Mingalaba!

That's Burmese for Good Morning! Good Afternoon!, and Good Evening!

Oof, my brain...where to begin.

To be honest, I probably could have done without Mandalay. There's trash everywhere and it's filled with noise and air pollution. The glares and stares on the streets of Mandalay were similar to what we got in Yangon, and for some reason I only felt truly welcome in Bagan (with the exception at hotels and restaurants). Big Buddha must not have been very happy with me because we encountered a bit of misfortune! haha

But first, a picture of our hotel room, because the design is just ridiculous...

We arrived on Sunday night and walked about a half a mile to a local restaurant where we had to wait for the power to turn back on before they could start cooking our meal. This seemed like it might be a regular occurrence.

Dinner though was tasty and we enjoyed people watching in the streets below. Children playing and having fun without toys or iPads...how it should be!
Monday was our first full day in Mandalay and we did a whole lot of nothing. We went to a (Westernized) coffee shop to escape the sun and humidity and research our next few days. But of course, not without dodging motorbikes and the cracks, er, holes in the sidewalks on the way there.

On the walk home we stumbled upon a local bakery and decided to stop in for some drinks. What we weren't expecting were free samples of fresh, tasty, and unique breads and dry cakes. However everyone working there pointed and looked at us with such curiosity and oddity, and understood little to no English. But we managed to take home a pound of a delicious coffee cake- like dessert, with crushed cashew nuts and some other ingredients I couldn't even tell you.

Later that night we dined at Mingalabar Restaurant where we over indulged and feasted for about $13. Actually, it's not our fault they provided (and failed to mention) complementary soup, appetizers and dessert for their guests, in addition to the appetizers and main dishes we already ordered.

Tuesday we had a "Mandalay Cultural Heritage" tour scheduled with a private driver and guide. But it rained all morning with continuous showers throughout the day (go figure, it didn't rain on the two other days we were in Mandalay), which was kind of a bummer. Our guide Phyo PaPa was great, super friendly and informative, and answered any questions we had.

The first stop was a gold leaf making factory where we got to see the traditional gold leaf process by skillful labor. The leafing which is 24k gold, is used on temples and other figures. Next stop was a marble workshop, followed by a woodcarving and embroidery shop, and finally a local mall. There was lot of young talent at these workshops, but unfortunately that meant they didn't have much schooling/education.

Hammering the gold

Sorting the leafs

Really awesome woodcarving.

At the embroidery shop

Loved all the colors of these textiles at the mall

Before lunch we stopped at The Mahamuni Pagoda which houses the Mahamuni Buddha, the most highly revered Buddha image in Myanmar.  Only men are allowed to enter where the Buddha is seated and apply gold leaf to the image, which has distorted the shape over time.

We went to a local spot and had another filling Burmese lunch with PaPa and then strolled through The Royal Palace. It is surrounded by a moat and the last royal palace of the last Burmese monarchy.

Next up was the Shwenandaw Monastery or The Golden Monastery, which was the single remaining original structure of the original Royal Palace. The outside sort of looked like something out of a Tim Burton movie!

And I've only had to squat twice on this trip so far (just thought you should know...)

Oh and don't mind me, I'm just over here taking pictures of all the poor stray dogs I want to clean up and adopt. 😭

Our second to last stop was at Kuthodaw Pagoda. Here, housed in the middle of a thirteen acre field are 729 pitaka pagodas or shrines. Each shrine contains a marble slab (which I somehow failed to photograph), inscribed on both sides with the Pali script text of a portion of the Tipitaka Theravada, the sacred texts of Buddhism. Taken together they container the entire text of the Tipitaka and thus form, "The World's Largest Book". 

And if you've made it this far, our last stop was to Mandalay Hill, a major pilgrimage site for Burmese Buddhists with an awesome panoramic view of Mandalay from the top. Also on Mandalay Hill was the beautiful mosaic designed and colorful Su Taung Pyi Pagoda, which means "the wish fulfilling pagoda."

But I'm not quite sure what wishes were answered that day because as we nearly ended the tour, I slipped on the wet marble floor (no shoes are allowed in temples so I was barefoot) and fell and hit my head. Apparently I was unconscious on the ground for a few minutes, my body contorted and my eyes moving back and forth in a haze (later relayed from a very scared Kiel). The next thing I knew I was sitting in a chair, terrified and crying as I had no idea where I was or how I had gotten there. Luckily I recognized Kiel, and slowly started to come to.

Our guide, PaPa called her driver and he met us at the bottom of the hill. I don't have any recollection of getting into the car or the drive down, but I remember some of the conversation on the way to the hospital. During the drive I started to remember things like what we did earlier that day and the day before, and recited in my head all of my basic information, names, places, etc. just to make sure I didn't completely lose my memory!

PaPa worked her magic somehow and got us in and out of that clinic in no time, despite the awful crowds and waiting room. Since I passed the physical and mental "tests", there was no need for a CT scan and I was discharged with a bunch of meds I didn't need or use (for one, Xanax?!).

I am so thankful to have had Kiel and PaPa by my side that day and to only have suffered a minor concussion and some bruises. Of course I was disappointed by the turn of events - we had to cancel our train adventure planned for the next day (we were set to trek across the highest bridge in Myanmar and largest railway trestle in the world), and I've had to limit my physical activity. But the streets of Mandalay were overly stimulating as is, and it was only heightened with a concussion so I was OK with staying in bed as much as possible.

Thursday was our quick (and thankfully painless) one hour and thirty minute flight to Thailand, and now here we are in Chiang Mai. We're laying pretty low until this weekend where we will be experiencing something I (and who we will be hanging out with), will hopefully never forget🐘 . Stay tuned! 😉

Photo taken right before I fell.

PaPa and her manager, who was kind enough to meet us at the hospital.