Continued from "Mandalay: Day 2A." We are still in Mingun. This is our next mode of transportation.

Our destination: The Mya Thein Tan Pagoda, built by King Bodawpaya's grandson in memory of his first consort Princess Hsinbyune who died in childbirth.

Closer-up. There are stairs inside if you want to climb to the top.

There are also stairs on the side.

The Mya Thein Tan Pagoda.

One of my tour mates on top.

The umbrella on the top of the spire.

Walking to the gate.

On the side of the walkway, an old woman smoking a cigar.

The woman.

From the front.

The vendors are lined up at the front of the gate.

The shoe watcher in the yellow tribal headdress.

On the vendor's arm, the type of necklaces that were being hawked.

A group is very interested in what is being cooked.

The feast.

Walking back to our boat: a rock that looks like an elephant.

Back in Mandalay.

Close-up of the village on the river bank.

Another close-up.

Women washing clothes. The woman on the left also has washed her hair in the river.

These children were waiting for us to disembark.

We had to walk the narrow plank again.

The children would ask if someone wanted help up the steep hill. I had grabbed onto a male tour mate for help before the children had arrived.

My tour mate totally enjoying being led up the hill.

Another tour mate, partially being helped by Supergirl.

The European tour group came in the same time we did. They had to climb over four boats. The woman in front adamantly told the child she did not want any help. I watched her stumble trying to get up the hill on her own.

On our bus again. An interesting jjuxtaposition of a colorful building and a mosque.

A church.

Another church.

Time for lunch. I had very good spring rolls.

Young nuns collecting donations from the restaurant.

Our next stop: the Shwenandow Monastery. It was originally part of the Royal Palace, built 1880. The sun was in the wrong place to take a good photo of it.

Close-up. The monastery is one of the best examples of a teak temple in Myanmar.

Closer-up.

Closer-up.

Carvings of Buddhist myths are on its walls.

Closer-up.

A carving.

Another carving.

Going up the temple steps.

Inside the temple.

Inside the temple.

Inside the temple.

Inside the temple.

"Ladies are not allowed to enter." Mojo said it was just a custom banning women here.

But we women were still allowed to take a photo of a Buddha statue in the banned area.

Back on our bus to our next stop: the Kuthodaw Pagoda.

There are 729 marble slabs here, housed in these white shrines and which are inscribed with Buddhist teachings. It is called "the world's largest book."

The marble slabs are behind bars.

Photo taken through the bars.

Close-up.

A model of the layout of the shrines.

Inside the temple.

A little girl trying to figure out where to leave her donation.

Inside the temple.

View of the white shrines from the road.

We transferred next to a truck/bus to go up to the top of Mandalay Hill.

At our destination. We were to take the elevator farther up the hill to the Sutaungpyai Pagoda to view the sunset. However, the elevator wasn't working and it was a hard 20-minute walk up the hill. I stayed below as did some of my tour mates. The ones who made the climb said it was so overcast that there wasn't any view. Tonight, there was a special dinner by Gate 1, with 11 dishes, one of them duck. After a too full day of sightseeing, half of the tour didn't go to the special dinner, me included. A sign that we were being worked way too hard.