“The Road to Mandalay” and Burma in general conjures up images of Asia at its most Traditional and Timeless. To me, it represents that and much more.
My last trip to Myanmar (Burma) was in 2010. I had gone on several three week silent meditation retreats at Kyaswa Monastery outside of Mandalay from 2005-2010. Few Americans could be seen traveling there. That has all changed since Obama eased US sanctions against the country in 2016 to reward their recent moves toward democracy after decades of military rule. I can’t wait to share the experience Burma with Cecile, our first stop before continuing on to Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Southern Vietnam.
My daughter Michelle and son—in-law Kyle, visited Myanmar last October. Local resident and friend Maybelle escorted them around Mandalay and took them to visit Kyaswa Monastery, overlooking the great Irrawaddy River, where I spent all those years in meditation. Our good friends Jimi and Jennifer Hunter recently returned from Myanmar, declaring it one of their best overseas trips of all time.
Yesterday, our friends and yoga buddies for many years Dee Blumenthal and Kathy Ramos, emailed me this photo taken of them in front of the 2500 year old Shwedagon Pagoda (aka the Great Dragon Pagoda and/or the Golden Pagoda, located in Yangon (formerly Rangoon). It is a 326-foot tall gilded stupa that enshrines strands of the Buddha’s hair and other relics). It used to be my first stop-must see-must experience pilgrimage before flying to Mandalay. Dee described it aptly as a “feast for the eyes.” it is adorned with 27 metric tons of gold leaf and thousands of diamonds and other precious gems. After dark, when the pagoda is all lit up, it takes on even more of mystical quality than it does in the light of day when the grand dome glistens in the sun. It is no wonder it is referred to as the “Crown of Burma.”
When I was younger the only thing I knew about Burma (aka Myanmar since the ruling military junta changed its name) was the Burma Shave commercials, old British war movies, and Bob Hopes movie: "The Road to Mandalay). Later, I knew it to be a place where short-story writer, poet and novelist, Rudyard Kipling (The Jungle Book and The Man Who Would be King) had visited the Shwedagon Pagoda and Mandalay in the late 1800s when he was 24 years old. Kipling wrote a poem called “Mandalay" that illustrated his nostalgia and longing as a soldier of the British Empire for Asia’s exoticism.
American Composer, Oley Speaks, best hit song “On the Road to Mandalay,” took the lyrics from Kipling’s poem and it became his first million-selling single.
What awaits us when we arrive in Mandalay is the exotic Mandalay Hill Hotel (photo) where we will stay for four nights before we go on to visit the ancient temple city of Bagan.
Photo with the children was taken in Mandalay in 2010
