Mingun and the Moustache Brothers

Last day in Mandalay. Tomorrow I leave for Bagan at 6am, taking the 9-hour ‘express’ boat down the Ayeyarwady River.

Today Robbie and I visited another one of the four ancient capitals of Mandalay, Mingun. We had to take a boat to get there, 11 km upriver from Mandalay. The boat left at 9am so we headed down to the ferry jetty this morning by trishaw, you know like a side car for a bicycle. It was a first for me. Cost about 20 cents one-way, not bad I guess.

The boat ride was nice, it took over one hour to get there. A few tourists on our boat ? Robbie, me, a family from Belgium, a French couple, one Swedish man, and a British girl. We had 3 hours to walk around Mingun before the boat left to go back to Mandalay.

There are a few stuppas, Buddhas, and a big bell to see at Mingun, but the most impressive building is Mingin Paya which is a massive building made of bricks. They started building it in 1790 for the king at that time but when the king died in 1819 and it still wasn?t finished I think everyone said the hell with this and left it. Then the whole thing cracked and crumbled in an earthquake in 1838. Anyway it?s a beautiful building. There are stairs to go to the top to check out the view but we had to go barefoot because it is still considered a temple.

So we did Mingun, came back to Mandalay, and then walked around one of the markets this afternoon. I wanted to buy some snacks for the long boat ride tomorrow. I probably paid too much for the 12 cent pineapple I bought.

We had dinner at a Chinese restaurant, which in case you were wondering, cost 75 cents for a bottle of water, vegetable salad, green beans and garlic, and plain rice, and then we went back to the hotel.

This evening I went to see the famous Moustache Brothers show, a local show of dancing, traditional music, and comedy put on by Lu Maw and his family. The reason why they are so famous is because in 1996 two of the brothers were arrested and sentenced to 7 years in prison for making a joke about the government in one of their shows. It was a pretty good show but I went more to support the fight for democracy by giving them the $1.25 admission fee.

It’s been a great 3 days in Mandalay. Looking forward to Bagan tomorrow!

This is a real sailboat

Mingun Paya, aka the worlds largest pile of bricks

This girl wanted money for giving a tour but she was so cute I just took her photo instead

Add comment July 21st, 2002