Yangon, Myanmar. Tuesday, 23 December 2003.
Returned from Mandalay on Saturday evening. It was a quick trip, as we flew both ways.
As a city, I quite liked Mandalay. It reminded me of an Indian city, somewhat like Pune or Nagpur or Bhopal. This was primarily because of the overwhelming presence of two-wheelers: bikes and mopeds, which are allowed to ply, unlike at Yangon. Mandalay has far less greenery than Yangon has. Mandalay seems casual and informal, while Yangon is more neat and orderly. There was hardly any time for sight-seeing as we had touched down at Mandalay airport at 17:30 on the Friday and by the time we reached the city centre it was 18:30 and dark. The airport is a good 40 kms. outside the city. Mandalay airport is bigger and cleaner than its counterpart at Yangon but of course handles far less traffic. We checked into a decent hotel called 'Hotel Pacific'' bang opposite the main railway station. Ate an early dinner mainly comprising roast duck, at one of Mandalay's famous restaurants aptly called 'Golden Duck'(this has a different connotation in the game of cricket); and put in the blanket drill.
The main attraction of Mandalay is the palace, actually a massive, square-shaped fort, bang in the city centre. The fort is surrounded by a moat, as forts usually are. This is a tourist attraction and I hope to devote some time here on my next visit, whenever that might be.
On Saturday morning we left for the turmeric growing area, which is 70 kms. south of Mandalay and reached a village called Kalai Wua. Was fascinated by the turmeric fields and the turmeric rhizomes. The crop will be ready for harvesting by the second week of January, it was told. We had a good discussion with the head farmer and my supplier's supplier(Mr. Thit Lwin, who finds mention in another of my posts on this site), planning business for 2004. After a sumptuous lunch - mainly comprising rice and chicken curry - arranged by the farmer at his home, we made our way back to the airport and boarded the 16:25 flight back to Yangon, landing here at 18:00, with a halt en-route at a small place called Heho, the gateway to the very scenic Inle Lake that falls in the Shaan state(the Himachal of Myanmar!) As I shall have to visit the Shaan area also, sometime in February / March for the turmeric of that area, I hope to pay a visit to Inle then.
Air Mandalay being a private airline, the flight was comfortable - both ways. The aircraft was a small 100-seater with the attractive airhostess speaking fluent English.
And yes, our freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak was imprisoned at Mandalay, where he wrote the Gita while in jail. What a great and fearless soul was he !