Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
There's also a small
museum
at the western end, housed in what was known as the “Glass
Palace”; this was named after a glass bed brought from France by King Thibaw. The bed is
still here, and rather impressive, as is a series of traditional costumes which seemed designed
to make pagodas of those who wore them.
The rest of the complex
The rest of the complex is out of bounds, which is a pity since those with eagle eyes will be
able to spot plenty of interesting things on its periphery. Look out from the northern wall,
towards the west of the complex, and you'll make out a ruined
plane
; do likewise from the
south,andyou'llseeafewrusting
train
carriages.Justnortheastofthemainentrance,there's
a circle of nine
statues
of kings and other historical figures: out of bounds, but you can usu-
ally visit. Lastly, you may care to buck the system slightly by stepping out of the museum to
the west for a freshly pressed sugar-cane juice (take that, officialdom!).
The city centre
There are a few sights dotted around Mandalay
city centre
, whose contemporary reincarn-
ation is located to the west of the palace. Poke around awhile and you'll find a few pretty
Buddhist and Hindu monuments, but better than this is the chance to simply take the pulse of
Myanmar's second city - the grid of streets teems with traffic, snack-stands and stray dogs,
yet things somehow feel rather orderly. In addition, the area is home to many of the city's
The Hindu district
SriKrishna27thSt,at81stSt;SanatanDharma27thSt,between79th&80thsts•Bothusuallydaily9am-5pm
• Free
If you haven't spent time in Bali, Singapore or southern India, the two Hindu temples off
27th Street might hold some interest. With its steeply inclined mass of colourful detail, the
