Saturday, July 20, 2013

The Rock that is Golden


The Golden Rock is, well, a rock that is gold. But the real snazzy thing about this golden rock is that half of it sits atop a mountain while the other half hangs off the edge. I know, so snazzy. Reaching the shrine is a major religious feat Burmese Buddhists dream of achieving before they die. Getting there initially meant climbing Mt. Kyaiktiyo, an 11km pilgrimage from bottom to top, and after the brief encounter with the sincerity of Buddhism here, my desire to hike this bad-boy had increased 10-fold. 

The legend of the rock (spoken in a Lord of the Rings narrator-type voice) is that in the 11th Century, King Tissa was given a Buddha hair from a hermits head and was told to search for a boulder, same shape as the hermits head, then enshrine the hair in a stupa on top. It's now said that the Buddha hair is what holds this rock up. Most temples' claim to fame is a Buddha hair, so not all that impressive, but thought it'd be cool to check out what this was all about.

The bus ride from Yangon was smooth and actually left on time which is quite the accomplishment. There was a quick transfer stop to hop on a song-taew to Kintun, the town at the base of the mountain. Shortly after getting on the song- taew, a young man hopped on and introduced himself as Coco, owner of a guesthouse. Sassy marketing skills to hop aboard the mode of transportation with the few tourists who come out this way, before anybody else can get to them! So, guess where we stayed? Yes, we stayed at Coco's place.

Unfortunately, time in Burma was precious with only 2 weeks in country, sadly hindering us from completing the bad-ass 11km pilgrimage (amongst other things in Burma). Instead we had to take a truck that would drop us off at a "truck stop", allowing us to walk about 45 minutes to the rock, the same afternoon we arrived. The last bus would leave the top at 6pm, so we figured we would make it just in time if we got the process moving quickly. The trucks leave when full so we got on one that already had people on it. What we didn't know was that the people on the truck were from a Thai tourist group. Tour groups are always the worst, let alone Thai ones, solely because whenever there is a Thai involved, there is waiting. It's how they've perfected the art of patience. As if things couldn't get worse, a Chinese tour group gets on the truck after us. Why.is.this.happening? The 3 of us waiting on a truck chock full of tour groups was not how I envisioned the afternoon. 

Please give me a moment to describe these trucks. They were enormous, open-air monster trucks in which passengers sat on top with semi-cushioned metal bar seats. The trucks were so high we had to climb stairs to enter and exit them. Despite the open-air, sitting on top whilst not moving got hot and steamy, and not in the good way. Still to this day, I have no idea what we were waiting for, but we waited in that damn truck with the tour groups for 2 hours before we heard the engine roar, even though the truck was at full capacity the whole time. The start of the engine brought on cheers from the crowd!

Now, please give me a moment to describe the ride. HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!! about sums it up. Apparently we got Psycho Driver of the Year behind the wheel to drive up this insanely steep mountain with some serious inclines along very narrow roads, at a speed that was exhilarating yet slightly concerning. I do think I was more delighted at the adrenaline rush than anything and the ride itself offered some stunning views....it was delightful.

We stopped mid-way up for about 20 minutes to let the trucks coming down pass, as the road is too narrow for 2-way traffic. Our time was cutting close and we were afraid that we wouldn't have enough time at the top after the 45 minute climb up and down. Well, not to worry because the truck, unbeknownst to us, took us to the very top. Didn't 2 years living amongst Thai's teach me that a group of Thai's would never hike 45 minutes up a steep incline?! Yet it never crossed my mind! 

So, there we were at the top with a hazy, cloudy mist hanging over us, limiting the views. We took a look at the Golden Rock and it was exactly what one would think, a golden rock. Somewhat underwhelming, as most destinations like this are. Please don't mistake me for a Negative Nancy because I do love that stuff, but I always feel the journey is the real adventure, not the destination.

Thus far I have forgotten to inform you of a Golden Rock Rule: women aren't allowed to touch or go near the rock. Yes, that's a rule. We took some fun photos, you know the kind when it looks like you are holding up the rock with a pinky, and carried on back down the mountain....via truck. A different driver provided a much calmer ride down.

That night we went out into the sleepy town of Kintun for a snack and a beer at a local tea house. We were welcomed with a heavy downpour, forcing us to stay and have another beer....oh such tragedies :) It provided the opportunity to watch 2 sweet 12 year old boys working there make paper boats and send them off in the water that flooded the dirt streets. 

The following morning, determined to hike a portion of this pilgrimage, albeit a short one, Paul and I set out at 6am to catch a truck that would drop us off at the "truck stop", 45 minutes (by foot) from the top. It was a tough walk, but it was good exercise and we got to engage in the exchange of regular greetings with every local we passed. We got ourselves a much more clear view that was quite beautiful. We walked a bit further on as there were various ridge paths we would've loved to explore, but time was precious and so we had to get moving to make our way back down the mountain to catch our next bus.

Although we couldn't explore as much as I would've liked, this little journey back up the mountain enabled me to put my feelings about Burma into words.  No matter where you go, whether it's "touristy" (I quote this because although there are places that attract a lot of tourists and Burma is becoming a desirable destination, yet it's one of the least touristy places in SE Asia (as of right now) because her borders were closed for so long) or not, the Burmese people continue to live their lives whether foreigners come to visit or not. It's nice when you see people living as they were, before and after you, with no need to rely on your (meaning, the tourist) existence.  I hope you check out my facebook page to see the photos of Burma (thanks to Paul) that are mostly of daily life.  It surrounded us everywhere we went and was very refreshing.

The next bus was leaving at 1:30 and surprisingly once again, left on time. I began to wonder if Burma didn't take part in Asian time, meaning at least 4 hours late with various crazy stops and stalls in the midst of the trip.....


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