Mandalay Morning City Tour, Mandalay, Myanmar

Coming from Bagan the night before, we arrived Mandalay toll gate at 2:00 am, but since there was curfew till 3 am, our bus had to wait for an hour before entering the city. (Note: Curfew was already lifted since August 2014)

We were fortunate to have a local friend who is willing to drive us around this early. Our first stop was to witness the Mahamuni Image Washing Ceremony.

On the way to the temple, we pass by this market stalls. Even at this early time of the day, there were local devotees which already positioned themselves in-front of the main Buddha image.

Notice, the ladies are seated behind. We were really lucky to be able to squeeze us in-front row. The center piece of the Mahamuni Pagoda is the Buddha statue covered with gold leaf. Only men are allowed to apply gold leaf to the Buddha statue. According to legend, the origins of the statue go back to the lifetime of Buddha. It is one of only five statues made of Buddha during his lifetime. Now the pagoda is part of the Mahamuni monastery, a teaching monastery with about 400 monks/students. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).