Movies and Hiking in Mandalay: Our Final Myanmar Stop

I am embarrassingly late in writing this last Myanmar post considering that Matt and I have already been in Thailand for a few days now! Perhaps I dragged my feet on this entry because we had a fairly mediocre experience in Mandalay, the final city we visited in Myanmar. Mandalay is Myanmar’s second-largest city and was its last royal capital, located in the center of the country. Despite its inclusion on most tourist itineraries, the Lonely Planet guidebook acknowledges that the city lacks the noteworthy architecture, interesting museums, or preserved historic sites of other destinations in Myanmar. Two major fires swept through Mandalay in the 1980s, destroying over 6,000 buildings and leaving 23,000 people homeless. The city also suffers from traffic and pollution issues, making it quiet unpleasant to explore on foot. An interesting aspect of Mandalay’s cultural diversity, however, is that it hosts a significant Yunnan Chinese immigrant population due to increased commercial activity with neighboring China. Matt noticed people speaking Chinese more frequently and the language was used in signage regularly around the city—more than anywhere else we traveled to so far.

We took an overnight bus from Inle Lake to Mandalay, and though I slept relatively well, Matt struggled during the journey and stayed awake (and nauseous!) almost the whole time. We weren’t able to check into our Mandalay hotel upon arrival, so we slept fitfully on the hotel lobby couches until sunrise and then napped for a few hours after we finally gained access to our room. Groggy from the on-and-off sleep schedule, we had difficulty finding a functional ATM and a sanitary place to eat, walking for two sweaty miles in search of cash access and a hearty meal. The restaurant scene in Mandalay leaves much to be desired, and we though Googled intensely and consulted our guidebook, we couldn’t find an appealing place to eat. We settled on a Burmese restaurant that was air-conditioned but smelled foul. Disheartened, we decided to give up on further adventuring for the day and treated ourselves to a surprisingly charming Thai rom-com called “Friend Zone” at the local cinema. The English-subtitled movie featured an entirely Thai cast with the main characters traveling all around southeast Asia as the plot moved along. They visited Cambodia, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Myanmar including scenes at Yangon’s Shwedagon Pagoda. Our theater was filled with Burmese viewers who were very excited about this part! The movie was a fun and uplifting end to the day before Matt and I took a cab home and ate delivery Thai food in our hotel room, falling asleep early.

We rose early to beat the heat and headed to Mandalay Hill, a 790-foot hill with steep steps to the top that houses many Buddhist temples, pagodas, and small markets. The top attraction in Mandalay, the hill offers unbeatable views of the city as well as surrounding lakes and foliage. We made the hike—barefoot, as required by all religious sites in Myanmar—stopping for photos and FaceTiming with my brother, Russell, on our way up. The climb was tough but worthwhile, taking us about an hour to reach the summit. From Sutaungpyei Pagoda at the top of the hill, the views were impressive—though fog somewhat obstructed our ability to see as far as we would have been able to on a clearer day.

At the base of Mandalay Hill, which is guarded by two big Lion statues.

Stopping at one of the shrines on the way up Mandalay Hill.

Resting and enjoying the views at the summit.

 After our descent, we showered and checked out of our hotel room, spent a couple of hours at a coffee shop, and returned to the movie theater to catch the opening-day showing of Captain Marvel, the most recent superhero movie to hit theaters. The action flick with its female lead was very enjoyable, and there were a few funny aspects of the cinema experience to note. First, we all rose for the Myanmar national anthem before the movie began (as in India) while the image of a huge Burmese flag was projected onto the screen in front of us. Also, though Marvel movies typically show a sneak preview of the next film after the credits roll, this theater decided to skip the credits and treat viewers to the sneak preview without them having to wait. This would probably be illegal in the US, but the theater didn’t seem concerned about it!

After the movie we rushed to see the U Bein Bridge at sunset, the oldest and once longest teak bridge in the world. It spans .75 miles and has become a tourist attraction, however traffic and our driver refusing to use GPS (and not knowing how to get there) resulted in us arriving after dark. We attempted to walk across, but the flimsy wooden slats and lack of handrails made the experience a bit frightening in the dark. I was pretty disappointed and frustrated by the whole attempt, and the bridge seemed highly overrated in my view (and Matt’s). Ten minutes after we arrived, we found ourselves calling a cab and heading to the bus station, where yet another overnight bus trip would take us to Yangon for our flight to Thailand. We skipped dinner for lack of restaurant options and enthusiasm for walking around at night to find food, boarded our bus, and made the 10-hour trip south. After a tiring couple of days and with the help of chewable sleeping tablets, we both rested relatively well on the bus ride this time around.

The only picture we have from the underwhelming U Bein Bridge.

I know this post wasn’t the most uplifting, but I can’t overstate how much we loved our trip to Myanmar on the whole. It was a wonderful two weeks—we especially enjoyed Yangon, Bagan, and our memorable three-day trek through the countryside. I should mention that I have updated the Photos page with a link to our 200+ Myanmar pictures. I have also updated the Itinerary page with maps and dates. Take a look if you are interested.

Next up, Thailand!