Mandalay was my least favourite place in Myanmar but to be fair we didn’t spend much time there. In fact, we were only there in transit on our way to Bagan. And that was after a gruelling 18-hour train ride during which I had that terrible affliction with my bowels.
We alighted at the Mandalay railway station at 11:00am hoping to grab a taxi for a half day tour before our flight to Bagan which was at 5:00pm. People at the railway station were not fluent in English and it was hard to make ourselves understood. We crossed the road to a travel agency and they quoted us 35,000 kyat for a half day tour ending up with a trip to the airport. We decided to try the nearest hotel, Pacific Hotel right across the station instead and they quoted us 30,000 kyat for the same thing.
The highlights of our short bout in Mandalay were visiting Mahamuni pagoda, the Royal Palace and U-Bein bridge.
I hear from travellers that Mandalay is in fact terribly underrated. Apparently the food is excellent, the place is less pricey than elsewhere in Myanmar and there is a lot more to discover. Looking back now, I definitely didn’t give Mandalay a fair chance. Well, I hope I get to spend more time there in the future.
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