This was to be a day of mostly travel with an unexpectedly exciting finish at Kyiakhtiyo.
After breakfast we left Inle Lake in a chartered bus that took us to the Heho airport, a trip that took close to an hour.
After going through all the formalities in a very crowded air terminal and waiting another hour, we eventually boarded our ATR 72 plane and had a one hour flight to Yangon (formerly Rangoon) International Airport arriving at around 11:30.
We were then met by our local guide and our group of ten boarded another bus and commenced a four hour bus trip to Kyaito which is two hundred kilometres north-east of Yangon at the top of the Gulf of Mottama. The road we followed was bumpy, quite narrow and very busy with lots of traffic making progress slow.
We passed through the town of Bago at the half-way mark and stopped near here for some lunch.
The next two hours of travel was through a much more rural setting with there being many small farms principally rice growing and harvesting was happening as we passed through.
Nearer to Kyaito we encountered large forest areas on both sides of the road and were informed that this is the rubber growing centre of Myanmar. The rubber trees take eight years to reach production and live to about forty years after which their timber is valued for furniture making. The latex from the mature rubber trees is collected in cool pre-dawn conditions and treated with ammonia before being sent off for processing. Cashew nut orchards are common in this area too as the climate, water availability and soil type are ideal for their production.
When we arrived at Kyaito we turned off the main road and started climbing towards Kinpun where we left our bags in the bus and boarded an open truck to commence the spectacular ride up to the Golden Rock Pagoda.
The road wound its way up a very steep mountainside through jungle cloaked valleys and ravines with waterfalls. We reached the top after about an hour of exhilarating travel. The tight ‘S’ bends on the steep climb meant that we were thrown around in the back of the truck and grateful for the seat belts we were provided with. The sign at the base (Kinpun) should have given us a clue to our roller-coaster ride as it said “included with the ticket purchase price you get life insurance!”
Truck going up road to Golden Rock, Kyiakhtiyo
At the top of the mountain at 1102m we alighted and walked 500m through a densely crowded tourist region to the Kyaiktiyo Golden Rock Pagoda. It was approaching sunset and the spectre was awesome. Not surprisingly this Golden Rock is said to be qualified as ‘one of the wonders of the world’.
The Kyaiktiyo Golden Rock has claim to be one of the more iconic sights in South East Asia and it involves a 15m diameter golden painted boulder perched precariously on a rocky ledge as if just balanced and defying gravity. The base rock is decorated with a lotus pattern. The main rock is progressively becoming enlarged by the many years of gold leaf deposition from pilgrims.
On top of the golden boulder is 7m tall pagoda built in 574 BC which supposedly enshrines a hair of the Buddha. Apparently it is this pagoda that is the main object of veneration for Buddhists but for the numerous international tourists the balancing rock is a cause of wonderment.
The hair of Buddha is said to have been given to the 11th century King Tissa by a hermit who’d kept it for 100 years. The hermit asked the king to find a boulder in the shape of a head upon which the hair cold be enshrined. King Tissa who had magical powers dived to the bottom of the ocean and found this rock which he magically transported to its present location. The weight of the sacred hair is said to be the reason for the boulder not toppling off its base and falling into the deep ravine below.
Around the rock are pilgrims preparing to sleep overnight so that they can make offerings to the Buddha at dawn. They have blankets and sleep on the marble terraces.
We spent an hour or more photographing the rock from various angles and then returned to our truck past the numerous pilgrims’ bazaars. Two features of interest were the porters who carried people and luggage. The transport of people was in litters (sedan chairs) and their luggage in wicker baskets carried on the back. Some porters appeared to be carrying loads of 60 kg or more.
We then descended to a location half way down the mountain in another truck that used exhaust brakes to control its downhill speed and we then spent the night at the Golden Rock Hotel.