Reflections on Myanmar Part 2

So as you may know from my previous post we spent a wonderful month in Myanmar last January. I left you in Inlay Lake so we move on to the interesting lakeside town of Pindaya. Home to the most amazing limestone cave I've ever seen. Mainly because it is on top of a mountain and contains 6000 Buddhas. It really is hard to believe and I have never seen anything like it. I am from New South Wales where we have beautiful limestone caves but the addition of the Buddha's is just weird and such a juxtaposition to the natural beauty of the cave.

Note the big spider outside to entrance to the cave and the warrior about to shot it with a bow and arrow.

Visiting these caves requires alot of walking particularly up a very steep incline to get into the cave but for those fit enough it is well worth the visit. When we were in the town there was a local market on and that was fascinating itself as anyone who has travelled in a developing country would appreciate.

Our guide who went by the name Black also took us to an umbrella making factory. They showed us how they made the paper by hand and construct the umbrella structure. Quiet interesting.

 We stayed at a farm stay not far out of the town.  A nice spot but my expectation was a little different to the reality. That is pretty much your experience throughout Myanmar. 

Our next destination was the hill town of Kalaw.  I think the story is that Kalaw was established as a way for the British to escape the heat in the summer. It gets very hot but Kalaw in January was quiet cool, particularly in the evenings. As Kalaw was settled by the British is does have remnants of British culture dotted around. 

It was fun exploring Kalaw it has interesting stupas, restaurants etc. One of the amazing things we did was to go to the Green Hill Valley Elephant Conservation reserve. Go here to find out information. http://www.ghvelephant.com/ It was a really special day where we were able to learn about the situation of the elephants in Myanmar and to be a part in looking after the elephants for the day. We spent the day feeding the elephants, and believe me they eat ALOT. We also got to go into the river and bath the elephants which was extra fun. They served a lovely lunch in the restaurant and the surrounds were beautiful. Its one of those once in a lifetime opportunities that you should do if you can afford it. You also get the opportunity to plant a tree for ongoing conservation. Its nice to think that we have a little tree growing in Myanmar.

Planting a tree in the name of conservation.

Each elephant has their own mahout (Elephant carer) for life. They live with their family at the conservation reserve and the elephants know their calls.

Moving on from Kalaw we caught the overnight bus to the small British established town of Pyin Oo Lwin. In the northern part of Myanmar Pyin oo Lwin is a refreshing, green lush stop off. It has some interesting places to visit such as the national Kandawygi gardens, the national landmark gardens and Aniskan falls just outside of the town. As with all of Myanmar there are many interesting modes of transport to get around which is all a part of the fun. We went via horse and cart quite a bit. The Gardens here are well worth a visit. There is alot to see and do and you can spend perhaps half a day or more looking around. We even came across wild monkeys in these gardens. Initially we thought it was teenagers up in the trees being stupid because that was the type of noise we were hearing but when we looked up we saw these two rather large monkeys of unknown origins carrying on in the trees.

Relics of the British occupation.

The national landmark garden was also really interesting as they have reproduced models of all the national landmark treasures in this one very extensive garden area. The most amusing thing for our family was the play area which is really hard to explain but PC it is not.

Probably the best experience was our day visit to Aniskan falls about 45 minutes outside of Pyin oo Lwin. We caught a taxi which dropped us at the top of the falls. The walk is quite challenging, particularly on the way up but if you are able it is well worth the experience. As you walk down towards the falls you come across a couple of monks living in a cave. Then as you continue on and you get down to the bottom you see come across the most stunning waterfalls.  It is absolutely breathtaking and when we were there there was a massive amount of water. There is also a small stupa at the bottom of the falls just to remind you that you are still in Myanmar.

Visiting the Monks on the way down.

 So if you choose to visit Pyin oo Lwin on your Myanmar adventure be sure to visit Aniskan falls. I have to say here a major part of the experience in Myanmar is the people you meet, the places you visit, the places you stay, the restaurants you eat in, the cottage industries you see, the transport you go on etc. That is a whole nother post. If you are interested I will be posting our continuing journey Next stop the Bustling city of Mandalay.

Til Next time,

Kat