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Published: February 24th 2014
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Southern Myanmar We were all excited to be back in this fascinating country, and relieved to find that tourism has not yet made its mark. The only noticeable changes in Yangon were the odd ATM (including one within the Shwedogan Pagoda Complex!) and a half empty shopping mall in the city centre. But outside of Yangon we found the same friendly faces going about their way of life and unique culture (and the same battered vehicles) as if preserved in a time capsule.
We were heading south on this second visit to Myanmar, away from the more popular tourist destinations of the north, into the previously off limits States of Mon and Kayin, close to the borders with a Thailand and Cambodia. With the exception of Mount Kyaiktiyo or Golden Rock there are no other specific attractions in this region, however given a third chance to revisit Myanmar we would without hesitation return to the south.
Mount Kyaiktiyo (Golden Rock) The journey to reach Golden Rock is just as thrilling as visiting the famous balancing boulder stupa itself. If you are not a pilgrim prepared to walk for 4 hours up the mountain, then the only way
up is by public open sided truck, from the town of Kinpun at the base of the mountain. We piled on the truck alongside local families with their picnics, monks and peanut sellers, all squashed like sardines on benches, with nothing to hold on to except our neighbours, for a hairy 45 minute roller coaster ride up and around the mountain. Whilst we prayed that the brakes were in good order the monk next to Rob, obviously a regular truck-goer, was grinning from ear to ear.
Like many legends, that of the Golden Rock has various versions, but the general story goes that in the 11th century, the Buddha gave a lock of his hair each, to 6 hermits living in the hills surrounding the mountain. One of the hermits thought that the hair should be preserved and asked the King to enshrine it in a boulder the shape of the Buddha's head. The King found a boulder at the bottom of the sea and used magic powers to transport it up to the mountain, where the hair was enshrined and the stupa placed on the top.
Although only men are permitted to touch and affix gold leaf
to the boulder itself, the surrounding square was filled with the same peaceful friendly, family atmosphere as at Shwedagon Pagoda. Families picnicked, and joined the monks in walking in an anticlockwise direction round the rock, and as usual Eve found herself in many a family photograph other than ours. We were lucky with the sunset and the golden boulder glowed brightly as the sun went down. but the temperature plummeted and we retreated to our hotel leaving the pilgrims to bed out for the night.
Hpa An The next morning, after another roller coaster ride down the mountain, we drove further south to Hpa An, famous for its limestone karst and rice field scenery. We stayed on the outskirts of the town with an amazing view over the paddies. In the evening we hopped on a public truck into the town to explore, losing our way in a hectic street market crammed with villagers selling their produce 'fresh from the garden'. Fantastic fresh produce that beats any supermarket hands down, with grapefruit the size of footballs and runner beans a foot long.
The countryside around Hpa An was very scenic, with flat rice fields extending for miles
but dotted with huge limestone outcrops and the glitter of golden stupas here and there. The many limestone caves in this area are literally stuffed full of even more stupas and statues of the Buddha dating as far back as the 7th century, rarely visited and peaceful spots where we saw no other tourists, only monks and monkeys.
Saddar Cave We persuaded a local guide to take us to Saddar Cave, a 'must see' according to the Lonely Planet but surprisingly unheard of by most people that we asked. As we eventually crawled in a minibus down a bumpy dirt road through rice paddies we began to wonder, but the reward was worth the effort, described by Eve:
We drove down a bumpy track through a small village and rice paddies which led to a huge limestone rock with two white elephant statues guarding the entrance to the cave. We had to remove our shoes because the cave was filled with statues and carvings of the Buddha. The cave was enormous and filled with stalactites and stalagmites as well as shrines and statues and carvings. It was extremely dark too, and under our bare feet it felt slimy and bumpy and a bit scary. Half way through the cave we heard thousands of bats above us and wondered if we were walking on bat poo! After about 20 minutes of darkness we reached the other side of the mountain and stepped out of the cave to see a beautiful lake. We paid some money to a boy not much older than me who paddled us in a small canoe through another amazing cave to another lake where some fishermen lived. Our feet were black when we came back to the minibus and a little bit smelly !
Mawlamyine Mawlamyine, the third largest city in Myanmar, used to be the capital of British Burma in the 19th century and today displays an odd unattractive mix of crumbling colonial buildings and equally dilapidated concrete houses and shops. In complete contrast however, the string of stupas and monasteries along the hilly ridge behind the town seemed like a haven of tranquility and we spent a whole afternoon exploring these magnificent buildings, ending with great sunset views over the city.
Bilu Kyun (Ogre Island) We never found the origin of the name, but we certainly didn't see
any ogres here, only friendly Mon people going about their daily way of life. We joined the public ferry to get to the island from Mawlamyine, familiar by now to being squashed like sardines, this time along with locals returning to the island with baskets of goods, bicycles and even an old fashioned sewing machine. Eve counted 126 bodies on board this tiny river boat, as well as four motorbikes and two bicycles. Thank goodness the river was calm.
Ogre island's claim to fame is as Myanmar's sole producer of rubber bands, as well as an imaginative range of other hand made products from wooden walking sticks, wooden pencils, bamboo hats and even coconut teapots. We enjoyed a day exploring the villages by tuk tuk, drinking copious cups of green tea as we were invited into house after house to see villagers at work. How we are going to carry the two huge bamboo hats that we were persuaded to buy for 50p a piece I'm not sure...
More Pagodas... A long list of significant Pagodas and religious sites can be found within easy reach of Mawlamyine and within Mon State. We packed 6 of them into
the remaining day and a half that we had to explore the area. Each as magnificent and impressive as the other for different reasons: Pa-Auk-Taw-Ya Monastery, one of the largest meditation centres in Myanmar; Win Sein Taw Ya Buddha, a massive 560ft long reclining statue complete with temples and shrines inside its legs and stomach; and Yele Paya, stretching out into the sea, claiming to hold a Buddha image that was floated there from Sri Lanka in ancient times.
All in all we ticked off Pagodas, monasteries and religious sites during our brief visit to Southern Myanmar of only 8 days. Did we ever tire of seeing these sites? Of removing our shoes to enter and of ending the day with blackened soles? Of course not. And we are sure anyone who is lucky enough to visit this magical country will feel the same.
Next stop Yunnan and Guanxi in China, have we got enough warm clothes ? I fear not….
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