Mt. Kyaiktiyo (Golden Rock), Hpa-An and Mawlamyine
We had a early morning taxi transfer back to Bagan airport after our 2 nights at the lovely Popa Mountain Resort. Our flight to Yangon was delayed by several hours due to fog at Yangon and this created a bit of a problem for us. We were meeting a car and driver to take us to Golden Rock overnight and were now very short of time to get there. The drive to Kinpun Base Camp took around 3.5 hours (we had to forget visiting Bago on the way) and we were worried we would not get there in time for the final truck up the mountainside that evening. For those of you not familiar with this ... to reach Golden Rock involves a truck ride of about 40 minutes from base camp to the Yatetaung terminal and from there you have to leg it up the rest of the hillside to the top, a walk of about 30 minutes or so. Some people seem to be able to ride all the way, and certainly back down, but foreigners cannot. I think it is an insurance issue or something .. easy to understand why when you experience this hair-raising journey ;-) The last truck leaves at 6 and we were there long before that, but had to wait for the truck to be full before it would depart. We sat there on an empty truck feeling rather deflated and not very hopeful, but suddenly, a pick-up arrived absolutely full of people and they piled onto the truck until it was so full we could barely breathe. With its full quota of around 60 people, we set off up the mountainside. The walk up to the very top was not as arduous as I had been led to believe. Maybe it was because it was late in the day and not so hot and sweaty, but our driver was still finding it tough all the same. I had been so hoping to reach the top for sunset, but that was out of the question now. It was dark before we arrived and checked in to the Mountain Top Hotel. Its commanding position at the top of the mountain means you pay more to stay here - our room cost us $60 but it was far nicer than I had been expecting. We did not realise what wonderful views we had from our room until the next morning, but the room itself was very nice too.
We dumped our things (we had left our main luggage back down at Kinpun and only had basic overnight things in a rucksack with us) and set out to see this important place of pilgrimage, second only in importance to Yangon's Shwedagon Paya. It is a huge golden boulder perched precariously on a cliff edge, said to be held in place by one of Buddha's hairs. We might have missed sunset, but at night it was a scene of much activity and colour. There was a strong breeze blowing, fanning the flames of the candles burning all around the shrine and being tended by monks. A large group of nuns was singing and men were placing gold leaf on the boulder itself (women are not allowed to do so). The atmosphere was electric and made all the effort of getting there worthwhile. This was another holiday highlight moment. Wow. Yes, I know I keep saying it.
The next morning we were up for the sunrise and to see huge crowds of people leaving the shrine area, having stayed there overnight. There were groups of Shan ladies who had made the journey there as a pilgrimage, plus a large number of nuns from Mandalay, visiting monks from Thailand and so it went on. Fascinating. Having read Maneki's trip report a year ago, she had mentioned this place and also that she had seen inviting looking hiking trails snaking their way across and down the jungle covered mountainside. That really inspired me and I wanted to spend longer in the area to explore further. Our agent was very helpful and he had suggested a route, which our driver enquired about with a couple of local lads when we arrived. They duly accompanied us on a day of walking which was probably one of the best days of hiking I have ever had. We initially passed lively stalls and then various pagodas and gorgeous viewpoints down over the mountainside, before heading steeply downwards ourselves. I have to mention some of the stalls, as they were selling some seriously weird things ... medicines made from hooves, goat heads, giant centipedes, monkey skulls and so on. It was quite macabre. There were potion bottles and thick black liquids everywhere. They did not want these photographed! I am glad we had our local guides, as the pathway was far from clear. At some points, we appeared to be going down through someone's home, or through a temple, but eventually we walked down through bamboo forest and thick jungle to a beautiful waterfall at the bottom and numerous bathing pools. It was idyllic. There was then a steep and rough climb back up through a small monastery and past numerous pagodas, eventually reaching Yatetaung once more for that horrendous truck ride back down to Kinpun. I've described this in some detail for those that might like to do this in future .. I was not able to find out anything about it on-line before we left, but really, this area deserves further time to explore. It is both beautiful and completely fascinating and I am so grateful to Maneki for mentioning the possibility of some decent hiking opportunities here. She was quite right! We spent that second night recovering at the lovely Golden Sunrise Hotel nearby, which at $25 a night was the bargain of our holiday.
The following day, we continued to Hpa-An, a lovely area of limestone cliffs and beautiful rural countryside. We called in at a fascinating cave temple called Bayint Nyi which had really hot natural spring bathing pools at the base and then a steep set of steps with lots of monkeys, up to a cave full of Buddha statues and pagodas. We only saw a few local visitors here; no other tourists and they all wanted to have their photos taken with us. We also visited the strange Kyauk Kalap, a small temple set on a lake with a pagoda perched on the top of a pillar of rock, like a chimney and then went on to another cave temple, Kawgun, which was the only one we had to pay to see, with lots of intricate clay paintings on the walls of the cave .. but it was less interesting for me than Bayint Nyi with all its activity. Hpa-An was a great little town too by the way. We stayed overnight at the very new and plush Zwekabin Hotel, a little outside of town, and with views over the mountain of the same name which dominates the landscape. Our room was $44 making it one of the more expensive places we used, but it was extremely luxurious.
The following day, we were keen to see Saddar Cave which involved a drive along a scenic but potholed road beneath Mt. Zwegabin with its hundreds of identical Buddha statues in an overgrown garden at its base. The road there was bad, but it got even worse beyond the village of Eindu and then ran out altogether where a bridge was being constructed. Our driver said the only way forward was by motorcycle taxi which first had to make its way across a precarious floating ramp to reach the other side. With 3 of us on one motorcycle, we made it the rest of the way to Saddar Cave, also known as Hell's Cave. We put our head torches in place, took our shoes off and made our way tentatively through the dark passages and chambers of the caves, filled with thousands of squeaking bats overhead. Not too nice squelching barefoot over what they had left behind, but we eventually made it to the other end of the cave system after about 20 minutes, emerging at a scene like something from the Lost World .. craggy limestone cliffs, palms, foliage, a lake and of course, a Pagoda. It was quite an experience and well worth doing if you like a bit of adventure.
We then drove on to lovely Mawlamyine, a super laid back town beside the Thanlwin River and with a hillside behind covered in palms and temples. It's really super. Our hotel, the Ngwe Moe, was a pleasant surprise too and all rooms had a panoramic view over the river which was particularly wonderful at sunset. We had 3 nights here, allowing 2 full days to explore the surroundings and our room was just $29 a night, although like everywhere else, the prices seem to be rising by the month so I expect it already costs more than that for new bookings.
We couldn't make full use of the whole days because it really was hot here. After half a day of touring, you were ready to crash out in your hotel room and simply stare out over that lovely river view. However, we fitted in quite a lot. On the first day we visited the "you must see this to believe it" Yadana Taung, with an approach road containing 500 almost identical and larger than life sized statues of monks with alms bowls forming an impressive avenue. They looked the same but their faces had different expressions. Beyond that was the 560ft long reclining Win Sein Taw Ya Buddhist statue. What a monster! It is still being constructed and is hollow inside, where they are creating a walk-through area with many models and pictures, depicting Buddha's life and teachings. There's also the "chamber of horrors" bit where folk who have misbehaved in this life are thrown into pits of burning oil or are speared by demonic looking monsters!!
The following day, being gluttons for punishment and having survived the truck ride up to Golden Rock, decided to do another such pilgrimage trip. This time it was to the crazy looking Nwa-La-Bo Pagoda and once again, we had to wait for a full truckload of people to make the similar 45 minute ride up the mountainside. Here, it is even harder to ensure you get one, as it receives far fewer visitors than Golden Rock. The advice is to get there early, as they run one more or less guaranteed truck at around 11am. We got there about an hour before that and shortly afterwards, as luck would have it, a pick-up of people arrived, fresh from Golden Rock, and made up the numbers. The truck then left early, at 10.30. We saw one poor chap on our way back down who had missed the truck and was walking up instead. It must have taken him a good 3 hours in blistering sunshine to get there on foot. I hope he thought it was worth it. Nwa-La-Bo was certainly an oddity, with 3 narrow boulders perched precariously on top of each other. Goodness knows how they stay in place. It was not as spectacular as Golden Rock by any means, but with our party of local people with us, it had almost a party like atmosphere to it and we enjoyed it thoroughly. On the way back, we took a short boat ride to the strangely named "Shampoo Island" which is home to lots of nuns and their dogs. The island is small but very picturesque with lots of palms and pagodas dotted all around it.
Back in Mawlamyine, we had a wonderful time in the vast covered market and observed endless rows of monks and nuns with alms bowls wandering around the town. It had a lovely atmosphere there and was a fitting end to our fabulous time in Myanmar.
My advice to anyone considering a trip there is to just GO and GO NOW before it changes too much. I feel privileged to have seen it as I have. I have uploaded lots of photos to 2 albums on Facebook and thought I might be able to copy the links here for people to see, but sadly, they don't appear to work on TA. If anyone would like to see the pictures, please send me a PM with their email contact details and I will gladly send them the links.
Sue






