my brain is melting in mandalay
so here i am in mandalay, which is basically myanmar's second-biggest city, sitting on this river called irrawaddy. it's weird because it's only about 80 meters above sea level but feels like a million degrees. i just checked and it's 31 degrees celsius there right now, hope you like that kind of thing. feels like being in an oven that's also a sauna.
this place was founded back in 1857 by some king mindon, and it was the last royal capital before the british showed up and ruined everything in 1885. there have been some massive earthquakes here too - like an 8.2 in 1839 and a 7.0 in 1956. someone told me that the ground shakes so much sometimes that people just stand there and wait for it to stop, like it's normal or something. weird.
the climate here is basically tropical but without much rain, which is weird for southeast asia. we're talking like 33 inches of rain a year compared to places that get way more. but the temperature swings are insane - it's like 38 degrees celsius in the hot season and then drops to 16 at night. my skin can't decide whether to sweat or shiver.
if you get bored, yangon is just a short drive away, about 631 km south. someone told me that the food in yangon is better, but mandalay is supposed to be this culinary capital? not seeing it. mostly just rice dishes and spicy stuff that makes me regret eating it later.
the palace here is kinda cool, though it's not the original one since the british burned it down. mandalay hill gives you a good view of the whole city, which is good because when you're down there, all you see is dust and heat. someone told me that the locals think tourists are crazy for coming in march-may when it's over 35 degrees every day. i agree with them.
population is over a million people here, mostly bamar burman folks with their monastic life and festivals. it's the cultural hub, whatever that means. mostly just a lot of temples and people trying to sell you stuff.
be careful if you come here - the heat is no joke, and there's always this risk of the ground opening up and swallowing you whole because of the tectonic plates. the air quality isn't great either, and the dust gets everywhere. someone told me that the best time to visit is november-february when it's slightly less murderously hot.
what's weird is that this place gets so much sun, unlike yangon which gets all the rain. it's like they're in two different countries. but then again, it's myanmar, so who knows what's real here. everything feels a little surreal when you're sweating through three shirts before breakfast.
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