Myanmar: The Road to Mandalay
We arrived in Mandalay by plane, but it was a long highway from the airport before seeing the “Welcome to Mandalay” sign. The drive to our hotel at the foot of the Mandalay Hill continued for at least an hour due to traffic. It seemed like a boring town at first, bustling with commerce. It was not until approaching Mandalay Hill where the images of a romantic, bygone era came into view with the Royal Palace and impressive moat. The road to Mandalay leads to popular tourist destinations: Mingun to the west, Amarapura to the south and Pyin Oo Lwin to the east. Our next day was dedicated to seeing the famous temples and pagodas in Mingun. Mingun Mingun has two main attractions: the Pahtodawgyi Temple and Hsinphyumae Pagoda. The Pahtodawgyi is a humungous stupa that should have become the largest stupa in the world with a height of 150 meters. Constructions of the stupa were started in 1790 by King Bodawpaya and was stopped due to the astrologer’s prediction that once the stupa was...