To travel here is to encounter men wear

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.

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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
‚