The Mandalay Palace grounds were only mildly impressive. Unfortunately, during the war all of the original structures had been burnt down and so the buildings on display were mere replicas of those from earlier times. Furthermore, while beautiful in architectural style, all of the buildings were also empty - with many of the Mandalay Palace treasures being housed in the National Museum in the southern city of Yangon. On top of that, there were many areas within the Palace grounds that were off limits to foreigners - including the supposed tomb/burial place of one particular Burmese king. Nevertheless, we took a lot of pictures and sat around talking and soaking up the atmosphere. It was strange to see so many tourists, and armed guards around!
View of Mandalay Palace from the watchtower
Next up we stopped at a few temples - the names of which I cannot be sure of - and then decided to find a place to eat lunch. We ended up at a Chinese restaurant where the staff encouraged us to choose our own ingredients from a servery before they stir-fried it all up and brought it to our table. We shared a beer and a few large bottles of water to combat the heat and then took off again, this time in search of the Mandalay Zoo.
The zoo was depressing. We saw animals in tiny cages within cages, people feeding the captive birds cheese puffs, disease-stricken rabbits begging for scraps and shackled elephants swaying back and forth under a large concrete cabana. It was the saddest zoo I had ever seen and truthfully (ice-creams aside) it really put a dampener on the day.
By this time it was late afternoon so the four of us hopped back on the bikes and headed to Mandalay Hill, intent on climbing the 700+ stairs to take in the city view at sunset. Just before entering we decided to buy some betel (my first time) and the four of us spent the first few flights of stairs chewing the leaves and spitting the red juice rather unceremoniously over the edges. It was here that we were befriended by a young monk called Sitkonaing, who patiently walked with us up the hill, trying to converse with us in English wherever possible. I discovered that he was 16 years old, living at a Mandalay monastic school, studying politics and economics, with plans to travel to Australia next year for further study. He was delighted to find out that I was Australian and the two of us took an immediate liking to each other. He had the most perfect teeth, beautiful smile and innocent look about him - I couldn't stop staring at him. He was very peaceful and intriguing.
We stopped climbing to catch our breaths, sitting on the benches chatting and taking pictures of the setting sun, before realising (too late) that we hadn't actually reached the top yet and had just observed the sunset from a mediocre vantage point some halfway up the hill... Sitkonaing quickly took charge and showed us the way to the top of the hill, which was strangely difficult to find amongst the splitting staircases. The marble and mirror-tiled walls and floor was amazing and in the sunset or under the artificial light everything shimmered colourfully. It was an incredibly romantic location and it was possibly right then that I fell in love with Mandalay.
The view from our halfway-up-the-hill vantage point wasn't all bad...
Everything was covered in marble and mirrors!
There was even a golden spire at the top!
Eventually the sun went down completely and it was time to leave Mandalay Hill. Jas and I had no idea how to get downstairs again, and we had lost the boys so it was up to Sitkonaing to show us the way instead. When we got to the bottom we'd decided to ask Sitkonaing if he wanted a ride home, remembering how he'd told us his monastery was an hour's walk away. At first the boy politely declined but after some reconsideration he agreed to get on board Bastien and Ulysse's bike. The three of them squished onto one scooter was hilarious and I spent the whole ride back to the school just staring and laughing at their antics.
Bastien, Sitkonaing and Ulysse all riding back to the monastery together on one bike :)
As we arrived at the school, Sitkonaing decided to introduce us to the Principal and so we were ushered into a cluttered office to meet U Nyaung - head abbot. U Nyaung had a very calming atmosphere about him and you couldn't help but laugh every time he laughed, so amusing was his belly chuckle. He asked us a lot of questions about where we were from and why we'd come to Myanmar - then offered us all teaching positions at his school. I found myself taking some literature and having a serious think about it, after all, what exactly would I do straight back in Australia in August anyway..? U Nyaung offered to host us for a better look around the next morning, if we would like to come back, and so we shook his hand, posed for a few pictures and vowed to return at 8am.
Bastien and Jas posing with the Head Abbot and School Principal, U Nyaung.
We were a little late in arriving the next morning and poor Sitkonaing was beside himself, probably thinking we weren't coming. Unfortunately, the Principal had other matters to attend to, so the young monk was left in charge of showing us around. Classes themselves weren't in session but we were given the opportunity to check out the woodwork shop, kitchen, teacher's quarters, dorm quarters, rooftop ball courts, classroom, library and media room - which makes it sound all way more fancy than it was. Picture if you will the most basic versions of these school facilities that you could imagine and then double it down again and you'd be close to the truer image. Towards the end of the visit, Sitkonaing and I swapped email addresses (amusingly, the little monk is even on facebook!) and I gave him a plastic bag full of stationery supplies (from Australia and Japan) for him to share with his friends. He posed for a few photos with us and we promised to see him again, at least at some time in the future. I left the compound with a heavy heart - missing him from the moment I walked through the school gates. I do hope I get to see him again - he was such a beautiful soul.
Posing with Sitkonaing and his friend on top of a school building.
Sitkonaing wearing my sunnies :)
Our taxi dropped us back at their hotel and as the boys headed upstairs to pack up and check, I said my goodbyes to Jas. We swapped email addresses and the like, with promises to try and hook up later on in the trip if we were in the same place at the same time and with that, she was gone. I spent the day buying a train ticket to Bagan, wandering around, having lunch, drinking beer, avoiding the one sleazy guy I'd seen all trip and eventually making some new and really helpful friends at a BBQ restaurant. At 10pm, slightly buzzed from an afternoon of drinking, I hopped on the train to Bagan and settled in for the 8 hour journey from hell.
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