We only had one night to spend in Mandalay. Me and my friend did not have much idea what this city has to offer. But of course we did our research before embarking on our five-day journey to this beautiful country called Myanmar and had U-Bein Bridge and Mandalay Hill on top of our bucket list.

Sadly, due to time constraints, we were unable to visit these two. We ended up just biking in the surrounding area. Gladly, our choice of accommodation, Hotel by Red Canal, assisted us with our inquiries without any hesitations and so our initial apprehension to explore the unknown disappeared.

The sun was unrelenting. But we took courage and beat the noontime rays as we proceeded to Shwe Nan Daw Monastery. We bid our time and admired the pagoda, people-watched and took some nice shots that we could show back home.

It was actually fun reading the map provided to us as we tried figuring out by ourselves if we reached the correct place. Not wanting to get lost, we still asked a few locals if we were heading towards the right direction.

I recall when we were in the bus on our way to Mandalay, I think we caught a glimpse of Mandalay Hill. But I could be wrong. We were advised that it can not be biked from where we were as we need to actually climb up the more than 1700 steps. We should have opted for a motorbike or a car perhaps.

Fighting our hunger (mind you, we have not eaten our lunch then yet), we passed by Kuthodaw Pagoda. There were only a handful of visitors upon our arrival which delighted the photo enthusiast in me. We were rewarded with the best weather as the sun decided to not play hide and seek. The sun rays shone brightly over the oh-so white place of worship.  Its stuppas a stark white under the hot blazing sun.

Our visit in Mandalay was short but of course it was still worth it. I found our stay as relaxing and promising at the same time. Relaxed in the sense that we were not always in a hurry.  Promising because a second visit here is sure in the offing.