous but delicious eating.