We are in Myanmar! It was Burma, until the ruling military junta changed its name in 1989 claiming Burma was a vestige of the colonial era.
We flew from Bangkok into Mandalay this morning and it's so awesome!! We had a great day seeing so many super cool things. I was expecting a big, busy, dirty, uninspiring city... but it's quite the opposite. It's busy of course and the sidewalks leave something to be desired but it's clean, charming in places and the people are so incredibly kind and friendly. The trees lining all the major roads are wrapped in lights and there are golden pagodas sticking out everywhere you look. Our little hotel is great...we weren't in the building 10 minutes when they had our entire 2 days of sight seeing planned and taxi drivers hire to drive us to all the sights.
Things are very cheap too with makes it nice on the wallet!
Myanmar's history in a nutshell:
Myanmar was a British colony for more than a century and one of the richest countries in Southeast Asia. Burma declared independence in 1948 and representative democracy lasted until a military coup in 1962.
Ne Win and his party established a corrupt ruling council whose members were almost entirely drawn from the armed forces and they held power for the next twenty-six years turning Myanmar into one of the most isolated countries in the world next to North Korea.
Ne Win instituted a new constitution in 1974 based on an isolationist policy with a socialist economic program that nationalized Burma’s major enterprises....The country’s economic situation deteriorated rapidly as a result and a black-market economy soon took hold. By 1988, widespread corruption and food shortages led to mass protests spearheaded by students. Beginning with the withdrawal of the currency notes, 100, 75, 35 and 25 kyats, overnight leaving only 45 and 90 kyat notes and literally bankrupting everyone, by Ne Win in 1987, months of student riots and protests followed that would lead to the 8888 uprising on the 8th August 1988. Following the resignation of Ne Win and the introduction of the largely disliked Sein Lwin known as the “Butcher of Rangoon” hundreds of thousands of Burmese from all walks of life took their own fates into their hands and joined one of the biggest protests in Burmese history.
It was a country crying out for democracy, but sadly their protests came to a brutal end with an army crackdown that killed more than 3,000 innocent lives.
During the 1988 protests, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi rose to prominence as the leader of the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). She was detained in 1989, and spent more than fifteen years in detention (both in prison and under house arrest) until being released for the last time in 2010.
In 1990, the junta held elections in which the NLD won 392 of 485 parliamentary seats, despite Suu Kyi’s house arrest. The military government refused to acknowledge the results, imprisoned many NLD politicians, forced others into exile, and continued to clamp down on dissent.
In 1991, Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel peace prize while still under house arrest.
In November of 2015 elections were the first nationwide, multiparty elections since the country’s parliament first convened in 2010, and are widely considered Myanmar’s most free and fair polls in twenty-five years. Approximately 80 percent of the country’s thirty million eligible voters cast ballots, and Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition NLD party won a landslide victory, securing a majority in the upper and lower houses of parliament.
What's different this time is that the military had already ensured their continued political role by awarding themselves 25% of all the seats in parliament and veto over constitutional changes. Aung San Suu Kyi may well have led her party to a landslide win but she can't become president because the constitution states that if one of your "legitimate children… owes allegiance to a foreign power" you are disqualified. That covers both Ms Suu Kyi's sons Kim and Alexander, who have British passports.
Changing the constitution is impossible without the support of the unelected army representatives and it is written to ensure key security ministries (defence, home affairs and border affairs) are selected by the head of the army, not the president, and there can be no change to the constitution without military approval.
Mandalay Palace
We arrived at around 2pm and headed out to see the sighs around 2:30pm. We started with Mandalay Palace. It is the last royal palace of the last Burmese monarchy. The palace was constructed, between 1857 and 1859 as part of King Mindon's founding of the new royal capital city of Mandalay.
Kuthodaw Pagoda
The Kuthodaw pagoda in Mandalay comprises of a gilded pagoda, hundreds of shrines housing inscribed marble slabs and several pavilions. The pagoda is also called “the world’s largest book”, named after the 729 marble slabs inscribed with Buddhist teachings.
Shwenandaw Monastery
The Shwenandaw monastery is the most significant of Mandalay’s historic buildings, since this ‘Golden Palace Monastery’ remains the sole major survivor of the former wooden Royal Palace built by King Mindon in the mid-nineteenth century
The Shwenandaw is a wonderfully fragile yet grand example of 19th century Myanmar teak architecture and also a significant masterpiece of the wood-carver’s art. Shwenandaw Monastery was built in 1880 by King Min, who dismantled and relocated the apartment formerly occupied by his father, King just before Mindon Min's death. Thibaw removed the building in October 1878, believing it to be haunted by his father's spirit.The building was reconstructed as a monastery over the course of 5 years, dedicated in memory of his father...and it's the only reason it still stands as everything else in the palace was destroyed in WW2.
Mandalay Hill
Overlooking Mandalay with a 360-degree view is Mandalay Hill. It's a popular sunset spot!
