eyes turned skyward: Turn Right in Germany, and You'll be in Australia!

My Rough Guide says about Mandalay "The prettiest part of Mandalay is its name." When I read that I thought "wow, that's harsh!!!" I know see why it says that. Please don't mistake me - I'm so glad to have been there and wouldn't have missed it for the world. I encourage all of you to visit. It has so many unique things that are so worth the visit. However, it is a big dirty overcrowded polluted third world city, and you could almost be in any big dirty overcrowded polluted third world city in the world. After the tranquility of our boat cruise, we were having some culture shock!

The first thing we were going to to in Mandalay was go Kuthodaw Paya to see what Joseph told us was "The biggest book in the world!" I, of course, thought it would be a huge book - you know, one that's made of paper..... surprise! Turns out that it is 729 marble slabs that are inscribed with the teachings of Theravana Buddha, known as the Tipitaka. Each slab is kept in its own small stupa. I admitted my misconception to the group and was relieved to hear that EVERYONE else thought the same thing! Whew.... not just a blonde moment! It was really beautiful to see all of the carvings.

Our next stop was Mandalay Hill for sunset. Joseph told us that we could either climb up the hill for 45 minutes (1,500 steps!) or take the escalators at the top. Sanjay, Mez, and I elected to take the stairs while the others opted for the escalators. The climb is begun at the base of the hill, between two huge carved stone lions. The cliimb up was really beautiful. We were the only people doing it, and on the way up we passed locals who lived alongside the staircase. It was really neat to have this view of family life. Several times we thought we had reached the top, only to realize that there was another winding staircase ahead of us. We made it to the top in about 30 minutes and were amazed by the view that we saw. There were some other tourists, lots of monks, and locals milling about on the temple square that overlooks Mandalay and the surrounding countryside. We have read that the monks all love practicing their English with tourists, and have encoutered several so far who were eager to talk with us. A young university student, Sam, came up to me and asked if we could talk so he could practice his English. His friend (I unfortunately didn't catch his name) was with him, they were both so nice. Sam has studied English for 3 years and is in his final year of university, and his friend is in his first year, both in English and school. They asked me questions about where I was from, then questions about the culture and lifestyle in the US. We discussed health issues both in Burma and other countries. They told me that, in addition to Dengue Fever (Which I knew was a serious issue here, as there is no prevention or really any treatment) they are struggling with TB. Then Mez came up, so I introduced her and they asked her where she was from. "Australia," she said. "Oh, that is by Germany, correct?" Sam asked sincerely. "No, it's in the South Pacific - by New Zealand" Mez replied. "Oh yes," Sam said "near Poland, correct?" "No," I said, "You are thinking of Austria." After about 5 minutes of trying to describe where Australia was, we gave up! We chatted with them for a few more minutes and then said our farewells. Very nice young men! I am so impressed with the English skills of the people here.

When we met up with the rest of the group, we learned that Eleonore and Barbara had been talking with a monk, and he whipped out his smart phone and asked to add them on Facebook! Now they are FB friends with a monk. (Proving my point, all monks have smart phones) He told them that his profile picture was actually his brother, and he has since commented on some of their photos. Too funny!

After sunset we all headed for the escalators - this was my first time being barefoot on an escalator.... very odd feeling on the toes! We then got back into our truck and headed to our dinner, which would be at a traditional Burmese barbeque restaurant. This place was obviously a local joint, and the girls in our group were the only women there (other than the two cooks, one of whom looked about 8 months and 3 weeks pregnant, poor thing!). Joseph gave us an overview of the food choices and we were let go to choose what we wanted. I chose corn and okra (called ladyfingers here), as I still wasn't feeling brave enough to try meat after my illness. The ladies roasted the food on the open barbeque and then brushed it with spices and oil - it was delicious!!!!! The other got all sorts of meats, and one interesting option that they had were quails eggs. I tried one and it was really good! The corn was the best of my life - sliced off the cobb and then mixed with crisp red onion, salt, and the spices. Oh my gosh so yummy! We also got some potatoes to share, and they were really yummy as well. The restaurant had Myanmar beer on draft, so of course we all had several of those (600 kyat per glass, which is about 60 cents. Dirt cheap!) and the combination of the beer and food was so good. The total for my meal was 3500 kyat, or $3.50 We were happy campers by this point! We walked back to our hotel, the Silver Star, and turned in for the evening.

At 4:30 am Mez and I were startled awake by the sound of - "Allah huakbar! Allaaaaaaaah Huakbar!" We were completely confused - what city were we in if we were hearing muzzeins?! On your knees facing Mecca, STAT! Finally we drifted back off to sleep, and I dreamt of Morocco, especially Fez. We woke again for real at 6:30 and had yet another reliable yet boring breakfast... eggs and toast (the toast is really not toast, Mez calls it "sugar cardboard!" which I think is quite accurate) and various fruits. Normally I LOVE all of the fresh fruit provided at breakfast in tropical countries. We have seen so many amazing looking mangoes, pineapples, pomegranates, and other fruits in the market, but what are we served every morning at breakfast? Watermelon. Which we have not seen at any markets. Where is the pineapple?! Barbara is especially tired of these breakfasts, as she's been in Asia for nearly 6 weeks and she says that they are all the same! Once we began our city walking tour, Joseph pointed out a street stall selling a thin naan bread with a filling of spiced lentils. It looked delicious! Barbara asked Joseph to help her get one, and so of course the rest of us had to have a bite. It was so good! We decided that we needed to try to get that for breakfast from now on.

We covered a lot of ground on our walking tour of Mandalay - we saw the railway station (the largest in Burma), we tasted traditional Burmese snacks known as moon cakes (yummy and very very sweet!), we walked to the walls of the Mandalay Royal Palace and took photos. The Royal Palace was abanoned in 1885 when the British conquered Burma and exiled King Thibaw and the entire royal family to India. Ironically, the Raj of India was exiled to Burma and King Thibaw was exiled to India. When they died the countries shipped their bodies back so that they could be buried in their home country. Once the royal family was exiled, the British moved into the Palace. They used it for everything from offices for their government to a chapel to bars and lodging. During World War II, the Japanese bombed the palace, as they knew the British were there. Sadly the entire palace was destroyed, and the only original part remaining are the walls. The palace has been recreated, but it is supposed to be very bad - described as feeling like a Hollywood set - and it is rumored to have been rebuilt using forced labour (no surprise really, considering the military regime) and we all agreed that we have no interest in supporting that.

Then it was off to the local market, Zay Cho, which was right by the hotel. First, Tom and I needed to change some money. Mez, Tom, Sanjay, and I went into a local bank to get this taken care of, and it was like stepping back in time! Nothing is computerized. There are huge ledgers sitting on the tables, and giant stacks of money sitting behind the counters. It was really interesting to see. Our mission accomplished, we set off for a nice wander around the market.

After a brief rest period, we were off for our afternoon activities. We started by going to lunch at a restaurant that served traditional Shan style food. This was great, as the next state we would be going to would be Shan State, so it was nice to get an idea of the food. Next on the agenda were going to the village that carves marble stone - so beautiful to see! They had some lovely statues - can I carry this giant marble elephant on the airplane?! After that we visited a monastery built entirely out of beautifully carved teak, a workshop where they make puppets and tapestries and carve wood, and finally went to a gold leaf pounding workshop. All very interesting! The most interesting thing we saw, however, was none of these lovely workshops. While driving we came across a tent for the National League for Democracy - Aung San Suu Kyi's party. Joseph asked the truck driver to stop and we all piled out. They were trying to get people to sign their petition to the government to amend the constitution. Joseph signed, and we spent a very interesting 15 minutes talking with the volunteers. We told them how much The Lady is admired in our countries and how we all hope for a peaceful and fruitful future for Burma. They were so kind, and gave us some information about the NLD as well as a photo of The Lady. Once again, the people are peacefully advocating for their rights.

I can't say enough what a fascinating time this is to be here. I feel so privileged to be able to view the country this way, and to be so welcomed by its kind and loving people.

Once we returned to the hotel, we walked down to a restaurant for dinner. It was called Hunter's, so we weren't really sure what to expect. Turns out it was an ex-pat bar! We bellied up and ordered drinks and burgers. Oh my gosh the service was sooooooooo sloooooooooow. We waited for about an hour after we ordered our food before it arrived! Fortunately we had a great time, talking and laughing together - oh yes, and people watching! Great fun. We had an early night as we had a 4 am wake up to head to Kalaw, in the Eastern Mountains of Shan State. We were all eager for cool temperatures and a mountain environment!