Mandalay Myanmar Street Photography

Updated September 10, 2022

For the last few weeks of my trip I traveled around Burma on my own. My first impression upon landing in Mandalay (or driving from the airport) was “wow, the land is sparse.” It felt like endless open, dry space for miles…every once in a while a horse cart would trot by, making you feel like you were in the turn of the century.

While standing in the airport figuring out transportation, I met a couple (or I would later learn two people that met traveling- who are now, by the way, expecting their first child!) Cam and Sarah. We decided to share a taxi to our accommodation and in the process we exchanged information and agreed to maybe meet up. Little did we know that if you are a forienger traveling in Burma, you will likely see the same foreigners in each city you go.. we ended up traveling together for a week.

Burma has long been an isolated country, and even today many of it’s towns and cities are not open to foreigners, and therefore, there is a definite “backpacker trail.” I decided to fly into Mandalay from Bangkok, and I’m so glad I did because I feel like I got to see the “Old Burma” as opposed to the modernity of the capitol, Yangon. I stayed at a small hotel called AD 1 which was located right by the market – a great location especially for photographers and cost about $6 a night.