"Travel isn't always pretty. It isn't always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that's okay. The journey changes you; it should change you...It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart...You take something with you. Hopefully you leave something good behind." —Anthony Bourdain
Our Dear friend Maybelle and daughter Michelle, residents of Mandalay took us to see The Golden Palace Monastery. It is heavily gilded and adorned with mythical animals, dancing figures and floral designs carved in gold relief and was once the beloved King Mindon's Royal Apartment. After his death, his son dismantled it and built a monastery in 1883 and dedicated it to the Buddhist Order. It was the only Palace Building to survive the destruction of WW ll in 1945.
This is a hotspot to visit for locals as well as overseas tourists as seen here. Michelle is ringing the monastery bell.
In the backdrop the monks are doing devotional chanting 24 hours straight for 7 days. From our room it serenades us to sleep, and I experience a deep sense of nostalgia from my meditation retreats at a monastery outside Mandalay back in the day.
