We had read, while doing our research on Myanmar, that the road that takes you anywhere from the Mae sot crossing only operates on alternate days. The traffic goes west one day and then east the following. The lady who booked our bus ticket for us assured us that the traffic would be going in the direction we wanted when we arrived, and we took her word for it since she was herself Burmese. But no, the traffic wasn't going west until the following day, and so we were told we would need to stay the night at the border and leave the next day. This wasn't ideal since we only had a short time in Burma and didn't really want to waste a day at the border.
While looking for some accommodation we were approached by a taxi driver who asked if we wanted to share a car with another couple who were going to Pha-an and that the cost would be cheaper the more people were in the car. We asked how he planned to get to Pha-an with the road being closed to traffic going west, but he advised that there was a "new road" that we could use that would get us there in only 4 hours. We met with the couple and decided that, although we had planned to travel further than Pha-an, we would be arriving by lunch time and would hopefully be able to organise some onward travel from there.
So there is a new road, or should I say there will be a new road. It is very much still under construction and our driver had to bride all the men at the check points to allow us through. Despite the fact that the car was falling to pieces and our driver sang the whole way, it was one of the most beautiful drives I've ever done and showed us just how stunning Myanmar is.
We arrived in Pha-an around lunch time and while there, for what ever reason, we got a new driver. This one had slightly better English, but only marginally really. We were trying to explain to him that we weren't staying in Pha-an and that we needed to get to the bus station, the next thing he is jumping out of the car and flashing down some bus. I thought, what is this guy on, I am not getting on some random bus that we have no idea where it is headed. He got back into the car with no explanation, he then dropped the couple at some guest house that I'm sure he was affiliated with and we drove back to where we had originally swapped drivers. Myself and Kay were starting to get a bit concerned as we really needed to get a bus booked but no one seemed to understand what we were saying, we were almost considering getting Kay's 'point to it' book out! We sat and had some lunch there and then suddenly they seemed to (or we hoped anyway) understand what we needed and they managed to book us onto a bus to Kyaiktiyo (Golden Rock). We were driven to the bus station after our lunch and, thankfully, put on the right bus. We arrived in Kyaiktiyo late afternoon and we unceremoniously dumped at the side of the road about 15km from the base camp village of Kyaiktiyo mountain. We got moto taxis (the first, but certainly not our last) to a guesthouse we had read about online, not before the obligatory trip to another guesthouse which pays commission of course. They somehow managed to fit myself, my huge rucksack, my day bag, my handbag and the iPad I was clutching onto for dear life onto one motorcycle. Really wishing we had managed to get some photos of this, it must have looked some sight.
Thankfully the accommodation we wanted had a room available so we headed into the village for dinner and to also book our bus out of there for the next day. We were only planning a week in Burma and so needed to be on the move a lot. There isn't anything to do there apart from the golden rock anyway and so no point wasting any time. We spoke to someone at the travel agents who told us that his brother was away and wouldn't be back until morning so we would need to come back then. We tried to buy a long skirt for Kay too, as we read in the book that women must wear a skirt, but the only thing they had in the shops were these lungi type things that everyone there wears. We figured wrapping a shawl around our waists would do the same job and so just left it. After dinner we sat outside the accommodation with some people who were staying there also. They had already been up the hill that day and so kindly offered us their passes, which are valid for two days, and saved us $16. An Australian girl also informed us she wore "pants" and nothing was said. We woke up early the next morning and after breakfast we headed down to the travel agents to book our bus to Bagan. The latest option available was 4pm which would give us plenty of time to get to the top of Kyaiktiyo mountain to see the golden rock. We crossed the road and got ourselves into a huge pickup which held around 70 people in the back, and off we set for the top of the hill. It was a bit of a white knuckle ride up very steep hills and hair pin corners, but before we knew it we were just a short walk to the golden rock. This is a small pagoda built on the top of a rock covered in gold leaf. The rock looks like it could fall off the side of the mountain at any minute and legend has it that it is perched on a strand of Buddha's hair. After taking a good look around and lots of photos we sat for a while in the shade to eat the packed lunch we brought with us. This consisted of some lovely tiny tangerines and some weird bread sticks covered in an icing type thing which we bought at the market in the morning. On the way back to the pickup stand we bought some lovely samosas and ice-cream from some vendors. Another white knuckle ride and we were back in Kyaiktiyo village with just enough time to grab our bags and head off for our bus to Bagan. They say that a mere glimpse of the gravity defying golden rock is enough of an inspiration for any person to turn Buddhist. It's very impressive but I must say I'm still firmly in the atheist camp.
No comments:
Post a Comment