Day 2 in Hpa-An
I woke up at around 08:30 and, after having another delicious breakfast, I walked out to the street, ready to make the most out of the last of my 2 days in Hpa-An. So far, during my time in Southeast Asia, I had seen plenty of people wearing the typical “conical” hat, aka “Asian rice hat”. I figured that, rather than buying it in Indonesia or the Philippines, I would buy it in the last country before heading home. And that happened to be Myanmar.
In order to buy the Burmese hat, I decided to go take a look at Hpa-An’s market. There were hundreds of stalls where people were selling anything from clothes to food to souvenirs. It was kind of big and you could see plenty of locals doing their shopping. I had been walking for a few minutes when I found my shop. There was a kind lady making and colouring plenty of Burmese hats. She was selling them pretty cheap and I liked the colour and shape. I decided to buy one in blue and green and, after paying for it and thanking her, I left the market behind. I didn’t know it just yet but I would have to come back to the shop…
Lumbini Gardens
I started my motorbike (this time I didn’t get a scooter but a motorbike) and drove to a mountain whose shape I had seen a few times during my first day in Hpa-An: Mount Zwegabin. The tallest (725 meters) of the the limestone mountains that surrounds Hpa-An is a well-known trekking route both for tourists and locals. It is located at around 10 Km from Hpa-An and, like always, you can go there either by riding your scooter or by hiring the services of someone who takes you there.
There were a couple of entrances to the base of Mount Zwegabin and, while I wasn’t sure if one was easier or less demanding than the other, I just focused on one: the one where you had to cross the Lumbini Gardens. Lumbini Gardens, aka Buddha Park, were named after the mythical Nepalese birthplace of Buddha. They are not really gardens as such, but rather some sort of a park which is home to around 1500 neatly aligned Buddha statues. Each statue on its own is not impressive. Some of them are kind of deteriorated. But, when you take a look at several of them at the same time, the situation changes. This is what driving through the thousands of Buddha statues looks like 🙂
Trek to Mount Zwegabin
As aforementioned, Mount Zwegabin is a popular trek route within locals and tourists. Some people do it because they see it as a challenge. Others because they want to enjoy the sunrise and/or sunset from such a privileged point. There were some tourists who did it because, before, there was the chance to sleep at the monastery at the top of Mount Zwegabin. That, unfortuantely, is not a choice anymore, due to an accident involving a tourist which happened recently. Some locals do it as a way of pilgrimage. In my case, it was a mix of some of the reasons mentioned above which pushed me to a quite extenuating journey 🙂
After paying the entrance fee (4 K) and parking my motorbike, I got ready to start with the trek. Before reaching the first stop, on the right-hand side, I saw the track of construction going on. Apparently, they are thinking to build a cable car for those who don’t want to or can’t make it to the summit of Mount Zwegabin on their own. As of today, it seems there is a still a long way to go before the construction gets finished.
I arrived to the first steps of the trek to Mount Zwegabin and I took my shoes off. I had already been to quite a few temples, pagodas and other holy places where it was mandatory to walk bare foot, thus, I felt it would be the same way here. There were some locals ahead of me and when I caught them I realised they weren’t walking bare foot. That, plus the feeling of a hard, steep and extenuating trek, made me put my shoes back on 🙂
I hadn’t been walking for long when I ran into this beautiful stupa. Before that, close to the entrance, there were some food and beverage stands as well as what it looked like a temple. The rest of the trek was kind of empty, except for the uncountable concrete steps. Most of the trek was kind of steep and there were not many flat areas.
Some stairs were in good condition while other were worn away by time and elements. In some sections, due to the condition of the area, there were even handrails. And, in some other places, it was the tree roots and trunks which became my stairs. So, as you might imagine, you need to watch your step during the whole trek. And even more if you decide to make it to the summit for the sunrise.
The landscape was drop-dead beautiful. I know I had mentioned it quite a few times but, to me, it seemed unreal. It was astonishing! Not sure why but I love the limestone mountains. They have an unique shape and beauty and, during the whole trek, I could enjoy watching quite a few of them. It wasn’t all beauty though and, as you might imagine, the reason behind it was, once again, human beings.
Not sure if there was any trash bin during the whole trek, but, what can you expect? You are in the middle of a mountain. We don’t need trash bins there but common sense. I’m sure most of the people doing the trek are carrying with them a bag or backpack. Thus, there is no need to throw the trash on the ground but to keep it with you and throw it in the right place back at Hpa-An or wherever you are staying at. I spoke to some locals about it and most of them agreed with me. The situation was kind of similar to the one at Yangon Circular Train. But, in this case, it seemed they understood me better. Some of them even recorded me as I was telling them they needed to learn to respect the environment lol.
The trek was super steep. At some stages, it reminded me to my trek to Walshs pyramid back in Cairns. Hot, humidity and sweat were a constant throughout the trek. I foresaw that would be the case and I decided to bring a spare shirt with me. And, it was indeed a very good decision.
I met a few tourist and a few locals during my ascent. Beautiful limestone mountains were a constant during my trek. The same went for the uncountable steps and the dry and dusty soil. At some points, I saw some builders who were rebuilding the stairs or just trying to improve some parts of the path. They were carrying cement sacks under so much heat, humidity and dust that, somehow, they reminded me to the poor miners at Kawah Ijen, back in Indonesia. Other than the mountains and the vegetation, I got pretty surprised when, after staring at it for quite a while, I discovered the lake and pagoda of Kyauk Ka Lat. Can you find it in the picture below? 🙂
It seemed the trek would never end but, as you might now, everything is always changing. Therefore, the trek would eventually have to come to an end. And that happened after around 1 hour and 5 minutes. During that time, I never stopped other than for taking a picture. I wasn’t in a very good shape but I was glad I made it in a “good” time (and alive lol).
The final stairs took me to a platform with a big golden stupa, a smaller one on the edge of the platform, some toilets, food and beverage stands and a monastery, where there were monks meditating, cleaning and doing other daily tasks. Ah, almost forgot, there were also quite a few monkeys around. So, watch out and don’t go walking around with food or valuable objects unless you want to lose them 🙂
I took off my shirt, let it to dry and put on the spare one. I then wandered around for a bit, checking out the different viewpoints. The trek was extenuating but the views from up there were incredible. I bought some water and snacks and sat down to enjoy the views for a while. Prices were higher than “downstairs” but that’s just normal. I met some girls from Sweden. They were working with horses, either riding them or taking care of them. Apparently they were making a lot of money and, after 5 years, they became kind of freelance. Thus, they were just enjoying their money and time by travelling. I also met and spoke with some locals and, once again, I took a picture with them 🙂
It was nice being there, speaking to people and enjoying such privileged views. Mother Nature was once again as its best and I couldn’t hep but surrendering to it. Being at such a peaceful and beautiful place I decided to meditate for a while to calm my mind and body. My body was pretty shaken after such a trek and I felt like it needed some rest. Once I felt ready, I started my way down.
It took me around the same time but I felt like my legs were hurting more. Mostly due to the efforts I needed to make in order to stop my steps while going downwards. Back at the starting point, my spare shirt was really wet and I had to change it again. It was so hot and humid! Before leaving Mount Zwegabin, I stopped at the ticket office and told the people in charge about the trash I had seen during the trek. I told them they should speak to the visitors and raise awareness among them to avoid the environment getting polluted. They agreed with a smile 🙂
Lunch and Chinlone
I rode my motorbike back to Hpa-An and I went straight to the place where I had bought the Burmese hat. I really liked the shape and colour but it wasn’t the right size for me. After apologising to the woman and telling her to keep the money… she insisted in giving it back to me… I felt pretty hungry by then so, I looked on TripAdvisor and ended up going to “Wee Restaurant”. The food was good but it was full of tourists. I then realised why I never used TripAdvisor much: all the places are full of tourists and I prefer to mingle with the locals as much as possible 🙂
I left the restaurant and saw some people playing with a ball in the middle of the street. I’m sure it is not the first time you see such a ball. Do you know the name of the sport? Bingo! It is called “chinlone” and it is the traditional, national sport of Myanmar (Burma). It is non-competitive, with typically six people playing together as one team. The ball used is normally made from handwoven rattan, which sounds like a basket when hit. In chinlone, the players are walking while passing the ball, with one player in the centre of the circle. The point of the game is to keep the ball from hitting the ground while passing it back and forth as creatively as possible.
So long Hpa-An!
After lunch I drove back to Thanlwin Pyar Guesthouse. I no longer had a room but they were so kind that let me took a shower and used a towel for free. You don’t find that in many places! My next stop was Kalaw. I had already paid the bus ticket (25 K) at the hostel reception and I had to wait for a couple of hours before it arrived. Thus, I walked out to the terrace and sat at one of the tables the hostel had there. It was then that I met three travellers: a guy from India, another guy from the US and a girl from France. We started talking and bought some beers.
The conversation focused on why we were there, where we had been before, and other common travellers’ topics. At one point, Mae, the girl from France, was about to cry. I didn’t understand what was going on until she told us her tragic recent story. She had been in Hsipaw (a place I was considering to visit myself) for a few days. She went on a trek along with some other travellers and, one part of the trek was going through river rapids. The person leading the group asked everybody several times if they were confident swimmers. They all said they were. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case with everyone…
One girl from South Korea wasn’t a very confident swimmer. She fell off the boat and tried to use the rubber ring provided. A similar situation happened to other travellers but they all dealt with it well enough, combining the use of the rubber ring with their swimming skills. The girl from South Korea couldn’t handle the situation. She was drowning. One guy jumped off the boat and tried to help her but it was too late…
I couldn’t just believe what she was telling us. Sometimes we think these situations are unreal. They just happen in books or movies and we never think they will happen to us. Yet, one traveller, just like me, had just been through a terrific and tragic event. We have to be careful with what we do but also to enjoy life as much as possible. We all will leave this place one day but we don’t know when the time will come. Till then, we need to make the most out of every single second we spend on this planet.
I spent a while with them until my time to take the bus came. It was nice to meet them and that’s one of the things I like the most about travelling: meeting new people and listening to their stories, even if all of them are not positive ones.
So, how did you like the second of my 2 days in Hpa-An? Have you ever been there? Do you agree with me about Hpa-An having some unreal landscapes? Did you make it to the top of Mount Zwegabin? Did you find the trek extenuating? Let me know in the comments below!
