Mandalay City Tour – Peaceful Morning in Mandalay

Detail of Mandalay City Tour

To start private Mandalay city tour, local guide and driver will pick travellers up at the hotel at 4.00 and move to the first destination, Mahamuni Pagoda, which is the most important religious site in Mandalay. The biggest Buddha image here is more than 3.5 meters high and is coated with golf leaves applied by the local pilgrims.

At 4.30 in every morning, the monks and the locals gather at the pagoda to wash the Buddha statue with scented water and clean his teeth with a soft brush. This is truly a unique ceremony in Burmese culture that interested many tourists come to Mahamuni Pagoda.

Continue the Mandalay travel with a visit to a local neighborhood to witness the daily mumping of the monks. Wearing red robes and carrying their alms bowls, barefoot monks walk a line along the streets to collect offerings from the locals. This custom is an important part in daily life of the monks and the Burmese people as it symbolizes ‘making merit’ and also reminds Buddhists of their mutual interdependence.

After watching these unique ceremonies, visitors can spend time on heading to the morning market in central Mandalay. Covering several city blocks, the market is a colorful picture of Burmese life in the early morning where the vendors who selling mounds of fresh food, meats, flowers and other items and people go shopping here by trishaw or motorbikes.

Tourists may even see monks and nuns collecting alms, or purchasing necessary items for the monastery in the market. The setting is incredibly colorful that if someone once visiting the market, he will be likely to see things he have never seen before, from exotic local fruits and spices, to dried meats and prepared sweets.

Travellers will have a fantastic chance to enjoy breakfast in a local tea shop, a busy meeting place during the day which is a beauty of Burmese life. You can also try a bowl of Mee Shay, a local noodle with pork or chicken, toasted chickpea flour, bean sprouts, rice flour gel, soy sauce and various herbs; rice noodle with a chicken curry called Nan Gyi Thoke; Shan noodle; or other dishes such as curries, rice and chappati.

Finally, move back to the hotel to prepare for other sightseeing activities in Mandalay city tour.

End of the Mandalay City Tour !