Seven of us had agreed to go to Mt Popa today. We had organised a small pickup truck to take us there and back at about USD1 more than the public transport rate of USD7 per head (see, I told you Myanmar wasn’t cheap … that’s a lot of money for a 1h + 1h return journey).
While waiting to go, the Czech and I had some nice conversations about national stereotypes, eg. Germans are always early and Italians are always late. He bemoaned that there are no Czech stereotypes because not many people know where the Czech Republic is. Then he qualified that by saying that in some former Eastern bloc countries, Czech is still well-known for brands like Skoda, Bata etc while in many countries these are not well-known or well-respected.
I told him that Bata is very well-respected where I come from but it would have been far too rude for me to tell him that his country is now very famous for gay porn!
The journey to Mt Popa took about 90 minutes including a stop at a peanut-oil press operated by a white bullock. Mt Popa looked impressive and also looked difficult to climb up. In fact it was a breeze taking only 20 minutes up the crowded steps on which we walked barefooted, keeping an eye out for monkey wee and monkey doo. The place is infested with lots of monkeys; a number of people cleaning the stairs and ask for donations in return for their efforts.
There were shrines devoted to pre-Buddhist spirits and also to Buddha. My interest (lack thereof) in these is well-known from my earlier posts. So, I was back down to the pickup in just over an hour.
Five out of seven of us (myself included) were disappointed with Mt Popa; and I reckon the other two were being polite. I only have myself to blame for my disappointment; I think I had built it up too much.
When I first saw it from a photo last year (from a friend Phil), I imagined it to be like the magnificent fortified mountain villages in rural Yemen. I spent the rest of the day relaxing and organising (somewhat unsuccessfully) accommodation at Lake Inle.
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- Our pickup truck to Mt Popa.
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- Peanut oil press.
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- Our pickup truck to Mt Popa; an old Nissan … or is Datsun.
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- Mt Popa looks like a hard climb but it only took 2 minutes slowly with crowds.
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- These women are strong.
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- View from Mt Popa.
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- View from Mt Popa with the stairs’ roofs in the foreground
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- Crowns of small stupas on Mt Popa.
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- View from Mt Popa.
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- Covered walkway up to Mt Popa.
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- He looks like he’s playing video games.
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- Monkey on the walkway up Mt Popa.
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- Inside Mt Popa temples; I think these are nats or pre-Buddhdist spirits.
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- Holding hands with the shy girl.
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- Swastikas r us! That’s what I call this floor pattern which is quite common in the Buddhist country.
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- Market scene at Mt Popa.
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- More monkeys.
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- Young playful monks.
