5 am….Agga Youth Hotel staff whispers woke me up in dormitory …. He worried if 11 other tourists woke up … hihihi.
Prepared for 15 minutes without bathing finally I departed to Aung Mingalar bus terminal in the north by taxi. The excellence of Myanmar public transportation (i.e buses and taxis) are using gas fuel. So you will rarely find air pollution on their streets.
Taxi covered a trip about 24 km in 55 minutes. Because it was still early morning and the first bus would depart on 7:30 am, I finally decided to had a breakfast with omelet fried rice for 1,000 Kyat in terminal with monks, drivers and conductors …. “So I like Burmese now”.
Bus, thanaka and cheap breakfast
Waiting for 30 minutes inside bus before departing, my attention was on bus conductor, his cheek with thanaka, pacing, chewed betel, occasionally spitting it into a covered small box above dashboard. Looks like he cares about hygiene than other.
Bus departed on time. Instantly left downtown and began to ride through countryside. Bus often passed to farmer’s tractor on street.
At 10:10 bus stopped for toilet break in a restaurant. Stopped for 15 minutes and then resumed the trip.
Intercity bus and restaurant along with their local artists.
On the way, local passengers one by one began to descended, because I didn’t know where I was, finally I asked to bus conductor. To simplify communicated to him, I showed Golden Rock picture in my phone ….. yesss, he immediately gave me a thumb up as OK sign and he understood what I asked to dropped me there.
11:25 am I was awakened by the conductor …. “arrived,” she said in Myanmar language while pointing to trucks that were carrying people. He told me to rode it… ..I know that Golden Rock was on a hilltop.
Kinpun Station …. the name of the last bus terminal in this trip. Okay, I started to bought a truck ticket to truck conductor who was shouting eagerly to grabbed passengers.
“OK just relax”, I thought … Just got in the truck and I would reach the Golden Rock……
Rode a truck and paid 3,000 Kyats
After truck departed for 10 minutes, all was changed …. tense face, paused mouth, often breathe deeply …. and actually truck ran across through road without barrier on both sides …. I was surrender and many prayed.
My panic grew as I knew that one of truck tires was almost bald. I saw it when truck stopped to rest in midway. “for reached hilltop was needed time to rest…so it was long way….Then, how long must I pass this tension?” …. And I must went back to Kinpun Station next afternoon on similar trip….very tense day for me
Honestly….When I climbed to hilltop, I said in my mind, I shouldn’t need to went there if I knew that the trip was very horrible.
After 45 minutes tension, finally I arrived. Fresh air about 16 celsius degree made me relax and forgetting the tension.
After buying an entrance ticket for 6,000 Kyat and passing a metal detector at entrance gate, I still had to walked through stairs to reached Golden Rock.
Some children who didn’t strongly walk could ride carrying services
Beautiful Golden Rock ….. a golden-yellow stone that had been in balance for 2,500 years and didn’t fall when it really lie on cliff rim. According the local tale, Buddha hair had blocked this stone so it didn’t fall.
Scientifically I don’t know the theory ….?
Top Left: Entrance gate into Golden Rock courtyard
Top right: Golden Rock with Kyaiktiyo pagoda above it
Bottom right and bottom left: Golden Rock courtyard
After looking around and capturing some pictures finally I decided to went back to downhill because I had to catched bus towards Yangon. The last bus was on 4:30 pm according information from a bus conductor last morning.
Holding my breath again while rode back a truck to downhill. In midway of trip, my eyes fixed on a project board that said that it was being built a cable car project to Golden Rock …. actually my trip to Myanmar was on 2015, and based on some information that cable car had been operated since December 2017.
So who wants to go there and ride the Cable Car?
Sharing for your experience if you have ridden it!