01-28 Hpa-an 1

Kyauk Kha Lat island monastery
Kyauk Kha Lat island monastery

28.01 Hapa-an 1, markets at Kyaikhto and Thaton, Kyauk Kha Lat island monastery

I did not go to the rock again this morning either but could watch the sunrise from my bed. A new experience I think.
We came down the mountain in one of the big trucks and it was actually less hair-raising than going up. I think because they did not have to keep up so much speed going round the hairpin bends. Our driver was waiting for us with the minibus and we set off through the countryside. In the morning there were two stops at village/town markets, Kyaikhto and Thaton, and a lunch stop, before we reached out next hotel. It was another luxurious one with separate bungalows as can be seen in one of the photos. The landscape is perfectly flat with paddy fields, but punctuated by limestone outcrops rising to heights of up to 722m and looking as if they had been transplanted from the Dolomites. There is even a plan to build a cable car up the highest one, after which our hotel is named – Zwe Kabin. This might cause some confusion with German speakers.
Near the hotel there were some people working in rice fields, which made a good photo subject. The photos were all of landscapes on this day – no monks. We did though visit a small monastery, Kyauk Kha Lat, on an island in an artificial but beautiful lake, surrounded by the steep rock outcrops jutting out of the flat fields. We did not go up the ladders to the top of the monastery rock, only up to the first stage via concrete steps.

Hpa-an area with caves
Hpa-an area with caves

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