The road to Mandalay

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Taking breakfast on the balcony early in the morning (6am) is a fantastic experience. Watching the boats and the people on the canal is the perfect start for a great day in Nyaungshwe.

On the second day we did the usual Inle Lake boat trip (7000 kyat for the boat). The lake is surrounded by mountains whose slopes are dotted with pagodas. Our first stop was the floating market of Ywama, pretty much a tourist trap, but nice to look and the village is very attractive. The second stop and highlight of the day was the visit to Indein, a village that can be reached from the lake via a canal in half an hour. It is the site of hundreds of ancient, unrestored stupas. A very atmospheric place; from a hilltop nearby there are wonderful views over the site and the surroundings. After a tasty lunch (grilled fish, 1200kyat) in a restaurant near Phaung Daw U Pagoda, we visited the floating gardens where the locals plant vegetables on the lake. Then we stopped at the 'Jumping Cat Monastery', where monks taught the cats to jump through rings, an event which ecstasied locals and tourists alike, which I really could not understand. The excursion ended with a swim in the shallow but pleasantly cool lake.

After a comfortable 7-hour night bus ride we arrived relaxed in Mandalay at 5am. At 9 we took the boat to Mingun (1000kyat). Mingun is a relatively touristy place, a 45-minute boat trip on the Irrawaddy River from Mandalay. The unfinished Mingun Paya is quite impressive and from the top of the pagoda there are great views over the river. Back in Mandalay we took a rickshaw to Mandalay Hill to watch the sunset. The day ended with a nice meal on the lively night market

In the morning, we visited the beautiful wooden Shwe In Be Monastery in one of Mandalay's quiet and quaint neighborhoods. From there we took a trishaw to Mahamuni Pagoda where we were fortunate enough to be allowed to put gold leaves on Burma´s holiest Buddha statue. Then we took a pick-up to Amanapura (100kyat) where we spent the afternoon. The highlight of this former royal city is U-Bein bridge, the longest teak construction in the world. On the other side of the 1.2km long bridge is a traditional Burmese village, a very friendly and quaint place with adorable locals. We took our time and explored the back streets, most tourists don't bother and turn around after reaching the village. A big mistake! Crossing U-Bein bridge during sunset was the most magical moment of the entire trip

On the day of our arrival, we took a nice walk to a beautiful cave temple with its numerous Buddha statues, called Shwe U Min. Opposite the cave we visited a monastery where we had a smoke with two friendly monks. A very nice excursion!

On the next day we did a guided day trek to a Palaung village (6h, 5000kyat per person). The hilly surroundings of Kalaw are quite nice and we passed vegetable fields and tea plantations. In the hill tribe village we took a break and had some tea and bananas in a traditional longhouse. On our way back we had tasty Nepali pumpkin curry in a beautifully located viewpoint restaurant.

The falls are not easy to reach, however. First, we had to take a jeep (100kyat) to the village of Anisakan, from there it is about a 20-minute walk on a paved road to the starting point of the steep trail down into the gorge (about one hour), and we had to take the same way back uphill, of course. But the falls are absolutely worth the effort!

Excursions out of Pyay – Our excursion to Shwedaung was purely accidental. We wanted to go to the ancient Pyu kingdom, but boarded the wrong pick-up. Since we could not make ourselves understood, the conductor assumed that we wanted to visit Shwedaung. When we realised the misunderstanding we were already in Shwedaung (20 minutes from Pyay). But we did not regret going there, not only was it an interesting experience to visit a typical Burmese village where few Westerners ever end up in, there is even a very significant sight in the village – the only Buddha statue in the world with glasses! The glasses are made of massive gold, 2m long with a weight of 10kg.

Back in Pyay we had to charter a pick-up to take us to the headquarters of this archaeological site (4000kyat return, incl. waiting time). There we organised a bullock cart (1500kyat, 3h) to take us to the several pagodas that stand scattered in a pretty large area. The pre-Bagan period pagodas of the Pyu Kingdom are really ugly, but nevertheless impressive. Some of them are 1500 years old and really massive. Getting around on the bullock-cart was hard work. We sat on a pile of hay, constantly swallowing dust and the sun burnt mercilessly on our heads at 40°C in the shadow.