Upon our arrival at the new Bagan bus station, we
spent 15 minutes of haggling to get a Jeep to bring us to Manisanda Hotel, the agreed rate was 8000 Kyats. This probably is the only bad
experience we encounter in our trip. Those barkers have guts to offer us high rates, and yet they are not
the one who will be driving! Hope the Bagan tourism office can
impose some regulation on this, perhaps a fix rate or a published
pricing list, to give tourists a smooth welcome experience.
Mandalay is the second-largest city and the last royal capital of Burma. The city gets its name from the nearby Mandalay Hill. The root word has been speculated to be: "Mandala" (meaning, circular plains), "Mandare" (believed to mean "auspicious land"), or "Mandara" (a mountain from Hindu mythology).
Trang is famous for their roast pork, dim-sum and cakes! Is it ironic for Dim-sum to be a specialty dish in this part of Thailand? It is because there are several Chinese descendants living in Trang.
During our one night stop over in Bangkok - on the way to Mandalay, we tasted a wide range of gastronomic food within a span of 16 hours! From Wet Market food stalls, to a fine dining - Thai restaurant.