After watching the sunset over Mandalay to the tune of the Myanmar pups barking, we decided to venture out to find a place to have dinner. We followed the river by our hotel, and stopped along the way to see the Skinny Buddha.

It was really cool seeing the geometric depiction of Buddha lit up at night. This Buddha statue was built in 2011, and is 75 feet tall. What makes this Buddha statue unique is the fact that he is super skinny.

There was also a giant reclining Buddha at the back of the pagoda.

We then stumbled upon a festival going on at a local temple called Aung Taw Mu. The centre piece of the pagoda was a large orb shaped building, enclosing a golden stupa. This temple was the first time we encountered what we thought was a game. People gathered around a mechanized sculpture that rotated at the bottom of a pit. The people would then throw coins into the bowls that were rotating around the sculpture. We later found out that each bowl had a different wish written on in, and that people were throwing offerings at the wish that they wanted to come true. After exiting the temple, we happened upon a small makeshift looking carousel in the roadway.

We then went to a restaurant called “Joy BBQ”. We both ordered fish and they were HUGE! One fish was spicy and the other was seasoned with lemon and cilantro. We tried to eat the whole thing, but failed pretty hard. We then walked back to our hotel for the night. Ultimately I would say we felt very safe walking around Mandalay at night. I know that the situation might be different now, so take precautions and stay alert.