The city with the most beautiful name?

It' s no longer the most beautiful city, but the name, echoing the Orient, adventure, spices and gentle people, remains promising. As it turns out, Mandalay has become a hectic metropolis. But we will find out ...

I have arrived, after 18 hours from door to door, it is 13 clock local time, my inner clock is not yet calibrated to the new situation, which means that the eyes are close to half mast. There's something yellow in the sky that I've been seeing more or less by chance over the last few weeks, it must be the sun. Besides, it's hot, quite hot. And the first station in Myanmar is Mandalay, the city with the most beautiful name.

Mandalay,
Mandalay witht Inwa and Sagaing

Phantom Airport

Despite few tourists, there are long lines waiting in front of the passport control. There are plenty of counters, but unmanned. The uniformed officers are aware of their importance and scrutinize their customers with a grim look. I am too tired for a friendly smile, which surprisingly results in a comparatively fast check-in. I have to remember this ...

Collective Taxi

Then by shared cab to the city, a particular experience as expected. A Chinese couple is sitting on the back seats, while I have the distinct pleasure of sitting next to the betel nut chewing driver.

The highway is wide, empty and presents many bumps, which means that we are being lifted off our seats every few meters. The driver, who occasionally opens the window to get rid of a load of chewed-up betel nut, loves it, of course, and heads for the next bump with even more gusto.

He strictly follows the center line, but not as a limit, as is usual, but as a directional guide, i.e. two wheels to the left, two wheels to the right of the center line. As I said, the road is empty ...

Dogs and monks

Dogs have an interesting life in Asia, even if it is mostly short. There is neither leash obligation nor dog schools, neither Chappi food nor walks with the owner, but exciting trips on the motorway, as it seems.

Bello, crossing the road with stoic calm at the very moment we approach, is one of them. Holding our breath, we see him lying already as a bleeding mass on the side of the road, when he turns away at the last moment, nonchalantly, almost arrogantly, as if he wanted to say: Fuck you all!

At the roadside, another shared cab stops, a load of monks jumps out, they are obviously in great need, because even the holiest of the saints have to follow the call of nature.

A1 Hotel

The fact that there is a hotel called A1 and another one called AD-1 leads, as expected, to misunderstandings and - especially for the cab drivers - to frustrations. Of course, we end up in the wrong hotel, but this doesn't upset our betel nut chewing driver in the slightest (which means once again that controlled drug use can have its advantages).

So I'm in the A1, a highly recommended hotel that - surprise surprise - provides a working WiFi. It is strategically located, not too far from the center and not too noisy.

But Mandalay - as already mentioned - is definitely not a beautiful city anymore, it wasn't eleven years ago on my first visit and still isn't.

Has anything changed? Not at first glance, but at second glance it has. Advertising posters for cell phones and all other technological achievements - completely unknown 11 years ago, as well as WiFi and functioning Internet connections - are ubiquitous. There are now plenty of scooters, almost like in Hanoi, but where are the wonderful Trishaws? Too bad.

First of all I sit down in a street café and order a Myanmar Beer. It's the best beer I've drunk in ages. The tiredness might have played a role …

Searching for Min-Min

The evening is short and above all - pitch dark. Mandalay offers a lot, but no street lights.

Looking for a restaurant called Min Min, I stumble past deep puddles (it must have rained a lot), always looking for the few centimeters it takes to avoid the many cars and scooters that rush past at hellish pace. And then - nothing more, just deep sleep, while the sounds of the night slowly fall silent outside the window.

 

P.S. Matching Song: ZZ Top - Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers

And here the journey continues ...

 

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