Begin your sightseeing tour of Mandalay with a visit to Mahamuni Pagoda. This pagoda is home to one of the country’s most revered Buddha images which, over the years, have been covered with gold leaf giving it an almost ‘lumpy’ texture. Mandalay is well known for its skilled craftsmen and as you tour traditional workshops, you will learn more about the city’s cottage industries. Observe the production of wood carvings, kalaga tapestries, and gold-leaf where the techniques remained unchanged from those used centuries ago to craft items for the Royal Court. Continue from here to Mandalay Hill, which rises 240 metres above the city, for great views of the surrounding countryside, Irrawaddy River and city centre. At the base of the hill you’ll stop to visit Shwe Nandaw Kyuang- or Golden Palace Monastery- which is noted for its intricate wood carvings and to Kayuk Taw Gyi Pagoda to view the huge marble Buddha. The marble is from Sagyin quarry and took 10,000 men almost two weeks to transfer the rock from the riverside to its current location. Finally we’ll visit Kuthodaw Pagoda, Myanmar’s first World Heritage site, home to ‘the world’s largest book’, a collection of more than 700 marble slabs inscribed with Buddhist