Mandalay & Around - Myanmar (Burma) - page 463

side location. Food is good and varied but the bigger draws (October to February) are the
free puppet shows (1pm) and traditional dances (7.30pm to 9pm), performed even when
tour groups fail to show up. Bring mosquito repellent.

Royal Lake LUXURY BEER STATION
( 09 9100 9445; Kandawgyi Lake; mains K4000-7000; 9am-11pm, music from 7pm) This
lakeside complex has a boardwalk seating area with stage for live music. What's far
more remarkable, however, is a gilded wooden 'royal barge' moored 650ft around the
shore. Once a feature of the central moat, the barge is far more boatlike than the bigger,
concrete Yangon version ( Click here ) . When things are quiet, you can just have a beer
without eating a full meal.

Drinking & Nightlife
Cafes with angular lines, strong air-con and wide-ranging international menus include
comfortably hip Cafe JJ MAP GOOGLE MAP ( www.cafejj.com ; 26th St at 65th St; coffee
K1000-2300, cocktails K2900-6100; 9am-10.30pm; ) , upscale diner style Café City
( Click here ) , good value, cutesy V Cafe ( Click here ) and loungey Koffie Korner ( Click
here ) . Each mix cocktails, but for a drink with a sunset view it's hard to beat the rooftop
bar of the Ayarwaddy River View Hotel ( Click here ) .
For ice-cold K600 beers in frosty glasses, head to one of the many beer stations. Some
lack English signs but are easy to spot from the Myanmar or Dagon Beer awnings. If you
can't spot one, handy examples in the backpacker zone include Pyi Taw Win MAP
GOOGLE MAP (81st St, 24/25; barbecue items K200-1800; 8am-10.30pm) and part-res-
taurant Rainbow MAP GOOGLE MAP (83rd St at 23rd St; beer K600, barbeque/mains from
K500/2000; 10am-11pm) . Further afield are pleasantly garden-like Shwe Lettyar MAP
GOOGLE MAP (31st St at 82nd St; 8am-11pm) or Mr BarBQ ( Click here ) , convivial
Mya Yi Nandar (19th St, 65/66; draft beer/stout K600/750) with its mature palm trees, bust-
ling Uncle Chan (35th St, 72/73; barbecue items K300-2500, mains K3000-4000;
8am-10pm) and basic but wi-fi equipped Nine-Nine MAP

(74th St, 34/35;

GOOGLE MAP

draft beer/stout K600/750; 9am-11.30pm) in the 35th St area.
Choose Cafe YMH MAP GOOGLE MAP (Ya Mone Hlaing; Strand Rd, 26/28; draft beer
K500; 9am-9pm) for river views, Golden Lion MAP GOOGLE MAP (66th St, 12/13;
draft beer K600; 10am-10pm) for sunset moat views, albeit across a busy road.
Mandalay has no real nightclubs; if locals suggest 'dancing' they probably mean wit-
nessing a 'model show' - a popular local entertainment where young women sing to a