Royal Guest House Mandalay

... we had no sleep!   Arriving in Mandalay in good spirits and with new friends we caught a truck to 'The Royal Guest House', sadly not frequented by any monarchs, but it was quite nice nonetheless. After a varied breakfast of pancakes, chicken ...

... came over to stop us taking pictures saying words like "No" and "Crime", what was he on about? On arriving in Mandalay I returned to the Royal Guest House to look for Rachel, she'd gone but had left a note. She'd gone to the doctor after I'd left for ...

... with little real cooking equipment.   After two nights we found better space for less money at the Royal Guest House.     We learned that a new capital is being built from scratch between Mandalay and Yangon.  ...

 I tried the Royal Guest House which looked very good and decent prices but they were full so I went to the Royal City Hotel (Phone 02-31805 -  130, 27th Street between 76/77) which was slightly away from the tourist area but the room they ...

... do get tend to travel on group tours. Walking around town, I think we've only seen one other tourist. Of course there are plenty more at the guest house and at tourist attractions like the bridge and the hill, but around town there are practically ...

... cities surrounding Mandalay rather than the city itself. I met French guy called J.B on the bus and we ended up staying in the same guest house, so it was nice to have someone my age to talk to. Most westerners I'd spoken to so far had been in their 60s ...

... , one intrepid puppet master was attempting to keep the tradition alive and had nightly shows in a small theater adjacent to our guest house.  There are a handful of important characters in a marionette show - the nat, an ogre, a prince, peasant, ...

... in immediately.  Surprised and relieved, we negotiated a cheaper fare into the city on scooters. Dropping our bags at the Royal Guest House in our relatively spacious and sunny room, we collapsed onto the bed, drifting in and out of sleep.  ...

Early morning pickup to the bus to Mandalay. Bus was OK and once again got to our destination earlier than expected. Picked up a pick up to the Royal Guesthouse ($15). We'd checked it out before we left and decided that the Royal Hotel we'd stayed at ...

... there a few days before taking the apparently spectacular train ride back to Pyin U Lwin before continuing south to Inle Lake. *** Pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/keith.m.martin/Mandalay?authkey=Gv1sRgCIDA2riZ59iFwQE (thanks to Em for lots of ...

I err on the side of "can live without it". Mandalay, suffice it to say, has few redeeming qualities. Extremely aesthetically Unpleasing- whatever grandeur there may have been in its days as the royal capital, was leveled, if not with the passing of the ...

... and visited the temple - great 360deg views of many stupas dotting the countryside. Long drive back in busy traffic back to Mandalay..... Day 3: After brek, we did a bit of internet catching up down the road, ably countering proposals of tours by rickshaw ...

... , greeted the couple, made our donation, and then went to a tea shop and chatted.  -------------- I decided to hang out in Mandalay for awhile.  Eventually awhile turned into 8 days.  It looked like Mandalay would be a fun place to ...

... . Motorbikes are not allowed in Yangon incidently, only govermnent people can use them there and I have no idea why. On first impressions, Mandalay seems nicer than Yangon but after a few days you realise that it is a bit of a hole. Electricity is cut off ...

... me feel guilty about complaining we don’t have air con in the office. The train ended up being 3 hours late arriving in Mandalay which I wasn’t too happy about. Walked to the hotel as it wasn’t too far, checked in and dumped my stuff ...

... mika tasta 150 vuotta vanhasta ex-paakaupungista teki niin suositun turistikohteen? Eika aikaakaan kun se selvisi: Mandalay on shoppailijan marka uni. Aivan. Tama on viimeinen Myanmarin kuninkaallisten hallintopaikka ja kaupunki useassa suhteessa ...

a motor bike taxi !!! Ja genau, dass kann ich jedem der sich Mandalay anschauen moechte, waermstens empfehlen. Die Stadt hat nicht so viele Sehenswuerdigkeiten, ist laut und dreckig und so sieht man doch am Meisten ! Jeder der Reisenden moechte so schnell ...

... soap operas) -handkerchief (good for many things, mainly drying hands after washing them) So now you know. I am PREPARED!!! Anyway, Mandalay was alright.. I'm not really a city person so I was just waiting to get to Inle Lake. The first night we were ...

... tourists. This year that number has decreased by almost 70%. Needless to say, we aren't bumping into a lot of other travelers...... Mandalay itself has a population of one million. It feels like a rather small town from many years ago when you are here ...