About 700 km north of Yangon, Mandalay is the second largest city in Myanmar. Renowned for its mysterious natural scenery and unique culture, Mandalay is also the center of Buddhism that preserves the original beauty of this religion. If your favorite is mysterious beauty and pristine nature, Mandalay would be one of the ideal options for your journey in this summer. Here we will show you 10 fascinating things to do in Mandalay for a wonderful Myanmar journey.
1. Hire a bike and explore Mandalay
Bicycles are available everywhere in this beautiful city with very cheap rents. Before you hire, you need to be sure that your bike is still good, so you can be assured of no damage along the way and completely safe for the day trip. Thanks to the traffic in the city which is quite convenient and airy, there are many interesting attractions of Mandalay that you can easily visit by bike. More importantly, visiting Mandalay with a bike will give you an enjoyable experience which is more worthwhile than visiting a famous place.
2. Visit a gold leaf production workshop
One of the most unique features of Myanmar can impress both the tourists in the region and internationally is the popularity of gold. Not just a material used in jewelry design, gold in Myanmar, especially Mandalay, plays a very important role. The people here are using gold to decorate the statues of Buddha, the background of the temples. Moreover, many of Myanmar’s wealthy families also often use gold for the ceiling or furniture. Besides, Burmese do not have the habit of depositing money into banks for preservation and storage. Instead, they often go to buy gold and worship the Buddha. It is therefore easy to understand why the gold leaf production is growing here.
Coming to Mandalay, it would be flawed if you did not visit some of the gold production sites. Among them, the King Galon is one of the oldest and most famous gold leaf production workshops in Mandalay. When you visit here, you will be watching the process of making gold leaf. The employees at King Galon are very cheerful and enthusiastic, so do not hesitate to ask them to try this unique process. You can also try to use a hammer to knock up the gold package. However, it is recommended that this is not an easy work. However, this experience is completely free and extremely enjoyable.
3. Visit the stone sculpture workshop
Besides the gold leaf workshops, Mandalay also owns many other traditional workshops. One of the most famous of these is stone sculpture. To visit this unique industry, you can visit the Sagaing area. The entire sculpture workshop here seems to be covered with fine dust from the marble. On the streets, you can easily see the artisans polishing their sculptures. Surprisingly, you will see very skilled workers as no one uses a sketch. The Buddha statues, miniature architectural models made extremely delicate under the skillful hands of the craftsman Mandalay are excellent artwork that can steal the hearts of both domestic and international visitors.
4. Visit Maha Muni Temple.
Mahamuni Buddha Temple is located southwest of Mandalay – the city considered as the cultural center of Myanmar. It is a famous Buddhist temple and the most important pilgrimage site for Buddhists in Myanmar. Maha Muni is the most sacred temple of Mandalay.
It is second only to Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon in terms of its popularity. The temple is very large and beautiful, with many doors and corridors leading into the main area. You will be impressed with the large gold-plated Buddha statue, which is especially the area that only allows men to come in. Get inside and you will feel the sacred atmosphere, as well as the cult of the people with their faith. Mahamuni Temple is a place where you can take part in peaceful prayer or admire the delegations of the monks who are begging. In addition, another interesting thing to do in Mandalay has experienced the traditional Buddhist wash ceremony. This is a very unique traditional activity that takes place daily at Mahamuni Shrine.
Some tips for visiting Maha Muni are:
– Mahamuni Temple is located between 82 Street and 84 Street in Mandalay City. The easiest and fastest way to get to the temple is to take a taxi or rickshaw (tricycle) for $ 2 – $ 3 from the center.
– Weather in Mandalay has a rainy season and a dry season, so the best time to visit the Mandalay Palace is on the dry season between November and February.
– You should spend at least 1 hour to 3 hours or half a day to visit the Mahamuni Shrine and visit the famous tourist attractions in the vicinity.
5. Relax at Shwenandaw Monastery.
Situated right on the road linking Atumashi Monastery and Mandalay Buddhist University (formerly the symbol of Mandalay, Myanmar), Shwenandaw Abbey is an ideal place to relax after biking and strolling through areas of Mandalay.
Being a historic monastery located near Mandalay Hill, in the Maha Aung Mye district of Dawna, the ancient symbol of Mandalay, Shwenandaw was built in the 19th century by King Mindon (1853-1878). This is a royal gold monastery, famous at home and abroad not only for its traditional architecture and teak carvings but also as a splendid imprint of the past.
The carvings outside the monastery on corridors, balustrade and other wooden items are highly valued in art and sophistication, reminiscent of a glorious era of old royal palaces. Decorative lines on the outline of the roof look like the image of a fire, made of elaborate carvings of many creatures and birds, highlighted in the corner of the roof. A large teak corridor runs around the main hall and made from “art” wood panels with marble sculptures on every wooden pole. Moreover, the entrance to the monastery and the entrance to the monastery hall are of wood, decorated with embossed wooden motifs, very soft and attractive.
Inside the monastery, there are many areas that have been gilded and protected by glass mosaics. The large pillars of teak wood, of course, the mural, ceiling paintings, foot curves, decorative lines roof, are elaborately decorated. However, unlike the splendid and enchanting exterior, the interior of the monastery today is quite simple, rustic in a dark and quiet space. There are a series of 10 paintings that tell of the life of Lord Buddha who is in very good condition. Take a walk on the small paths in the monastery, admire the ancient architecture and harmonize in the peaceful atmosphere here are wonderful things to do in Mandalay.
6. Enjoy the street food of Mandalay
The interesting point of exploring Mandalay on a bike is that you can stop wherever you like. And the constant stop to enjoy the delicious street food is one of the most fascinating things to do in Mandalay. One of the best things about Myanmar cuisine is that after enjoying the food, you will be served a free tea and Mandalay’s mouth-watering dishes that will make you unforgettable during your trip.
In Mandalay, the most famous Burmese breakfast place is Shwe Pyi Moe Tea Shop. Come here, you can enjoy Mont Di or Shan noodle – 2 of the famous breakfasts not to be missed in Mandalay. And after a bike ride, you can stop at Shwe Shan to enjoy your lunch. This is a buffet restaurant where you can choose your favorite dishes among dozens of colorful food plates. Enjoy grilled skewers and lemon fish here are also two spicy things to do in Mandalay.
7. Explore the Amarapura and U Bein bridge.
Amarapura was old capital of Myanmar. Today, this ancient capital is famous for Maha Gandhayon Kyaung, its silk products, and U Bein Bridge. Among them, the most famous is U Bein – the longest teak bridge in the world.
The bridge is located in the Mandalay suburb of Myanmar, 11.9 km south of the Mandalay central bus station. U Bein Bridge is about 1200 meters long, lying across the Taungthaman Lake. According to people, the bridge was built from the woods taken from the palace in Amarapura, when King Mindon decided to move the capital to Mandalay in 1857.
The attraction of the bridge is not simple in its structure, but also by the scenery every day here. The best time to admire wonderful scenery here is sunset, as the sun sinks down the hill, the shadow of ancient trees and the farm plants are printed on the water. At this time, you can admire spectacular images with a fresh green background. You can also sit on a boat to admire the magnificent sunset scenery. If you can not watch the sunset, you can also admire the beautiful sunrise scenery here.
8. Admire the scenery from Sagaing Hill
Being an area outside of Mandalay, Sagaing is really famous for its Hill, one of the main Buddhist centers in Myanmar with over 600 monasteries and towers, as well as 6,000 monks and nuns. On the way to the top of the hill, you have to pass many small stupas and also take quite some time. However, when up to where you will take a great view down below. This is a great opportunity to see the panorama of Sagaing with picturesque natural scenery surroundings and ancient monuments, mysterious temples.
9. Sail to Inwa.
Inwa, along with Amarapura and Sagaing are Myanmar’s three oldest cities, with Inwa located just off Mandalay. You have to sail from the banks of the Ayeyarwady River to get there. The road from the river to go in is quite difficult, so most tourists travel by carriage. This landscape, like most other ancient cities of Myanmar, attracts tourists from all over the world by thousands of majestic temples, the unique architecture and magnificent scenery here.
10. Visiting Mingun Ancient Village
Mingun is about 11km from Mandalay. You can get there by road but most tourists travel by river. Mingun daily ferry ride, departing 8h30 and return at 13h with ticket price 4,500 kyat/person (about 2 USD). If you want more freedom on time, you can rent a private ferry for about $ 30. This impressive tourist destination is one of the most popular places which international tourists to Mandalay should not miss because of its important historical sites, most notably the Mingun Pahtodawgyi ruins which were built by red brick and would be the largest brick Buddhist architecture in the world with a planned height of 150m if completed. It was started building in 1790-1797 under King Bodawpaya, but due to economic weakness, this architecture was halted and was permanently abandoned after the death of King Bodawpaya in 1813.
Analysis the information, you can choose towards the end of your exploration and decide what are the most interesting things to do in Mandalay for your Myanmar journey this summer. I bet that you can have many fond memories here since Mandalay has been a well-known destination in Myanmar for its distinctive and rich culture. Wish you a wonderful holiday, full of joy and unforgettable memories in Mandalay.
