Myanmar – fascinating, new, interesting. Lovely people.

The main reason why I wanted to visit Myanmar is because it has only been open to international tourism for a few years and it is unspoiled from that perspective.  There is a vast difference between Myanmar and its wealthier, more developed neighbour, Thailand, but that is the essence of Myanmar that makes it such an interesting, wondrous country – it is the way it is and has been for ages.

Myawaddy is a bustling, busy city because it is at the border with Thailand and is on a main supply route to the interior. Traffic is crazy, the sound of hooters drowns out almost any other noise.

There is a lovely new highway to Kawkareik, just 40 kms distant but the village itself is still quaint and in its own time zone.  The villagers shop at the local market which spills into the streets and you traverse it slowly, wending your way between dogs, chickens, people, cars, scooters and vans, piles of fruit and vegetables, meat and fish stalls, cell phone shops and restaurants.

Hpa An is the capital of the Kayin (Karen) state but has remained undisturbed for years.  Now that the highway is being built to link Myawaddy with Hpa An, the city is undergoing a metamorphosis.

New buildings and modern architecture are in evidence, tourists are taking an interest so guest houses, hotels, coffee shops and restaurants are catering for the trade.  However, downtown Hpa An is still fascinating with the daily market providing fresh food and affordable fashion for the locals and the winding alleys full of mom ‘n pop stores and restaurants keeps the city anchored in the Myanmar lifestyle.

The night market serves a great variety of Myanmar food at very reasonable rates.  I was too busy buying food to remember to take a picture (Sorry!)  Several of us from the guest house went to buy food at the night market and sat  dining on a pier overlooking the river.

Supper with friends from the guest house – Hpa An night market

Hpa An has a fair selection of tourist attractions and, thanks to the Karst Mountains, has many limestone caves much like Ipoh in Malaysia.  Caves are very special in the Buddhist philosophy so they have pagodas and Buddha icons in many of them.  These are the main attractions.  I rented a scooter for the day and had fun doing 60 kph on two wheels for a change.

My first stop was the Kyauk Ka Latt Pagoda.  The reason for my choice?  Quite simple, when pronounced the name sounds exactly like “Chocolate”  Why would I not go there?

It is an interesting Pagoda, set on an island in a lake and perched on a fairly unstable looking rock.  You can go up about halfway as a tourist, the monks climb a very rickety ladder system to get to the top.  Lots of very big fish in the lake as all the tourists feed them.

Kyaut Ka Latt Pagoda – Chocolate Pagoda

Next I went to the Bayin Nyi Caves.  A monastry is situated here and they have hot springs in which you can bathe – separate ponds for men and women – anyone who knows me will understand that I’m not a fan of communal bathing in warm water so I gave that a miss.  The cave was large and went quite far into the mountain. I only ventured in a short distance.

Bayin Nyi Pagoda

Bayin Nyi with hot spring in foreground

My third and final visit for the day was , for me, the best of all.  I went to the Bat Cave, sadly Batman and Robin were elsewhere saving the world from apocalypse no doubt so I was able to concentrate on the people I met and the bats.  On my arrival I met Mirjam and Paul from Belgium who are in Myanmar to visit their son who is doing an internship in Yangon.  We had a fairly long wait for the bats to wake up and exit the cave so we enjoyed such good conversation and rapport. So good to meet them.  Then we were joined by Raoul from Spain who, like me, is a solo tourist and I enjoyed his company.   Then the bats went out to dine….what an incredible experience – the official estimate is more than 100 000 bats,  The parade starts slowly, first one, then a couple, wait a few minutes, a couple more, then all of a sudden a mass exodus… bats, bats ,bats and a rain of droplets on your head which I can only say brings good luck!  It is incredible – not just the flight of the bats but the swarms in the distance as they head for their favourite restaurants.  I am blessed by life, the universe and bat droppings!

But I had to move on from Hpa An and in the morning I rode to Thaton and thence to Kyaikto.  For those who do not know – foreigners in Myanmar have to stay in government licenced hotels or guesthouses.  I may not camp on a beach or in a forest or ask to stay in a monastery or a police station so my itinerary is solely based around where I can find a guest house.  I had a lovely surprise in Kyaikto.  I had just arrived and checked in at the approved guesthouse, looked after Bobbie the bike, had a shower and put on semi-fresh civvies and headed to the bus station to go to the Golden Pagoda.  I bought a drink at a restaurant and when I turned round I saw the friends from Hpa An (pictured above).  They had hitch-hiked from Hpa An just arrived in Kyaikto and were heading for Yangon.

Anyway I caught the bus to Kin Pun and then from there, a 3 ton truck (also called a bus) with seven rows of seats, each row seating 6 people up to the Golden Rock Pagoda.  It’s a crazy ride.  Very quickly up a very steep, very narrow, very winding road about 8kms to the top of the mountain.  If you suffer from motion sickness, I suggest you get a seat at the end of a row so you get fresh air and can vomit whenever!  I say “very quickly” but that does not take into account a stop at the entrance to the National  Park for a local official to shake a silver collection bowl and harangue the captive audience for 10 minutes exhorting donations.  Most of the citizens looked in the opposite direction, gazing into the far distance (as did I ) and some gentle souls gave donations.  At this point I wish to say I was fully aware of the 10 000 Kyats “Foreigners Cultural Tax Donation” to be paid at the top so I was not volunteering any more at the bottom!  Then there was the 20 minute wait a little later for traffic coming down the mountain.  I highly approved of that once I saw the road from then upwards.

Eventually you get to the top and there is a 15 minute walk to the Golden Rock and that includes time to fork out  the 10 000 Ks,  take my shoes off and zip on the extended trouser legs to my shorts as knees are not allowed to be shown at the Pagoda.

It is pretty impressive,  there is a large precinct with installations dedicated  to the life of Buddha and of course, the balancing rock itself.  As you will see from the picture, the rock is covered in gold leaf with a pagoda on top.  It looks as if the rock will fall any moment but local tradition says that it will not because a single hair of Buddha prevents it from crashing into the pilgrims and tourists sitting on the benches below.  This is the third most important pilgrim shrine in Myanmar and it is treated most respectfully. I like that.

Bus to the Golden Rock

Golden Rock Pagoda

Me

Today I cycled to Bago and on Friday 08 June I will be in Yangon.  That will mark 3 months since I left home.  I’ve visited 4 countries and I have cycled 3439 kms since Singapore.  I am having the most amazing adventure.  Thank you all for your comments, messages and support.  Please keep it all coming, I draw a lot of strength from them.