Mandalay, Myanmar’s second biggest city, is not as beautiful or interesting a city as Bagan or Yangon. But is it still worth adding to your Myanmar itinerary?

We arrived in Mandalay after an 8 hour bus ride from Nyaungshwe. At the start of the trip, the thought of an 8 hour bus ride would have filled me with horror, but after a year of travel, I have come to discover that an 8 hour journey can pass by fairly quickly. With a fully charged laptop and phone, I settled into my comfortable seat on the JJ Express bus and watched three movies. Before I knew it, we were dropped off near the train station, just 18 minutes walk from our hostel.

How To Get To Mandalay From Nyaungshwe

We took a bus with JJ Express as we had used them twice before on our Myanmar adventure (both night buses) and found them to be very efficient and comfortable. The JJ Express office is in the centre of Nyaungshwe (map) and we booked directly with them rather than through the hostel (saving 2,000 MMK).

A shuttle bus picked us up and drove us to the pick-up point which was out of the centre. After a short drive, we stopped off in Kalaw for some food and a toilet break then we were on our way.

Where To Stay In Mandalay

These are some of the best budget hostels in Mandalay, according to user reviews. These are affiliate links to the Agoda web site. I found Agoda to be much better than booking.com in Southeast Asia. I receive a small amount for any bookings made through these links at no extra cost to you.

• Downtown @ Mandalay
• Celia Hostel Mandalay
• Richqueen Guesthouse
• Mansion Hostel Mandalay
• Ostello Bello Mandalay
• Hotel Boss – Mandalay

Ostello Bello Mandalay

Whilst in Bagan, we spent a night drinking and playing guitar with other travellers in a hostel called ‘Ostello Bello’. It seemed a very social place and when we discovered they also had a property in Mandalay, we decided to stay there.

‘Ostello Bello’ (map) is located just south of Mandalay Palace. It is ideally located and is surrounded by many restaurants. We arrived to check-in and found a reception area with all the amenities and some great wall art.

We had booked a bunk-bed in a 4-person mixed dorm. The room had its own bathroom which was very convenient. Each bed had two plug sockets and USB sockets, meaning charging our devices was not a problem. Each bed also had a storage space underneath. The storage was big enough to store two backpacks and other items. WiFi worked perfectly (eventually) and the air-con was effective and 24 hours.

On the floor above our room, we found a chill area and above that was the rooftop bar.

The bar is only open until around 10.30 pm but you can then go to the reception which is open and sells beer 24 hours. A free breakfast is available between 7 and 10 am.

The staff were very friendly and talkative and the rooms were cleaned every day. There are eight ‘Ostello Bello’ hostels in total, equally divided between Myanmar and Italy. They are a great place to stay if you would like to meet other travellers. I would still choose ‘Baobabed’ as my first choice in Myanmar, but ‘Ostello’ are a close second.

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We paid £64.46 for a four night stay for two in a 4-person mixed dorm with shared bathroom. Use the code ‘hotstuff’ directly through their web site to receive a 10% discount.

Click here to book a stay at ‘Ostello Bello’.

Things To Do In Mandalay

Mandalay Market

We headed out in the blazing sun to explore a little of Mandalay. We headed to the south of the palace so we could walk along side the surrounding moat and fortress walls.

After around 30 minutes walking, we reached the clock tower and turned left and into the ‘Zay Cho Market’ (map). This is an interesting, amazingly colourful market where you can buy clothes, fabrics, spices and just about everything else you may need! It is very easily to get lost in its narrow alleys that weave among stalls overflowing with goods. At one point, we asked a vendor where the stairs were to go downstairs and he reacted so slowly, I actually thought he didn’t know as it had been so long since he had been outside the market!

As we were exploring the market, we were approached by a man who was curious about where we were from. He went on to explain that he provided medicines for a tribe who didn’t use money so instead gave him local crafts which he then sold in the market. He was desperate to show us his collection and made it clear that he would not pressure us to buy. His collection was interesting and he also showed us a number of photos of the tribe.

Zay Cho Market Opening Times: 6 am – 5 pm, every day.

Streets Of Mandalay

Moving on, we wandered around the streets of Mandalay taking in the sights of the locals going about their everyday lives.

After some poor food at ‘SP Bakery & Cafe’ (map), we headed back to the hostel to relax before enjoying the sunset from the rooftop bar.

Ned Kelly Hotel & Irish Pub

We headed out in the evening to the nearby ‘Ned Kelly Hotel & Irish Pub’ (map). We had heard live acoustic music coming from the rooftop bar the previous evening but there was no live entertainment on this occasion. I had a mixed grill which was very good but Joanna’s veggie burger was terrible. It was tasteless mush that poured from the bread roll when she bit into it. Just awful. Don’t bother coming here if you’re a veggie.

I spent the rest of the evening watching live football on my laptop in the hostel bar before switching to the reception area to finish my beer. It was here I met a German and an American guy who were very drunk and amusing. I ended up staying drinking with them until nearly 4 am!

Mingalabar

My late night meant the next day was one of chilling. We finally left the hostel for a late lunch at the highly-rated ‘Mingalabar’ (map). I ordered a mutton curry which came with numerous side dishes. The food was good but perhaps not quite as amazing as we had been led to believe.

Mandalay Hill

Our final day in Mandalay meant we had to finally visit the main tourist spots. First up was Mandalay Hill (map).

We took a taxi to the starting point of the climb. It was a fairly easy climb, compared to other hills we had conquered on our journey, with steps leading all the way to the top. On the way, we passed through many pagodas, temples and Buddhas.

The hill offers some great viewpoints over the city.

At the top of the hill is a grand temple which has a small fee for admission.

Kuthodaw Pagoda

After leaving the hill, we headed over to ‘Kuthodaw Pagoda’ (map) a stupa that contains the world’s largest ‘book’. The stupa is surrounded by 729 small caves; each one holding a single marble slab with inscriptions of the Tripitaka (Buddhist text).

There is a fee to enter Kuthodaw pagoda and this also allows you admission to the Mandalay Palace. We, however, found our way in through a side entrance  and didn’t have to pay. We didn’t see all of the pagoda, but we saw enough. Getting in for free meant we would have to pay the full amount just to see Mandalay Palace and, as it was mostly rebuilt in the 1990’s, we decided to skip it.

Kuthodaw Pagoda Opening Times: 8 am – 8 pm, Mon – Sat. 8 am – 4.30 pm, Sun.

Is Mandalay Worth Visiting?

Mandalay was our last destination in our Myanmar adventure and I have to say it was my least favourite. It is a big city and there isn’t a great deal to do here. Most people fly in and out of either Mandalay or Yangon. In my opinion, Yangon is the much more interesting city, though other travellers’ opinions of Yangon have not been entirely positive.

Mandalay is worth a couple of days of your time but I would recommend moving on to the other, much more interesting and beautiful places that Myanmar has to offer.