To travel here is to encounter men wear

(coco) #1

206


MANDALAY & AROUND


MANDALAY


beware of dangerously missing and rotting
fl oorboards.
The throne room is the palace’s most
striking building, a soaring multi-layered
pyramid of gilt fi ligree. Linked behind this is
the ‘Hall of Victory’, then the so-called Glass
Palace (aka Central Palace), where the kings
lived. It was so named not because of any
windows, but because King Thibaw slept in
a four-poster bed made with glass pillars.
This bed still exists, and is today displayed
at the Culture Museum, the westernmost
building within the palace oval, which was
once Chief Queen’s Audience Hall. The mu-

seum also includes 13 life-sized models of
former cabinet members in traditional attire
and some great vintage photos: the Burmese
envoys to France must have caused a stir in
costumes that even Gaultier couldn’t have
topped.
Many other buildings within the oval are
open but empty. Outside the oval (and thus
out of bounds), you might spy the tomb of
King Mindon, ruined narrow-gauge trains
that once ferried tourists around, sheds con-
taining over 600 stone inscription slabs and
a small airplane on some rocks in the trees.

6


6


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Mandalay
Palace

No entry for
foreigners

SHAN
DISTRICT

Shweta
Chaung

86th St Fort Moat
Market

Man Myanmar
Shopping
Plaza

Produce
Market

8 2n

d

St

87

th

St

29thSt
78

th St

24 thSt

EindawyaSt

(^28) thSt
31stSt
32 nd St
25 thSt
3 3rd St
85
thSt
8 0th St
86
thSt
79
th S
t
82nd
St
30th St
27 thSt
(^23) rdSt
83
rd
St
8 1s
tSt
(^22) ndSt
PinyaSt
BayintnaungRd
84
th
St
84
thSt
(^26) thSt
80
th
St
Lanlei Mandalay
Paya
Clock
Tower SacredHeart
Cathedral
Fire
Lookout
Tower
TMW
Tower
Central
Mosque
Central
Hotel
Kyauk
Mosque
45
46
34
36
37
40
(^4442)
39
38
33 35
31 30
3
32
43
47
41
16
21
18
19
20
22
17
15
25
23
26
24
14
29
28
27
2
1
8
13
12
9
10
7
11
6
4
5
See Northern Mandalay
Map (p204)
5
4
3
1
C
B C
2
5
4
3
1
2
B
A
A D
D
Central Mandalay

To Thiri Mandala
bus station
(270m)
e#0400m00.2miles

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