In Burma, now called Myanmar, lies the town of Mandalay, which was the seat of the last kings of Burma, and the heart of the burmese culture, religion and art handcraft. It is found in the middle of Myanmar. The town was founded according to a prophecy of Buddha by king Mindon 200 years ago. He decorated the town with wonderful pagodas and a mighty wall. The palace of Mandalay is a town in a town and was build in 1857. It was destroyed in the 2nd world war and nowadays you can only see a simple imitation. The most important river and artery of Myanmar is the Ayeyarwaddy (Irawaddy), Kiplings’ famous “Road to Mandalay”
Robbie Williams recorded a song "The road to Mandalay". Frank Sinatra recorded “On the road to Mandalay”. This song based on the famous poem from Rudyard Kipling “Mandalay”
Way to Mandalay
I wandered down the pathway
through the misty moor
Like I knew he did a thousand times before
Voices seemed to echo
Come talk with me a while
Just around the corner
Just another mile
I had heard the stories
Her legend served her well
A mystics myth and fable
Truth or fairytale
A raggle taggle gypsy
With a toothless smile
Said "Sit with me my darling, let's talk a little while"
*And the road goes on
Seeming ever longer
On the way to Mandalay
And the road goes on
Forever will I wander
On the way to Mandalay
The mile went on forever
Minutes turned to days
Could I have been misguided
By the mystics ways?
The moment lasts forever
At least it does for me
Caught between what happened
And what could never be
By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin' lazy at the sea,
There's a Burma girl a-settin', and I know she thinks o' me;
For the wind is in the palm-trees, and the temple-bells they say;
"Come you back, you British Soldier; come you back to Mandalay!"
Come you back to Mandalay,
Where the old Flotilla lay;
Can't you 'ear their paddles clunkin' from Rangoon to Mandalay?
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin'-fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay!
'Er petticoat was yaller an' 'er little cap was green,
An' 'er name was Supi-Yaw-Lat jes' the same as Theebaw's Queen,
An' I seed her first a-smokin' of a whackin' white cheroot,
An' wastin' Christian kisses on an 'eathen idol's foot:
Bloomin' idol made o' mud--
Wot they called the Great Gawd Budd--
Plucky lot she cared for idols when I kissed 'er where she stud!
On the road to Mandalay ...
When the mist was on the rice-fields an' the sun was droppin' slow,
She'd git 'er little banjo an' she'd sing "Kulla-la-lo!"
With 'er arm upon my shoulder an' 'er cheek again my cheek
We useter watch the steamers an' the hathis pilin' teak.
Elephants a-piling teak
In the sludgy, squdgy creek,
Where the silence 'ung that 'eavy you was 'arf afraid to speak!
On the road to Mandalay ...
But that's all shove be'ind me -- long ago and fur away,
An' there ain't no 'buses runnin' from the Bank to Mandalay;
An' I'm learnin' 'ere in London what the ten-year soldier tells:
"If you've 'eard the East a-callin', you won't never 'eed naught else."
No! you won't 'eed nothin' else
But them spicy garlic smells,
An' the sunshine an' the palm-trees an' the tinkly temple-bells;
On the road to Mandalay ...
I am sick 'o wastin' leather on these gritty pavin'-stones,
An' the blasted English drizzle wakes the fever in my bones;
Tho' I walks with fifty 'ousemaids outer Chelsea to the Strand,
An' they talks a lot o' lovin', but wot do they understand?
Beefy face an' grubby 'and--
Law! wot do they understand?
I've a neater, sweeter maiden in a cleaner, greener land!
On the road to Mandalay . . .
Ship me somewheres east of Suez, where the best is like the worst,
Where there ain't no Ten Commandments an' a man can raise a thirst;
For the temple-bells are callin', and it's there that I would be--
By the old Moulmein Pagoda, looking lazy at the sea;
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the old Flotilla lay,
With our sick beneath the awnings when we went to Mandalay!
O the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin'-fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay!