On the Ayeyarwady, river cruise ships moor at Gawein Jetty, at the end of 35th Street, or on the bank at Shwe Kyet Yet, facing the Sagaing Hills. The centre of Mandalay is about seven kilometres away, roughly a twenty-minute drive. The last royal capital of Burma before British colonization, the city preserves a wealth of monasteries, pagodas and craft traditions that make it the cultural and religious heart of the country. The visit feels like a journey back into the history of a kingdom that vanished in 1885.

The Palace and Its Square Walls

In the centre of the city, the former royal city forms a perfect square two kilometres on each side, surrounded by red brick walls and a moat that reflects the watchtowers. The palace, rebuilt after the destruction of the Second World War, evokes the court of King Mindon, who founded the city in 1857. The walk along the moat, shaded in places, offers one of the most recognizable urban landscapes in Myanmar.

Mahamuni, the Gold-Covered Buddha

South of the city, Mahamuni Pagoda houses the most revered image in the country after Yangon's Shwedagon Pagoda. Every day, worshippers apply thin sheets of gold leaf to the statue, whose silhouette thickens year after year under this accumulated devotion. The atmosphere remains that of a great living pilgrimage site: offerings, chanted prayers and families who have come from all over the country.

The World's Largest Book

At the foot of Mandalay Hill, Kuthodaw Pagoda displays 729 marble slabs engraved with the entire Buddhist canon, each sheltered under its own white pavilion. The ensemble is often described as the world's largest book. A few steps away, Shwenandaw Monastery, built entirely of carved teak, is the only building that survives from the former royal palace: its intricately carved panels give a precise idea of what the vanished city was like.

The Hill of Covered Stairways

The most energetic will climb the sacred hill by its long covered stairways, barefoot as custom requires; a road also lets vehicles reach almost to the top. Up there, the terrace reveals the plain, the river and the Sagaing Hills bristling with stupas. At the end of the day, the low-angled light turns this panorama into one of the finest memories of a voyage up the Ayeyarwady.

The Gold Leaf Workshops

Between Mahamuni and the centre, the gold beaters' quarter carries on a spectacular craft: with hammers, workers thin the metal for hours until they obtain sheets finer than a breath, the very ones worshippers buy for the statue. The workshops can be observed freely, and the steady ringing of the mallets makes up the most characteristic soundtrack of the royal city. Nearby, marble carvers' stalls and bronze foundries supply monasteries across the entire country.

Distances From the Jetties

The river cruise lines' excursions cover most of these sites; on your own, taxis and three-wheelers can be hired by the day. Wear shoes that are easy to slip off, as religious sites are always entered barefoot.

Heading back to the jetty, you pass lines of monks in maroon robes, carts loaded with vegetables and workshops where gold leaf is hammered as it was a century ago. Mandalay doesn't try to charm: it simply carries on its life as a spiritual capital, and that is precisely what makes it so memorable. The river, for its part, keeps flowing toward Bagan and its thousands of temples, like an invitation to extend the journey.