Mandalay was the last royal capital of Burma. It is the second largest city in Burma with about 1.2 million people. It’s about 450 miles north of Yangon and pretty much right in the center of Burma. Mandalay is the economic hub of upper Burma and considered the center of Burmese culture. There has been a large influx of Chinese immigrants to Mandalay in the last twenty years, and China is the main economic partner for this area, with India being next. Burma adjoins both China and India, along with three other countries.

Mandalay was founded in early 1857 so it is not an ancient city. It was founded by King Mindon (or Mingdon) at the foot of Mandalay Hill. Mandalay, as a capital city, only had two kings: King Mindon and his son, King Thibaw. After that, the British succeeded in their conquest of upper Burma in 1885.

Most of Mandalay was destroyed by Allied bombing during World War II. So Mandalay is not only not an ancient city, it is mostly made up of buildings built after World War II. Mandalay city is really not very special to see. Most of the buildings are just square concrete structures. The city is laid out on a grid, courtesy of the British, so it’s easy to navigate. The traffic was easy compared to Yangon. I would say there was moderate to heavy traffic in town but the traffic was always moving.

1. Most of my photos show towns, so I included the first photo. This is from our flight into Mandalay. Most of Myanmar is agriculture. Flying into all the towns, it was almost all agriculture right up to the cities. Most of what you see in the first photo is rice which is far and away the number one agriculture product of Myanmar.

2. Mandalay Hill is probably the most distinguishing landmark in Mandalay. This photo was taken across the street from our hotel. You can see Mandalay Hill in the distance. To the left is the old Royal Palace and the water is the moat around the palace.

3. The third photo was taken from atop Mandalay Hill. It was not a very clear day but in the lower left quadrant of the photo, you can see that Mandalay also has some pagodas.

4. The fourth photo is a typical traffic photo. Our guide said that there are one million motorbikes in Mandalay. Motorbikes are everywhere in Mandalay but at busy intersections, they tend to ban together and make their crossing in mass, probably for protection.

5. The second photo was taken from just to the left of this photo. Our hotel is across the street to the right of this photo. QUIZ QUESTION: What is peculiar in this last photo? (See answer below this photo)

Some of the world’s drivers are used to sitting on the left side of the car and driving on the right side of the road. The UK and most former British colonies are used to sitting on the right side and driving on the left side of the road. But how about having right hand steering and driving on the right hand side of the road? Myanmar has the distinction of having this split personality.

Myanmar was a British colony until 1948. The cars had right hand steering and drove on the left side of the road. In 1970 all traffic was moved to the right. I asked several people for the cause of the change and there are two commonly held theories, both of which point to the eccentricities of General Ne Win. One theory is that Ne Win’s wife’s astrologer said that the country would be better off driving on the right side of the road. The second is that the General had a dream that the country should switch directions. Either way, the General called the shots and traffic was directed to change sides overnight.

Despite the lane shifts, virtually every vehicle in Myanmar has right hand steering. Many vehicles are very old, and those that are considered modern are second hand imports from Japan. It isn’t just the cars that have to catch up. One can still see old traffic signs in downtown Yangon facing the wrong direction.

I would think all of this would increase accident rates and confuse drivers. Myanmar drivers, however, appear orderly, within the cities as well as in the countryside. Whether they are in two, three, four or eight-wheeled vehicles, drivers stick to the right side of the road and, despite logistical challenges, changed over without any negative consequences.

There is one anomaly we found to the right hand driving set up. The boats in Inle Lake still stick to the left when they pass each other. Perhaps time has indeed stood still in some parts of Burma.