| Situated 200km into the hills of the north of Mandalay, Mogok is famed for the surrounding natural beauty and for the brilliant rubies and sapphires pulled from its red earth. At 1170 metres above sea level, the mountain basin surrounding ‘Rubyland’ enjoys a fairly temperate climate, which is much cooler than on the plains. Mogok boasts a beautiful scenery around a large lake – the Mogok Lake. In the VI century Ludovico de Varthema, an Italian merchant, after exchanging 200 rubies for some coral, told to have seen such precious jewels that they shone in moonlight. These descriptions is said to have attracted hordes of unscrupulous traders. |
