Sunset at Mandalay

That sounds romantic, I think ... 

We were picked up by the same guide we had yesterday, at 10.00.  First stop -- the Fort of Mandalay, which used to be the royal palace when Mandalay was the capital.  We're talking pre-British era.  While we were there, we climbed the tower (120 steps only) and I took some shots of the view (see extra).  After that, on to Mandalay Hill, which used to be where the British had their summer residences.  While in the area of the hill, of course we had to visit some of the pagodas, including a centuries-old monastery built of teak wood that had beautiful carvings.  Myanmar is the 'Land of the Golden Pagoda' (my own label).  Then a quick snack, then back to the hotel for a rest.  At 17.00, we were picked up again for yet another pagoda, the most popular/most visited, where the image of the Buddha is covered entirely in gold plate.  (Personally, we think that if you can afford to contribute to covering your holy image with gold plate while you yourself struggle to make a living, there's a collective loose screw somewhere, but that is not for us to 'fix' and we respect you if you have chosen this way.)

The last stop was the old teak bridge connecting the mainland with an island, and that is where this sunset caught us.  We were two-thirds on it when I noticed several people, even the locals, taking shots, so I turned around, and there it was.  We are lucky that we've had two consecutive days of beautiful sunsets.  A dinner at the same restaurant capped the day.  The moment we were back, worked on my stack of shots while hubby had his usual TV moment.  Tomorrow, we'll be off early to another place.  No guarantee that it won't rain but we'll see.

THANK YOU for visiting and leaving your comments and tokens of appreciation!  I will do my best to give you presentable shots, but my main objective is an updated blog.  For my FB friends, I'll be posting my albums one by one as far as the local WiFi will allow.