We flew early in the morning from Bagan to Mandalay, where the airport was new, modern and quite a bit larger. They are trying to make Mandalay an international airport but now only flights from Bangkok land here. The rest are domestic. Nevertheless, the luggage was still hauled by carts pulled and pushed by men. It was a 50 minute ride into town, and not only was the airport modern, the roads here were newer, better built and there were even toll roads. But two of the first sights that greeted us was two men on a motorcycle with shotguns on their backs and watermelons. Lots and lots of watermelons. And like everywhere in Asia, along with regular gas stations, much of the gas was still sold out of soda bottles along the side of the road.
While there are no motorbikes allowed in Yangon (as I explained there is a rumor that a high official had a motorbike accident and banned them), in Mandalay there were many, many bikes.

 

To read more about Mandalay, click on these links:

Day 4a Mandalay

Day 4b Mandalay

Day 4c Mandalay

day 5a Mandalay Mahagandayon Monastery

day 5b Mandalay U Bein Bridge

day 5c Mandalay Oo Hmin Thone Sel Pagoda

day 5d Mandalay