Mandalay

Mandalay (/ˌmændəˈleɪ/ or /ˈmændəleɪ/; Burmese: မန္တလေး; MLCTS: manta.le: [màɴdəlé]) is the second-largest city and the last royal capital of Myanmar (Burma). Located 716 km (445 mi) north of Yangon on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, the city has a population of 1,225,553 (2014 census).

By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin' eastward to 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!" - Rudyard Kipling

Quotes

• Back to Port Blair, and onward to Rangoon
  Athirst for war news; and we heard full soon
  The loud salute resounding through the bay
  For Theebaw caught and taken Mandalay.
  • Thomas Frank Bignold, "The Holiday", Leviora (1888), p. 72

• 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!"
  • Rudyard Kipling, "Mandalay", st. 1 (1890); adapted and set to music by Oley Speaks: "On the Road to Mandalay" (1907)

• Mountains of Burma, the road to Mandalay
  In the mountains of Burma, light years away...
  • Midnight Oil, "Mountains Of Burma" (1990)

• Come back I'd like to find the time
  Plant a seed and raise a little Cain
  Come back we'll throw a rope around the moon
  And pretend that we're in Mandalay Again
  • Elton John, with Leon Russell, "Mandalay Again" (2010)

• 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.
  • Blackmore's Night, "Way to Mandalay" (2003)

• When I was young and had no sense
    In far-off Mandalay
  I lost my heart to a Burmese girl
    As lovely as the day.
  • George Orwell, "Romance", st. 1 (1925)