A Travelfish long read by Oliver Slow
First published on 1st December, 2020 |1,403 reads.
Early each morning Yin Yin Lwin walks the short distance from her Mandalay home to the moat surrounding the walls of the city’s Royal Palace, the grand structure that was built in the middle of the 19th century, and which remains the dominant edifice in Myanmar’s second biggest city.
After arriving at the palace’s eastern wall, Lwin usually walks north, in the direction of Mandalay Hill, then onwards to the northwest corner of the palace, before returning home. This morning ritual usually takes her about an hour.
“I’m getting old, so I need to do my exercises every day,” said Lwin, who is in her sixties. “I enjoy coming every morning to look at the palace.”
On the morning we met—and on most others in Mandalay—there were hundreds of other exercise enthusiasts outside the palace walls, and Lwin said she believed that the majority were, like her, either Sino-Burmese or Chinese.
“I think that must be the case, because there are so many Chinese now in Mandalay,” she said.
In many ways, this scene outside Mandalay Palace represents the perfect illustration of the city’s past, present, and likely, its future.
Please sign in to read the rest of this page. The full text is around 3,200 words.
Log in nowChoose from a free two-day pass right through to a lifetime membership.
Find out moreOliver Slow is a Southeast Asia-based writer, editor and audio producer. He is currently writing a book about Myanmar’s military, and you can read more of his work at oliverslow.com.
6 other Travelfish long reads
When Mount Agung—Bali’s tallest and most spiritually significant volcano—erupted in 2017, local and foreign media flocked to Amed on the island’s northeast coast. During the first few weeks of eruptions reporters and camera crews gathered at Sunset Point, a dusty expanse carved into the side of a cliff overlooking Jemeluk Bay, for the best view of the volcano beyond the danger zone. ... read more
Ko Pha Ngan is infamous for its long–running Full Moon Party, but there is a lot more to this idyllic, palm–fringed island than sound systems and teenagers imbibing cheap alcohol. Just 125 square kilometres in size, nestled between larger Ko Samui and smaller Ko Tao in the Gulf of Thailand, Ko Pha Ngan’s mountainous interior is drenched in evergreen rainforest, while its sandy beaches and coastal communities have been spawning subcultures from around the world for centuries. ... read more
Lenggong in Perak State, Malaysia was gazetted as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012. Created by a meteorite, the valley’s archaeological discoveries span close to two million years and it is the location of one of the oldest human settlements outside of Africa. Almost a decade later, Covid19 is the icing on a cake of neglect which some locals are refusing to swallow. ... read more
As discerning visitors to Vietnam, we should look beyond the country’s outdated stereotypes and embrace its contemporary flair. ... read more
Little is written about LGBTIQ in Laos. Why? We talk to Anan Bouapha, Laos’ most prominent advocate for people of diverse sexual and gender identities, about LGBTIQ in Laos and what the future holds. ... read more