Hpa An, a beautiful place

The town of Hpa-An isn’t much to speak of but the surrounding countryside is a Buddhist wonderland.  There are many ancient temples dotted around either tucked into large caves or attached to karst pinnacles or at the top of a mountain.

I hired a motorbike with a driver for the day.  It was cool to be with him as he whisked me around to all the temples in time to catch the last bus to Mawlamyine.  Here I stayed in the smallest room I have ever slept in.

 

A Walk In the Clouds

I started my trek to the Golden Rock Pagoda early in the morning so that I could be back in time to catch the last bus to the next city Pa-an (sp?).  The walk was very pleasant and not as strenuous as the Paranoid Planet guide book makes out (as a rule I half the time that they advise).  It would have been great to see the view but being the rain season only mist and rain was on the menu.

Along the way down I bumped into a trio of monks.  We started a very fun broken English conversation talking about SA, my travels, the weather etc.  Out of the blue the leader asked me my religion.  I had to briefly explain that I was an atheist and didn’t believe in anything.  Very curtly he told me I must ‘just believe’ whereupon the three of them departed.  So much for the Buddhist temperament.

Travel Day

A travel day to Kinmon, home of the Golden Rock Pagoda.

Double ichigoiche (a chance meeting)

My mission for the day was to take the circular train line around the city.  Along the way I would stop off at the World War II War Cemetery in the far north of the city.  At the start of the trip I met a Japanese couple, Shinichi and Kumiko, travelling with family from Australia.  I had great fun talking to them and sharing stories about Japan and our travels.  They reminded me a lot of my time in Japan and the good life I had there.  This was the first chance meeting of the day!

Seeing the WWII Cemetery was quite interesting.  Firstly I didn’t realise how many English died in the Far East during the War.  And, I had no idea that the Indians and Burmese had also lost so many of their young men.  A reminder of the futility of war!

On the return leg I met a kind local gentleman who kept pointing out great things for me to photograph.  He was quite ecstatic once we got to the railway market.

Just as we were approaching Yangon a young man whom I guess was Japanese sat near me on the train.  It wasn’t long Akira and I started a conversation and just as quickly a friendship developed.  Second chance meeting of the day!  We ended up having a great dinner and many beers into the night.

A Family of Legends

After a scrumptious breakfast at my hotel I headed out to see more of the sites in Yangon.  My first stop was the Sule Pagoda (Paya in Burmese), a 2000 year old temple.  From there I made my way to the Sakura Building which has a fantastic view over the city.  The Sakura Building is the tallest building in Myanmar.  To me this is just an indication of the interest that Japan (along with other nations) has in Myanmar.

After taking in the vista I walked to the Aung San Museum.  This is the home that General Aung San and his family lived in when he was assassinated.  It is a wonderful example of colonial English architecture perched at the top of a small hill.  From there I walked to 54 University Road, the home of Aung San Suu Kyi where she was kept under house arrest for 17 years.

It wasn’t far from there to Shwedagon Pagoda.  There I met a very kind monk who told me two great legends of Burmese history.