Introducing Mandalay

The natural focus of Mandalay (မႏၱေလး) is an abrupt hill, rising above a vast moated and walled square. It once contained the sprawling royal city but apart from reconstructed Mandalay Palace at the very centre, this is now a sparse, mostly out-of-bounds area of military encampments. Today the city’s centre sprawls for miles, the commercial heart lying south and west of the fort. Quieter monastic districts are further west towards the Ayeyarwady River.