When I was in high school I had to write a report about Burma and have ever since wondered what it would be like to visit. Now called Myanmar, I flew into Mandalay for the beginning of five day visit this morning. I spent the entire day on foot and there was much to photograph with much of my attention captured by the fascinating people of the city.

I paused for a 30 minutes to watch as a human “bucket brigade” passed what looked like large deep metal serving plates filled with concrete from the mixer to the new foundation being “poured” below. It appeared to be back breaking work made even worse by the 100 degree plus temperatures.

I covered more than 12 miles in all making the trek from my hotel near the train station to Mandalay Hill and back taking in all the sights along the way.

The Royal Palace is a walled city built in 1861 by King Mindon, to fulfil a prophecy.  Access to the interior is only available at the East gate and photography is strictly limited to the actual palace which is a distant 2/3 of a mile from the gate.

Mandalay Hill is a 754 foot high hill overlooking the city. Along the path taken to reach the top are several monasteries, temples and pagodas.