The Golden Rock-Myanmar

The next day the 8th November was a momentous day as it was Myanmar's first openly contested general election for 25years. The previous two days there had definitely been a sense of quiet excitement and everyone that commented said they hoped "The Lady" would win, they were referring to Aung San Suu Kyi the leader of NLD. 

During the day we saw many people with an ink stained little finger-a sign that they had voted. 

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That day we travelled East into the Mon district towards a mountain top village called Kyaiktiyo about 5 hours drive away. During this journey we realised that cars in Myanmar drive on the right but they use right hand drive cars this makes overtaking pretty scary! We stopped on the way to visit Bago and some of it's famous sights, first Kyaik Pun

Here four huge images of Buddha at the moment of enlightenment sit back to back, each with one hand touching the earth

Further on is another huge reclining Buddha (55m) statue, Shwe Tha Lyaung

and as with many other pagoda the entrance stairways are guarded by Chinthe, lion like figures

and lastly the Shwemawdaw Pagoda, which has a huge lump of brickwork sticking out of it, a result of earthquake damage in the early 1900's. 

 The current pagoda was renovated in the 1950's but appeared to be under repair again judging by the incredible lattice work of bamboo scaffolding covering it

 The chinthe at this pagoda have tiny golden Buddhas in their mouths

We drove on for another couple of hours until we reached Kinpun village at the foot of the mountain, where the we left behind our driver and his comfy car and clambered on board an open truck with bench seats and grab rails 

 The truck journey is known for being fast and pretty hair-raising but it was reassuring to see that life insurance was included in the 2,500 Khat (£1.50 ) fare!

 at least we had seats, not sure how much hanging onto the back of the truck cost?

 It certainly was an exhilarating ride, but half an hour later we arrived, at 1,100 m, somewhat shaken but safe

After checking in we set off to see the purpose of our visit- Golden Rock, it was up a steep slope with masses of steps and rather than walking some pilgrims chose to be carried up in a sort of sedan chair 

with young children or bags being carried up in baskets on porters backs

with no road, everything has to be carried up by hand

near the rock is the counter where sheets of gold leaf can be purchased to be smoothed onto the rock as an offering, only by men though as women are barred from touching the rock

 The story behind the Golden Rock is that a strand of Buddha's hair holds the balancing rock in place  

 it certainly seems to be sat fairly precariously 

 around the pagoda precinct there were dozens of pilgrims, hawkers and a few tourists

From the top we could see how extensive the village of Kyaiktiyo is

we waited for the sun to start setting before going back to the hotel

and from here the following morning saw a wonderful sunrise

 and when it was fully light we had an incredible view across the mountains towards Thailand

before leaving Kyaiktiyo I had time for a good walk. The street was already busy, with monks collecting their alms...

and this gentleman who was walking very slowly, banging the metal disc hanging from the pole holding two baskets

he was happy to be photographed in exchange for some khat

I walked back passed the rock and to the village below. The route down was stepped steeply, it was quite tough walking but of course the locals were going up and down pretty easily, they must be incredibly fit 

 it seemed a very simple village

 I was starred at by everyone I passed by with many of them smiling and saying 'hello', I could smile back and respond with 'Mingalaba' the greeting we had learned to use in Yangon.

We had another exciting truck journey back down the mountain, fortunately the driver seemed happy to take the hair pin bends at a sensible speed. We met up with our driver from yesterday and headed back to Yangon. 

We stopped for a break by the side of a small river where fish were being dried in the sun

 Here the stall holder is selling the dried fish which is used as a paste  in lots of dishes 

 I think these are fish but I'm not sure

 We had one more night and day in Yangon, mainly spent shopping in Bogyoke Market and dodging heavy showers. The election results were starting to come through and a landslide victory for NLD, The Lady's party, was looking very likely. We had a fabulous, trouble free and memorable trip. It will be interesting to follow Myanmar's progress as it develops, hopefully this will be done with care and in a way that benefits the Burmese people and we look forward to going back one day

On the other side of Yangon river

The following morning we went to the Pansadan ferry point, queued to buy a ticket and waited in a large hall with dozens of locals for the ferry to take us across the river. There were more stall holders on the riverside selling fruit, veg and fish all of which looked beautifully fresh

As soon as the ferry arrived the crowd surged forward to get on board 

 There were more hawkers on the boat, all shouting out what they had for sale

The river was busy with other boats and fishermen

 We landed at Dalah, a small but busy rural village- it was quite a contrast to the city only 15 minutes away. Of course there was lots more stalls with interesting produce for sale, not sure what these are, they weren't little tomatoes ....

 Below is a Betel seller. He smears slaked lime on a leaf, adds a pinch of tobacco and wraps it around an areca nut, this is then popped into the mouth and chewed. It gives a 'buzz' and like cigarettes is addictive and can cause cancer. It also produces red saliva which not only stains and rots the teeth, but causes the red splats frequently seen on the streets 

There was a bicycle taxi rank, many were keen to offer us a ride but the village we wanted to visit was an hours drive away so we politely declined

A kind stranger who spoke a little english took us to his 'friend' who was a taxi driver and negotiated for him to drive us for the morning and take us to the places we wanted to visit. 

 We drove through some beautifully green countryside but it was quite hard to enjoy as our driver drove very fast, at one point we nearly took off going over a humpback bridge!

 Only 40 minutes later (!) we arrived in Twante, a village known in Myanmar for it's cotton-weaving and pottery. We left the tarmac road, went down several dirt tracks to arrive outside a simple bamboo and banana leafed workshop, inside was the pottery. One man was trampling some clay

another starting to make a pot

 he turned the wheel with his foot, but when he needed both hands to raise the pot another man took over spinning the wheel by hand

 Behind them were stacks of pots

 and nearby the kiln, (very similar to the old dragon kiln I had visited in Singapore) being stacked with pots ready for firing

 There were also some ladies smoothing pots with a pebble

 Back outside was a family of goats and a large pig sheltering from the sun under a huge tree

A few streets further on we came to some weavers at looms underneath a covered area to the side of a house 

 The looms seemed simply built but complicated to operate and the expert weavers were creating beautiful textiles 

 Our next stop was to Baungdawgyoke Pagoda. It contains a small shrine in the middle of a lake connected by four long wooden walkways

 It is also known as Snake Temple, as there are several large pythons inside the pagoda-even dangling from the windows

 fortunately they all seemed to be fast asleep

 Our driver then took us back to Dalah and the ferry (just as fast but safely) and we returned to the other side of the river. 

In the late afternoon I went for a walk around Kandawgyi lake and saw Karaweik Palace, built in 1974 it now contains a restaurant

as the sun started setting I had a lovely view of the Shwedagon Pagoda again

 We had had another fascinating day and seen a little bit of rural Myanmar, I was looking forward to tomorrow and a trip into the hills to the East of Yangon that extend into neighbouring Thailand