City of Cultural Diversity: Mandalay

Mandalay is the second largest city (after Yangon), and a former capital of Myanmar. The city is the economic and religious hub of upper Myanmar. The city is centred around the Royal Palace, and has wide lanes filled with bicycles and motorcycles. Mandalay is known for its millionaires, its monks (half of the country's monks reside in Mandalay and surrounding areas), and its cultural diversity.

Mandalay, the very name evokes the splendors of the Burma of old! But, most people will be surprised to learn that Mandalay is not an old city, not even a medieval one, but rather a new city that was created by King Mingdon Min of Burma in 1857 as the new capital of the kingdom of Ava. Only two Burmese kings ruled from there, King Mingdon and King Thibaw, before the British conquest of Upper Burma in 1885. History records it as a city of splendor between 1858 and 1885 but most of the magnificence is gone, destroyed by the fire that consumes wooden structures, by the cavalier attitudes of its colonial rulers, and by intensive bombing by the allies during the reconquest of Burma in the Second World War.

The city, neatly planned with its lettered roads and numbered streets, is a British creation. The once magnificent Royal Palace and the great Atumashi (incomparable) pagoda, King Mingdon Min's finest creations, are modern reconstructions supervised by the ruling Military junta with the help of forced labor. Today, Mandalay lies at the end of the Lashio Road and it is, by Burmese standards, relatively prosperous as a center for trade with China and as a center for the growing trade with India.

Mandalay is ethnically diverse, with the Bamar (Burmans) forming a slight majority. In recent years, there has been a major influx of Chinese from Mainland China, and the Chinese (both recent migrants and colonial-era immigrants) form 30 to 40% of the population. Their influence is seen in the China-style glass buildings throughout the city. Other prevalent ethnic groups include the Shan, who are ethnically and linguistically related to the Thais and Laotians, and the Karen (Kayin). There is a sizable ethnic Indian population, including Nepalis and Sikhs.

Article source: http://wikitravel.org/en/Mandalay

Cheap Accommodation in Yangon

Accommodation in Yangon is relatively cheap and plentiful. Rooms are in abundance and, except in the height of the tourist season (December and January) and then too only in the popular backpacker hotels, advance reservations are almost never necessary. Tourists are expected to pay in US$ (bring only newer US$ banknotes in good condition with large portraits of the presidents), and will be charged significantly higher than locals. Be aware of the fact that many military generals are sharers in the hotels, and that many hotels are under a 30-year government lease. After the lease expires, the hotels are put under governmental control.

The budget hotels (under US$20) are mostly a bit away from the city center. The upside is that the hotels are quieter, downtown can be quite noisy, and you get a little more room for your dollar. You'll need a cab to get to the main sight, the Shwesdagon Pagoda anyway. The downside is that most restaurants are downtown, a long walk or cab ride away and choices outside downtown are limited, usually with the only choice being a restaurant attached to the hotel with indifferent cuisine and which may be closed if business is slow. Pazundaung and Botataung Townships seem to have the highest concentration of budget hotels. Some rooms, the cheaper ones, in many budget hotels have no windows at all and if you are claustrophobic, make sure you don't end up in one of those! There are a few budget hotels downtown but, except for a couple, are quite grungy.

Mid-priced hotels (US$20-50) are scattered about the city, with one set concentrated in the few blocks around Sule Pagoda and a second set just north of the Shwedagon Pagoda. Luxury hotels are concentrated around the Kandawgyi Lake or downtown.

Rates for hotels are usually quoted as single/double. The room is usually the same but you pay a little extra (about US$5-10) if two people share the room. Breakfast is always included and the quality and variety increases with the cost of the hotel. In a budget hotel, expect a banana, an egg, some bread, and coffee made from 'coffee mix' (a pre-packaged mix of coffee powder, milk powder and lots of sugar).

An important factor in choosing a hotel is the availability of electricity. Electric supply is controlled in Myanmar and every part of Yangon has a fixed schedule when electric power is available (usually about 24 hrs every 48 hrs or less). Mid-priced hotels usually have their own generators while budget hotels either do not or have a limited supply (lights will work till 11pm, fans may or may not work, AC never does even if fitted in the room unless state supplied electricity is available). Do ask when you book what the electricity situation is and, if there is no generator, what you can expect on the days that you are there.

Many budget and mid-range hotels have a restaurant on the premises. But there is no guarantee that it will be open, especially off-season.

Article source: http://wikitravel.org/en/Yangon

The Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon.

The Shwedagon Pagoda or Paya is the single most important religious site in all of Myanmar. The pagoda stands on the top of Singuttara Hill, and, according to legend, that spot has been sacred since the beginning of time, just before our present world was created. At that time, five lotus buds popped up on the hill, each bud signifying the five Buddhas who would appear in the world and guide it to Nirvana. Gautama, the Buddha as we know him, is the fourth of these five (Maitreya, the fifth, will announce the end of the world with his appearance) and, according to the legend, two brothers brought eight hairs of the Buddha to be enshrined in this sacred location, inaugurating the Shwedagon Pagoda.

Whatever the truth of the legend, verifiable history records a pagoda at the site since the 6th Century AD. Built and rebuilt, guilded and reguilded, almost nothing in the pagoda is likely to be old, except whatever is hidden deep inside the stupa. An earthquake (18th century) destroyed the upper half of the pagoda spire and many buildings. The British used the platform and the temples to house their soldiers and armory and, allegedly, made off with anything of value. And Burmese Buddhists are inherently practical people who constantly build and rebuild pagodas for merit.

Today, the pagoda is a magical place that most visitors to Yangon come again and again. Unlike other religious sites, it has at once a spiritual as well as a secular feel about it. Children run up and down singing songs, monks sit on the steps chatting, young men cast amorous glances at women, women stand around gossiping, all while others are deep in prayer in front of whatever shrine has significance for them. A sort of religious version of Times Square, the Shwedagon captures the essence of both the informal nature as well as the strong ties that signify the relationship that the Burmese have with their Buddhism.

There is no other pagoda like it in Burma and there is no other place like the Shwedagon Pagoda in the world and visitors to Burma end up spending a lot of their time there.

Article source: http://wikitravel.org/en/Yangon

Naypyidaw: New Myanmar Capital City.

Naypyidaw, located near Pyinmana, officially replaced the city of Yangon as the capital of Myanmar in November 2005. For acronyms, it is called "NPT" officially.

Rail: It takes nine hours by train to get from Yangon to Naypyidaw. Trains leave at 1200 and arrive at 2100 local time.

By air: To serve the new capital, the existing airfield at Ela was upgraded to handle the larger planes. It lies 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Kyatpyae. All the local airlines in Myanmar - Myanma Airways, Yangon Airways, Air Mandalay and the new Air Bagan - have included Naypyidaw as a destination and provide services between it and other cities and towns across Myanmar. In mid-March 2006, Air Mandalay launched a service flying between Yangon and Naypyidaw.

On 5 June 2006, Air Mandalay launched a service between Naypyidaw, and Thandwe (Sandoway) and Sittwe (Akyab) in Rakhine State, to give civil servants better access to western Myanmar. But in reality, only army generals can go to Naypyidaw via plane. Commoners travel to Naypyidaw on a 2-lane highway for about 8 hours from Yangon before getting to the 8-lane highway at the capital.

Article source: http://wikitravel.org/en/Naypyidaw

Burma begins move to new capital.

Burma begins move to new capital

By Kylie Morris BBC News, Bangkok

Burma's military government has begun its move to a new administrative capital Pyinmana, in the jungle 600km (373 miles) north of Rangoon.

According to sources in Rangoon, convoys of trucks laden with personnel and equipment left on Sunday morning.

There was little warning for the hundreds of officials who left bound for their new workplace amid mountains and fields on the road to Mandalay.

Pyinmana has been the pet project of the military government for many years.

But construction is thought to have begun in earnest only 12 months ago.

It is believed the compound, which occupies 10 sq km (4.6 sq miles), is designed to include homes for military leaders, diplomatic quarters, a parliamentary building, an airport, golf course and other buildings to accommodate the bureaucrats.

They have not been allowed to take along their families.

Ten ministries began the long trip north at the weekend, but many more are expected to follow.

Fortune tellers
The reasons for the move are unclear.

Some analysts point to a paranoia among senior military figures that they might come under attack, potentially from the United States, and that a location further from the coast is strategically safer.

It certainly puts the generals closer to their frontline forces within the Shan, Chin and Karen states.

Others suggest the military leaders are simply repeating the habits of the Burmese kings in pre-colonial times who built new towns and palaces on the advice of fortune tellers.

Whatever their motivation, the construction of the new capital sends a powerful signal - that the government is centralising its authority and strengthening its control.

While the military is on the move, the woman who was once its greatest threat, Aung San Suu Kyi, remains under house arrest in Rangoon, with no indication of when she will be released.

Article source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4412502.stm