An afternoon on the bike in Hpa-An

March 10, 2017

I have to force myself to slow down in this country full of wonders that is Myanmar. It is so tempting to pack as much as I can in my 28 day tourist visa! But my experience tells me: stick around, connect and you will be rewarded. You discover a nice café, talk to the girl at the reception and start to notice local differences in traditional dress.

And so it happened in Hpa-An today, a small town famous for its surrounding Buddhist caves, some dating back to the 7th century. You can tour all of them by scooter in one day, which I did. But I liked Ya The Byan cave so much that I decided to come back – by bike. It’s an 8.5 km ride from town one way. Short enough as the perfect excuse to do nothing in the morning and save the trip for the afternoon.

Funnily, two locals independently from each other told me this was their favorite cave and I did see some village people on group outings. Again, I don’t know where the hell the other tourists are. There is no entrance fee for foreigners at this cave (locals access all of them for free, but many donate) and I found it to be the most peaceful one. The afternoon light is just stunning and there are not many people around after 4pm.

The best part was riding my rental bike there, a mode of transportation that was missing so far from my SE Asia experience. I became a source of great amusement to everyone I passed, including this family.

The slowness gets you close to people, even if just for a quick hello and a smile. People are so happy! And so am I travelling in this country. Off to the Golden Rock tomorrow, exciting!