Mandalay

walking the plank to the boat

At 4:30 AM Christmas morning we took a taxi to the pier and headed on a 12-hour float down the Irrawaddy River to Mandalay.  This boat ride was one of Morgan's favorites, as she liked seeing the stars, sunrise, and then playing with the two German boys whose only English seemed to be 'I love you Morgan' and 'I love you Isabella'.

We had two full days in Mandalay and hired our own tuk tuk (which are bigger and more sturdy than the Thailand version) to take us around the sites.  The first day was spent outside Mandalay and day two inside.  Evenings were back at the pool.

Bella is in Jeff's lap and Morgan is next to me.  It was a cold and early start to the day!

It was Christmas Day and they passed out Santa hats to everyone.  

famous U-Bein teak bridge is in the background which we walked over with a lot of other tourists.  

Lunch time

Snake pagoda.  Apparently the Burmese pythons that are donated to the temple (caught wild and brought in) that head straight for Buddha can stay, the others are not accepted.  They pulled out 3 large pythons.  Bathed them in the pool in the back of this picture, fed them and then let us touch them.  

Jade market; Bella bought a souvenir necklace here. 

A teenage looking boy (Jeff could give you the full description as he was paying close attention!) came over and asked Morgan to accept his rose.  We made her pose with it.  :-)  

A 5:30 AM departure from Mandalay to Inle Lake with a stop at a temple famous for the daily morning ceremony when the huge Buddha statue is bathed.  

A photo with the live loud 5:30 AM band accompanying the washing ceremony.