Week 4: Myanmars south: from caves to the beach

My last week in Myanmar! Crazy how time flies. And I'm not a fan of blogging about the last week in a country. Traveling out I'm usually too tired and too sad about leaving. So I end up writing when I'm already in a new place and last week seems so far away already. But hey, it needs to get done, so here we go.

Helen and me just arrived in Hpa-An. For the first time we hadn't booked anything ahead as we arrived in the middle of the day and had plenty of time to look around. We had picked a nice place online, went there and it was full. Same for their other hotel. We got a bit frustrated as it was hot and we were walking with our big backpacks. So when the next place offered us a discount for their crappy leftover room we took it. It was still crazy expensive, but we couldn't find a cheaper alternative online. After this we walked into the town, arranged a tour for the next day and then relaxed at a restaurant where we just stayed for dinner. On the way back (again on a motorbike with the three of us) we passed by a night market and already decided that we want to eat there the next evening.
After a bad night in a stuffy room we got picked up by our mototaxi, in this case a motorbike with an open 8-seater behind it, for the " Mr. Soe's amazing and wonderful tour". Our tour group was nice few people, two guys and us. We visited several caves around Hpa-An which were all nice and unique in its kind. They all started with Buddhas in the entrance. One had beautiful little carved pictures on the walls. Unfortunately due to the eruptions from the close-by cement factories many pieces have fallen down already. The next one was a big one you could walk through and then take a boat back. It was a great boat ride, first a bit under the mountain and then along scenic rice fields. The next stop was not my favorite: a stupa on a balancing rock. The amazing part here was at the lake around that rock. They had drained half of the lake and got hundreds of fish out there. We thought they were fishermen, but then found out that they are putting them back in on the other side. They explained that they are digging out the mud so the lake does not dry out in the hot season. So they were actually saving the fish!
The next stop was a field of Buddhas. Impressive due to the numbers but not that exciting so we left after five minutes again. In total it was a great day, we met very nice people again and I really enjoyed the ride through countryside a lot. Myanmar is a beautiful diverse country. This part reminded me a bit of southernThailand, with limestone hills rising up steep from the plains. After following through on our night market dinner plan we went to bed early as we were exhausted after a bad sleep last night and a full day. Unfortunately for Helen and me that was not so easy, as we still had to move to our new place. We got our bags and had a 15 minutes ride out of town. We were really getting frustrated with the hotel situation in Hpa-An. The hotel was exactly as all the reviews said: great place when it was built (1-2 years ago!) But already now in an awful state. Let's just say: our bathroom door didn't even close! Ah well, we had a short but good sleep and got up early for a new adventure: climb mount zwegabin.
We got pickup up by the two guys and our driver from the tour the day before at 6:30, drove a short bit to the starting point of the hike and then suffered. It was stairs all the way up the mountain. We were glad we went so early as we still hiked quite a bit in the shade. Arriving on the top we were treated with a beautiful view and of course another stupa. As a bonus there were very cheeky but photogenic monkeys. After a good rest and taking hundreds of pictures we descended the mountain on the other side. We made it down although I really regretted not to have my hiking sticks and for the first time in a while had to use my knee bandages. After a refreshing cold coke our driver picked us up again and brought us back to the hotel. Helen and me spent the afternoon resting at our pool and finally getting to see the better sides of our hotel (the pool was still very greasy and the whirlpool had no functioning whirl, but after the hike we really didn't care). In the evening our guys picked us up again and we drove to the next highlight: the bat caves.
Around 6pm every day hundred thousands of bats fly out of the cave. We had to wait a bit for it, together with the other 50 tourists, but then they came. It was fascinating. It seemed like a never ending flow of bats coming out of the cave. The locals were making noise by hitting some plastic containers and we learned that it was to prevent the bats to fly towards the power cable. When the cable got installed many bats would die flying into it, so every evening the locals are making sure the bats fly in the right direction. A very cool dedication I think. After we got back to town we had a quick dinner and all went to bed early again.

The next morning we got picked up by the bus early again, making our way back to Yangon. We spent one more night together with the four of us. Unfortunately for me it was a boring night. Everyone was either sick or very tired. Ah well, let's go to bed early again as the next morning Helen and I had to get up at 4am again for a bus to the beach. At 11 we arrived there and checked into our camping place. Best decision ever. It was part of a yacht club, so we could enjoy the great pool and other amenities and then go back to our tent. It was a nice place, with good space and two really nice mattresses in there. Better then a lot of hotels. Including room service!
After some relaxing and swimming in the pool is decided to do a beach walk. I ended up walking 1.5 hours all the way to the little village of Nwe Saung. The walk was along a beautiful empty beach. Although there were many resorts along the way it didn't disturb the scenery as it was nice resorts and little huts. And nearly no tourists. Helen took a mototaxi to town and we met up at the beach. After enjoying sunset while sipping on a fresh coconut we went for dinner in town. We were both a bit tired after getting up so early but decided to do a stop on the way at a cafe with a fireshow. We really liked it. Although it was not right on the beach it was a cool beach bar and the fireshow was fascinating. We went back to the hotel early to still arrange the activity for the next day and to extend our stay by an extra day. We really enjoyed this place!

The next day we had booked a snorkeling tour. It was a nice day, on the slowest boat I've ever been on. We met nice people, two Germans and a Czech. The crew also was very nice. The owner of the dive shop joined as well. While we were diving and snorkeling he trained his dive guides. Although they were very experienced from diving with the navy, they couldn't become dive guides so far as until now there was no drive instructor in Myanmar. This guy being the only dive master in Myanmar had returned to his home two years ago from the US and now gives them the trainng for free!
It was a nice couple hours of snorkeling and a very long boat ride, all in all a nice day. We finished the day again at the bar with fire shows. We met some really nice (and some a bit weird) people and without planning ended up staying until the bar closed. It was a fun night with dancing and the locals trying to teach us the fire stick (without fire for us obviously). In the end the barman - the only sober person left - brought us back to our yacht club camping place, so nice!
The next day started slow and we basically made good use of the club amenities (amazing breakfast and pool with great sea views). The plan to go back to the bar again was easily discarded and we went early to bed that night.

The next morning the bus brought us back to Yangon. I had one more night there and Helen two. We both nearly maximised the 30 days our visa allowed us to stay in this beautiful country. We finished perfectly with a nice evening in a rooftop bar with views on the famous Shwedagon Pagoda. We had met some nice people at the hostel and spent a relaxed evening up there. The next day was another lazy day, getting some last things done and then it was time to say goodbye. In the afternoon my plane left heading to Manila, Philippines.

So this is it, the first chapter of my Asia trip is closed. I fell in love with this beautiful country and the amazing locals who gave me faith again in people genuinely being nice and helpful. I feel blessed to have been able to do this experience right now. I'm grateful for the untouched beauty I saw. I want to tell everyone: go to Myanmar! And at the same time I know they will not see the same country I've seen. The speed of change in this country is unbelievable! People keep on saying: this is probably how Thailand was 20 years ago. I hope Myanmar will be able to keep some of its uniqueness and originality. I also hope some things will change as well. There are still so many beautiful places in this country where you can't go yet. Either because it's not safe to go there or because the government does not want you to go there or because you need to be a full on adventurer/risk taker as there is literally no infrastructure. And I hope that the government finally will work out the conflicts that are still alive in the country and accept all the minorities living at this beautiful place.
Maybe Myanmar will be one of the few countries I'll return to. I'd love to see how the country changes and all these beautiful places that I wasn't able to see now.