Mandalay’s surrounding sites

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
4
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
7
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
5
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
4
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
6
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
7
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
57 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
311th/454
Top 70%
continent
Asia
country
Myanmar (Burma)
Length of time
1-2 days
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$80 (typically $50 - $110)
Time of year visited
October
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Boat trip Local villages Palaces
All Tags
Ancient ruins Big city Bridges Buddhist site Horse / Camel Riding Temple complex
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐⭐

Summary

Mandalay itself isn’t that attractive as its basically a classically rapidly sprawling Asian city, with all of the noise, concrete and mess that tends to go with this.  Also, surprisingly, the Mandalay Palace which you’d think would be the central attraction is also a bit dull.
But, the areas around Mandalay make it very much worth checking out.  I’ve listed below some more general tips,  but in particular be sure to check out:

Mandalay Hill – when walking around Mandalay, it can feel a bit like one sprawling road after another and the sides of the Palace are LONG  so take a while to look around.  Instead, if near the Palace, head up Mandalay Hill for great views over the whole city and Palace, and some smaller temples and pagodas on the way up the nice covered stairway.

Mingun Paya – take a short boat ride up river to this rather unusual site.  It’s unusual in the sense that 1. It was, at the time, supposed to be the world’s largest stupa.  Only “supposed to be”, because the King who sanctioned its construction died with only 1/3rd completed. 2. Now it is basically the world’s largest pile of bricks.  3. It has large crack down its side from an earthquake in 1838.  4. Right next to it is the Mingun Bell which at 90 tonnes has been at various times in history the world’s largest bell.  Not enough for you?  Its a nice boat trip.

U-Bein Bridge -the world’s longest teak bridge and a route used regularly by the nearby locals and monks.  The cool thing is that the water level varied dramatically through the year so, in wet season you see various buildings largely underwater, whereas in dry season you see the buildings from a strangely high bridge.

The Maha Aungmye Bonzan Monastery within the former royal capital of Inwa.  The monastery itself is a stunning yellow, but its also fun to get a horse cart / cycle around the overall site.

Highlights

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#1 Looking over the sprawl of Mandalay and its vast Palace from the top of Mandalay Hill

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#2 Taking a boat ride over to see Mingun Paya, the largest pile of bricks in the world . . . but a very impressive pile

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#3 Walking with some of the local monks over U-Bein Bridge, the world's longest teak bridge

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#4 Taking a horse cart around the former capital of Inwa

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#5 Walking up the covered stairway of Mandalay Hill as you pass by various small temples and pagodas

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#6 Seeing the slap-stick comedy show of the Moustache Brothers, 2 of which were jailed for 7 years hard labour for telling jokes about Burma's generals

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#7 Checking out the yellow and very photogenic Maha Aungmye Bonzan Monastery

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#8 Watching the Gold-Pounders at work in the Gold-Pounders' District

General Travel Tips

Be sure to visit the an evening with the famed Moustache Brothers show, performed by 3 brothers, 2 of which did 7 years hard labour for telling jokes about Burma’s now ruling junta generals.  The evening is super slap stick, but you’ll have a laugh and get a chance to learn something about a different side of Burma.

Watching the gold-pounders work to make the gold-leaf sheets is worth briefly checking out to learn about the history of the profession in Gold-Pounders’ District.

I’d recommend staying at Peacock Lodge near the Palace.  Its a nice neighbourhood and the owners will very much look after you (I had terrible food poisoning from a meal somewhere in Mandalay the day before, probably the worst I’ve ever felt, and they looked after me like I was part of the family).

Geting around – for seeing Mingun Paya, U-Bein Bridge and Inwa, its easiest just to hire a motorbike taxi or normal taxi.  The hotel can easily help you out with this.

Be careful for dogs in the evening.

See if you can combine your trip to Mandalay within a 2 weeks itinerary for the highlights of Burma, and you can see the link for the itinerary and general tips on the adventure.

 

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Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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