We woke up bright and early and had a delicious breakfast at Galaxy Motel. We had only arrived in Hpa An, Myanmar, the previous evening, but we were rearing to go and explore.

Galaxy Motel had organised our tour for us. Most visitors to Hpa An will use old favourites Soe Brothers, but let it be known that Galaxy does great tours too!

We all piled into our 'thoun bein', which is pretty similar to a tuk-tuk but more people can fit into the back, and set out for a day of cave exploring and sight seeing. ​

Now, the thoun bein isn't just any old tuk-tuk. It is a bruising adventure. You get thrown around everywhere. Try to avoid sitting at the very back! You will need to hold to those side bars for dear life to avoid a concussion. It is painful, and tiring, and hilarious. I've never laughed so much while being in so much pain. It made the car drive down from Myawaddy look like flying first class. It was an awesome experience...but expect to be uncomfortable.

Back in the the thoun bein, we headed for our next stop - Saddan cave. This cave was giant. Like, football stadium-sized giant. If you go in dry season you can walk through the cave to the other side and then get a boat across the river back to where you started.

Pro-tip - do not walk through the cave in jandals (thongs, flip-flops...you know). Take walking shoes! You are walking through actual bat shit. The cave roof is lined with thousands of sleeping bats, and you are walking through absolute darkness and it's slippery as hell. I broke my jandals, nearly fell over, but worst of all, my jandals flipped bat shit up the back of my white shirt I was wearing. I spent the rest of the day being laughed at by locals and my friends....and my shirt never recovered. 

We stopped at a place with a few different restaurants...it's obviously the place where all the tourists are taken for lunch during the tours (not that there are many of us!). We were shown to our restaurant and sat down for a delicious lunch of fried noodles....I loved the fried noodles in Myanmar. It was so hot that I felt a Myanmar beer was also deserved. Unfortunately the knock-on effect of that was I got to use a Myanmar squat toilet, and therefore shewee, for the first time! Yay! I'm terrible at squatting.... I always get pee my feet. But I tried out the shewee Simon got me for my birthday, and success! Standing and peeing! I'm basically a man! (This is probably the only time on the trip the shewee was a success).

After that flurry of excitement, we took twenty minutes to chill out at the swimming hole with the local Burmese dudes. Oddly, the Burmese were swimming in their clothes - jeans and all! I guess they dry quick in that heat. And there were hardly any women swimming. There was even a whole pool where women weren't allowed in...something to do with Buddha.

After lunch we headed over to the foot of Mount Zwebagin. Apparently the walk up the mountain is amazing....but I've looked at that mountain...and I'm glad we only visited the foot of it. It's steep. Here, there are 2600 Buddha statues lined up. Myanmar must have the most Buddha statues in the world. They statues then lead to a monastery. We walked towards the monastery but it was so hot we gave up and got ice creams instead. I think we got 5 ice creams for about $1 NZ. Crazy.

I think this may have been my favourite destination of the day. It's a pagoda on top of a rock. There is a lake that screams serenity and fish to watch in the water. And there was a cat! Perfection. We didn't ascend the pagoda because there were people praying...but it looks pretty cool.

Another impressive cave. I was pretty tired by this time...and this cave seemed endless. So a few of us sat outside with the monkeys while Simon and Chris delved into the depths. I'd love to go back here with a bit more energy. Even our guide had a nap.

I was reaching cave fatigue by this point. But once again, this was a breath-taking cave. Even better though, was just outside the cave there is a very steep walk you can do to the top of the hill that the caves sit in. It was exhausting, and I nearly didn't go up there. The view was totally worth it though.

Galaxy Motel amended our tour for free so that we could watch the sunset at the bat cave. The coolest part though was as we were arriving some kind of parade started in the village. It was full of colour and noise and laughter!

We made our way to the cave. Somehow we were early. Most of us were exhausted and all took a little time out for ourselves. We patiently waited for the magic that is meant to happen at sunset. Once again, it was a beautiful location. Hpa An was definitely the most picturesque part of Myanmar. I'm surprised at the lack of tourists there.

Finally it was sunset, and the magic happened. The bats blackened the sky as they flew out of the cave, dropping bat poop everywhere they went. I think it took us awhile to figure out it was poop...maybe wear a hat! Or take an umbrella. There were locals who banged drums rhythmically which made the bats go up and down altogether, while the crowd watched on in stunned silence. 

Don't skip Hpa An. It's beautiful.

Well this day was an adventure.

We weren't sure how to get back to Kyaiktyo from Kin Pun to catch the train to Yangon, which we thought left at 1pm, but in the end our hotel flagged down some scooters for us. We had three bags and three people between two scooters. Obviously this wasn't going to go smoothly!

We headed toward Kyaiktyo and we weren't too far away when suddenly our driver stopped (after we'd swerved to avoid a dog) and told us we had to walk. We were slightly confused, but okay, we got off and started walking while he drove off. Turns out he had something wrong with the scooter, so we followed him 100 meters up the road to the local mechanic. By local mechanic I mean...family home.

All three of us were offered seats in the house, and sat down with the family and watched the mechanic at work. They were so friendly and we tried to talk to each as best we could. Most of the time we all communicated through playing with the toddler, who was wary of us, yet intrigued.

We ended up sitting here for about an hour, watching the women fix the bike, and avoiding the hens and ducks wandering through the house. Well that's what I was doing. No one else minded.

I was getting a bit anxious about missing our train, but there are frequent buses to Yangon if worse comes to worst.

After it was all fixed we jumped back on and headed to the train. Though they didn't understand we meant train, and took us to the bus stop. The bus stop people tried to tell us there was no train (not true). We managed to clarify and finally ended up at the train station. We got our tickets and sat in the sweltering heat for an hour or so and waited. Whenever you're booking transport in Myanmar, they'll want to see your passport - don't forget that!

I passed the time by watching these tiny puppies run off with Simon's plastic bag and red bull.

Finally the train arrived. We had just booked third class tickets and sat on two wooden benches facing each other.

The Myanmar trains are very old and rickety, but hey they have usb plugs so you can charge your phone!

The trip is 5 hours to Yangon. Try to get a seat on the shaded side if you can, we were pretty hot and sweaty.

Locals will jump on and off the train selling you food and drinks. We grabbed a beer each at the first opportunity!

​You can also buy fried crickets! The man next to us had a massive container full, and saw us eyeing them up. He kindly offered us one each, and we both took about two minutes to actually eat it, much to the amusement of the rest of the carriage! It wasn't too bad - crunchy! I'd eat one again. I think Simon would pass though.

I also got to try my shewee out again on the train. It was mostly a success...though trying to stand and aim with one hand on a moving train was definitely an experience....but better than squatting and falling in the hole.

After 5 hours we arrived at Yangon train station, there are loads of cabs, and took the long drive through Yangon rush hour traffic to our hotel, Downtown at 15th street!

Sad to leave Hpa An, our motel dropped us all off at the bus stop. Two of us were going straight through to Yangon, while Simon, Chris and I were heading for Golden Rock. It's the same bus, and for Kin Pun you get off at Kyaikto, which is about a fifteen minute drive from Kin Pun. Just get your hotel to book your bus ticket, it's much easier.

The bus was really comfortable. I even managed to sleep! I think there was music blaring most of the ride...but the details are fuzzy. You do have to be semi alert, and make sure you know what the name of the place you are getting off sounds like - in this instance it's "chai Ko". The bus driver will yell out the name of the stop and you literally get dropped on the side of the road. You will then get mobbed by a few men who will you take over to some open air trucks. These will take you the rest of the way to Kin Pun.

This was all very hectic but just go with the flow. You'll get where you need to. We all piled into the trucks - crammed in I should say, locals and tourists alike. I was ditched by the boys as they decided to ride on the roof with the local boys, and therefore everyone in the truck decided the single blonde guy opposite me was my boyfriend. The boys up top managed to communicate to the drivers that our stop was on the outskirts of Kin Pun, and they dropped us off right at Golden Sunrise Hotel. The truck ride was really cheap, about $1 NZ.

We arrived at our hotel and chilled out. After lunch, we walked into Kin Pun and made our way over to the truck stop for Golden Rock, which was under a giant roof on the otherside of the tiny town. You can't miss it really.

We lined up and jumped into one of the trucks. These trucks are open air, no roof, and it feels kind of like you're on an amusement park ride. Except with about 50 more people.

At this point of the trip, I was still getting used to the fact the Burmese people don't see you as a walking ATM, as it can feel in a lot of places in South East Asia at times. A Burmese lady started selling umbrellas and I was thinking pfft this lady is scamming us, it's beautiful weather, but half way up the hill it did start raining. From then on I tried to bring the wall down that sometimes comes up when you're in Asia and constantly feel like you are bracing yourself for the next scam. It was a really good feeling being able to chill out a bit and trust more!

After a rather uncomfortable trip up the mountain, we reached the top and began our hike to see Golden Rock.

It's a pretty easy walk, I think it was only ten minutes or so. There's a lot to observe on the way...loads of shops and locals who have made the pilgrimage to see the famous rock.

Make sure you dress appropriately. I thought I had but apparently my running pants were too risqué...even though they are 3/4 pants! So I had to pay $1 to borrow a longyi, but that was fine. It was so nice I wanted to keep it.

We arrived at the top and I was more impressed than I thought. I was originally quite happy to skip Golden Rock, as a semi-boycott, because women aren't allowed on the bridge to touch the rock. I know it's for religious reasons, but it still annoys me.

Anyway, the view was stunning and the rock itself is pretty cool. I mean, how does it stay there?! Legend says that it is held in place by a strand of Buddha's hair. It is a very special place for Buddhists, and hundreds of Burmese make pilgrimage to the rock every day.

We walked around and then just sat and people watched. The kids loved us, or me in particular because of my blonde hair, so we were asked by lots of kids for photos. They were really cute and quite shy! Often pushing their brother or sister to ask for a photo on their behalf.

Now, unless you want to get stuck on the mountain you need to be at the truck stop where you got off, not long after sunset. Don't muck around. I think we got that at 6, and we had to wait awhile for a truck to show up. I did think we were going to be stuck up there. If you want to take your time, there are lots of hotel to stay in at the top - expensive ones - but it would be an experience to stay overnight up there. A lot of the Burmese stay the night outside at the Rock, and I suspect at night it get transformed into some kind of singing/dancing party. Eventually we got in the truck and had the ride of a lifetime down the hill. It was pretty dark and that truck was flying. It was so much fun!! That was more fun than the rock itself. You probably won't die...

Back at the bottom, we walked through the township and chose a place to eat based on where the largest number of locals were eating. And O.M.G it was amazing. It was called Myint Tar Lwin restaurant and if you're walking out of town towards Golden Sunrise Hotel, it's on the right. Don't miss it. I still can't believe how cheap Myanmar was. It makes Thailand look expensive. It was so good being able to try lots of different dishes because each is only about $1!

I really would've loved a few more days to chill out here. But next stop - Yangon!

Our first exposure to this spectacular Burmese country was via the Mae Sot/Myawaddy border crossing. We grabbed a cheap flight from Bangkok with Nok Air (the airline with the cutest logo ever!) and then taxi'd the 5 minutes to the start of the border crossing.

It was pretty straight forward! We had earlier got our visas from the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok (they don't do visas on arrival via the land crossings). We rocked right up to the foreigner window, kindly shown the way by various people, and there wasn't even a line!

The only trouble we ran into was the fact that we had somehow screwed up Thai departure cards. Take note - do not lose that departure card they give you on the plane!!! The immigration lady looked like she was trying really hard to be mad at us, but she couldn't stop laughing at us either. In the end she gave in, issued us new cards, shook her head at our stupidity, and on we went.

The next stop was to a small room with two serious looking official men. We had to sit down and fill out an arrival form, and then they stamped our visas out we went into Burmese border town of Myawaddy!

As we were going into Myawaddy we were meant to watch the traffic. Myanmar drives on the right and Thailand on the left, and here at the border it's meant to be an interesting sight watching all the traffic switch sides. Unfortunately we got distracted and forgot to watch, but it's meant to be amusing!

​

Our next step was to find transport to Hpa An. Supposedly there are some semi official vans somewhere that you can take to your destination, but we had a load of people offering us cars, and in the end we gave in and went with a very quiet Burmese man...I still have no idea if this was from the official car place or not. It was slightly worrying, it wasn't a fancy car and there was no air con which sucked in the 35 degree heat...it felt slightly dubious but it was a good price and, hey, whats the worse that can happen?!

You die. That's what.

I feared for my life that whole car ride...I don't think I've ever been so scared of being in a car accident, he was really flooring it, and I was in the middle seat....even Simon and Chris looked scared a couple of times! They have just made a new road for the first part of Myawaddy to Hpa An...there was hardly any potholes so he was flying.

Also, we ended up sharing the car with a Burmese lady and her two children...who all sat in the front. So there were 7 of us packed into a tiny four door...was definitely not pleasant. But we did get complimentary water! 

After about half an hour we stopped at another strange place and I still don't know what it was. It looked like a giant car yard...we were directed in by men in uniforms out on the road. We were told where to park and someone came and took all of our passports. I was pretty terrified that we weren't going to get them back, or that our identities were going to be stolen or a million other irrational thoughts that were going through my head. However after ten minutes we got them back and were on our way again. If anyone knows what this was let me know!

We drove for a few hours through stunning countryside. It was pretty rural. And we saw some cute villages. Something that really stuck out were the half burned metal barrels that lined that roads. We figured out later that they were melting these down and turned them into tar so that they could fill the potholes in the pretty shoddy roads. The driver also had to pay people occasionally as we drove through different villages...I'm not sure what that was for...maybe it's going towards rebuilding the roads.....? 

After 3 hours or so we stopped again...turns out we get to stop for lunch! We walked into the small restaurant and immediately got served dishes and dishes of different foods - we really had no idea what half of them were. But it was pretty good and like $10 NZ total for all 3 of us. 

 Back on the road after lunch, we settled in for the rest of the drive to Hpa An. This was pot hole country. And being in that shoddy old car and driving over constant potholes was actually painful. There were times we flew up out of seats! I think Chris even managed to stay awake for once. After another couple of hours we made it, alive, but with bruised butts. 

We stayed at the wonderful Galaxy Motel...seriously don't stay anywhere else in Hpa An. They also run tours. Highly recommend this place...wish I could go back! Check out the view from the roof.

 We settled in to the motel, and after awhile the very friendly owner/hostess told me she had a secret! Apparently our two friends were here to surprise us! And I was not allowed to tell Simon and Chris. Terrible secret keeper, but lovely lady. I managed to keep my mouth shut, and a few hours later Brendon and Emma surprised us on the roof. They had no idea!

We all went to watch the sunset by the river. It was stunning. I think I fell in love with Hpa An straight away! Look how beautiful it is. 

Then it was time for bed. We were exhausted...but happy to be in such a cool place.