Arriving in Myanmar - Hpa-An


Stepping into Myanmar was a bit like stepping back in time, especially after Thailand. It reminded me of India: undeveloped and traditional, every man in sarong, most of them and many of the women chewing betel, hectic streets with all kind of man-, animal- and engine-powered transport, constant honking of horns. I loved India, and I knew I would love Myanmar. But there were differences, some good some bad: no beggars and nobody was pushy, people were genuinely friendly and honest with prices, but prices weren't as cheap and the food wasn't that good. Regarding the latter, they have so called curries with many side dishes, as we found out at the first restaurant where we stopped with our driver, but they tasted quite strange at first. Since then I found actually quite good food, it seems it varies from place to place, but none of them has a special flavour like Indian or Thai food.

From the border to Hpa-An, my first destination, the distance is about 130 kms but it took more than 4 hours to cover it. A lot of construction is going on, and in the future it will be faster for sure, but at the moment it was mostly dirt road with some little asphalt stretches at places. Getting closer to Hpa-An, the area reminded me of Vang Vieng a bit, with the curiously shaped lush-green limestone hills and mountains. But unlike Vang Vieng, where they are quite compact, the Hpa-An area is a big plain and the hills and mountains are located far apart. In Hpa-An itself there are also many of them with a stupa or temple on the top of many, the most famous and biggest is Zwegabin (Zwekabin), as well as a number of lakes and the big Thanlyin River. While the majority of locals are Buddhists, there are sizable Muslim and Hindu populations as well.

The first afternoon was spent walking around town, which is quite spread out. I visited the Kan Thar Yar lake, the most central and popular, went to areas that were basically a conglomeration of villages, and walked along the river back to the urban centre. It seems they are expecting a lot of tourists to come, especially by boat, and there is new development along the river bank to cater for them. I finished my walk at the Shwe Yin Mhyaw Pagoda, a popular spot to watch sunset and/or take a boat across the river to the Hpa-Pu hill. It was a day well spent - but I realised if I wanted to see all that I wanted to see, I needed some kind of a transport.




















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