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There's something about the word Mandalay that made me want to go to the city before I knew anything about it.  Man-da-lay.  The sound of it, the way it rolls off the tongue. I pictured a lazy river town, blanketed in rolling fog, with men steering Burmese-style gondolas against the background of mossy-green mountains. A painting come to life. But like most places I romanticize, Mandalay was far from what I imagined.The city was sprawling, dusty and noisy. The humidity was thick and the air hot. Rain water pooled in the pot holes littering the roads.

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When I first started planning my trip to Myanmar, I spent hours pouring over the Google Image search results. Pictures of mist-covered mountains dotted with ancient temples were first to pop up, followed by the iconic Shwedagon Pagoda in the country's capital. I had seen these images before. Heck, they were the reason I was making the trip to Burma in the first place.

But as I continued to scroll down the pages, I began to see another part of the country--a lesser-known part. Pictures of aged fisherman standing on the ledge of wooden boats, women and children poking their heads through windows of stilt houses, and rolling green hills that seemed to touch the sky.

14 Oct

It was 6am when the overnight bus reached the ancient city of Bagan. The passengers around me began to rustle--reaching for bags and shedding layers of warm clothing. I rubbed my eyes and looked out the window. Taxi drivers had already crowded the door, and the sky was growing pink.

It had been nine fitful hours of attempted sleep, but it didn't matter. I had arrived to the place that topped my bucket list for the last five years—one of the world's greatest archeological sites—16-square miles of pastoral land, decorated with more than 2,000 Buddhist monuments.

I jumped in the first cab I saw and headed to the hostel. And after a quick shower, I rented an electric bike and spent the next two days exploring.

12 Oct

I remember the first time I saw a picture of Bagan—a misty green landscape, dotted with pagodas and temples, as far as the eye could see. Hot air balloons floated in the distance, among the mountains. It was a place that looked as if it was conceived by someone’s imagination—as if it came from a beautiful dream. I had to go there.

Every year in China, the Mid-Autumn Festival allows me a week off of work at the beginning of October. It’s not much, but with flights connecting in Kunming, a trip to Myanmar is doable. You just have to plan.

I decided to spend 1 night in Yangon, 2 nights in Bagan, 3 nights in Inle Lake and 1 night in Mandalay. It was a lot to cram into 7 nights, but it was worth it.