Day 6- Thank You

Today is our last day in Mandalay before we head to Inle Lake.  It’s been quite a trip these past few days, and I know it is just going to get better.

We started our day off visiting the biggest monastery in Mandalay. There are hundreds of monks that live at this monastery and the grounds are incredible. These monks survive solely on non-monetary donations. They diligently line up every morning to receive food donations from the public. Locals also donate their time to help cook lunch for the monks in a huge wok.  Dad decided to help out too! (Check him out in the back!) And yes, Eric is wearing a Longyi!

We then headed to the longest teak wood bridge in the world. We took a long walk over the water and saw such beautiful views of fishermen and farmers. Eric was excited about how many steps this was adding to his FitBit counter.

As we were heading to the next stop, we came across a special Buddhist ceremony where young boys were being converted to monks. Everyone was dressed up and had very colorful costumes- even the oxen were dressed!

Our last stop was the 45 Buddha Monastery. As you may have guessed, it’s a monastery that held 45 Buddhas. What was interesting about this monastery was that all the Buddhas were hidden inside a cavern where you had to climb in to actually see them and give worship to them. Eric felt a bit cramped.

We ended the day with another monastery with a beautiful 360 view. This monastery was built by a minister and had a lot of different art displays and stores. We got a cute painting to bring back home.

And that’s it for Mandalay!

My parents, aunts and uncle brought my cousins and I here in hopes of showing us what it was like for them growing up. But, after hearing my younger cousins comments about the trip, I am pretty sure we are going to leave with much more than an insight of their childhood.

From my last trip to Asia with my parents two years ago, I started to come to a realization about how lucky I am to have such a great family. It isn’t easy growing up in such harsh conditions, and to be honest, I am not sure if I would be able to do what they have done.

My cousins and I are so lucky to have such a hard working family that was able to bring us to a new country and succeed and give us the life that we have today. We owe them the world.

At the monastery today, my cousin Allen made a similar comment and I realized how special this family vacation really is. Not only are we getting together as one big family, the next generation will never forget how amazing our parents are. And for that, we thank you. We can’t wait to see what is up next for us on this trip! Next stop- Inle!

Day 5- Mandalay

It's been a day and a half here in Burma, and it's been so fun and interesting to learn more about the culture and history here in Mandalay.

We got to Mandalay early in the morning and met our family! Yes! Finally!

At the Mandalay airport, we met with our tour guide and driver and found out that we had our own personal 24 seater bus! So awesome.

Our first stop was Maha Myut Mune. Built in the early 1900s, the bug Buddha is currently adorned with tons of gold leaves donated and offered by visitors. The original statue was quite skinny and not even gold, but after the king allowed visitors to put gold leaves on it, the size has grow and the statues itself has even become a bit disfigured because of the abundant amount of gold!

Women aren't allowed to actually do the offering of gold, so the men of the group went for us. Eric couldn't get over the size and how cool the experience was.

Next stop was the Golden Palace, the home of the old king and queen. The palace grounds were huge and had so many different buildings and quarters. The king had 67 official wives with 4 chief wives, so you can imagine how much living space there is!

We then stopped for lunch and then headed for Shwe Nandaw Kyaung. Which means the golden monastery. This monastery is unique because it is in its original state. Many monasteries in the area have been rebuilt after being destroyed from the war bombings. However, this one kept intact but is no longer gold after years of weather. You can now see the original teak wood that the entire monastery is built out of. The carvings are incredibly detailed!

We then headed off to the biggest book in the world. Made of over 700 pages, each page has its own pagoda and has enscriptures of Buddha teachings. There were rows upon rows of white pagodas with a page inside each!

The last part of the day was the best. We went up to Mandalay Hill to watch the sunset. Since our bus was too big for the mountain hill, we transferred to two smaller (more fun) pickup trucks which we used to go up the mountain. Super fun! We felt like locals!

The view atop Mandalay Hill was gorgeous, and the sunset was a great ending to the day.

We're having such a great time with family, and we are learning a ton! I can't wait to see what Mandalay has in store for us tomorrow!