TA-ZAUNG-DINE LIGHT FESTIVAL

After four month of rain comes a successions of festive months starting with Thadingyut lights festival. Come Tazaungmone, still another lights festival even more elaborate with the usual trimmings of music, dances and show. It is rather convenient, so say fun-loving Myanmar, that the paper lanterns and decorations are still in fairly good condition to be put up again in three weeks' time.
Tazaungdine festival, as the lights festival in the month of Tazaungmone is called, is more or less a folk festival, probably pre-Buddhist, so originally without any Buddhist significance.

Riding a boat in Taungthaman

The best time to travel to U Bain Bridge (U Pain Bridge) is in the afternoon. The view of sunset from and around the bridge is perhaps the most beautiful scene around Mandalay. The weather is also cooler and more comfortable, with cool light breeze blowing over the scerene lake. You can sit on the river bank of Taungthaman Lake, sipping beer with fried shrimps and fishes freshly caught from the lake. Then, take a boat ride along Taungthaman Lake. Walk along the bridge until the end, and meet the local villagers coming back from work to their villages on the other side of the Lake. You will realize this is the best place in Mandalay.