Mount Zwegabin and Kyar Inn Hill


On the fourth day in Hpa-An, finally I went for Mount Zwegabin, the highest, most famous and most characteristic of the mountains in the area. Many people climb at dawn to catch the sunrise from the top, but in my opinion the sunset, and the hours before the sunset, are just as nice. I also wanted to climb Kyar Inn Hill if there is a chance, since this was my last active day in Hpa-An, so I started a bit early, hoping that I can fit that in the day's programme as well.

Mount Zwegabin

Since I wanted to go up on one side of the mountain and come down on the other, I didn't rent the scooter this day but took a tuk-tuk to Lumbini Park. It is kind of an amusement park for those who are not willing to put the effort into the climb, with a chair-lift just making rounds along the plain and different forms of entertainment. There is also an army of Buddhas, well visible from the top as well. I started the climb a little before 2 PM, and I hoped it won't take me 2-3 hours as people say, so I have time for Kyar Inn Hill, too. Along the way I've met a group of young Buddhist monks who wanted to take a picture with me (a quite common practice - we are just as curious for them as they are for us), and passed a few makeshift shops. At one place a sign reminded the people to take care of nature, but aparently it didn't have much effect. At one of the shops, however, the old lady did keep the area clean. Products and water are carried up by humans - I asked (drawing a picture) if they don't have donkeys, but it seems they don't - maybe they can't live in this climate. Would be easier though. Further up, you can see poles and electric cables that lead to the monastery - they are actually visible from ground level as well. Maybe solar panels would be a more sensible way, but I accept that the monks need electricity. What I couldn't accept is the amount of rubbish at the top. Obviously it wasn't left there by the tourists, more like the inhabitants of the monastery, as they were actual rubbish dumps. If foreigners are charged MMK 4000 to do the hike, they could spend part of the money on cleaning up in my opinion. Obviously they need money for other things as well, for example workers were laying new tiles at the time I visited. I've made it to the top in exactly 1.5 hours, enjoyed the view for a while then started descending on the other side - if I am lucky, I can climb Kyar Inn Hill, I hoped.





























































Kyar Inn Hill

This is the hill that you can see standing in front of Mount Zwegabin, and, I assumed, it offered great views on that mountain as well as the area. But it's quite far from it, and I didn't have any transport arranged. But luckily, when I descended from Mount Zwegabin, a girl in a restaurant asked if I needed a motorbike back to my hotel. I told her that yes, I needed a bike, but to the foot of Kyar Inn Hill. She took me there and dropped me off. But it was still a long walk to the top and I realised you can actually drive or ride up most of the way, I should have agreed (and paid a little more) to go there. Anyway, I was pushing myself and I've made it just in time, a little before the sun went down. A friendly local who unfortunately didn't speak much English joined me and tried to explain things. The sunset was really beautiful, it was worth the effort indeed! 



























I stayed in Hpa-An for another day, but I had a lot of work to do, so my 5th and last day was spent working in my hotel room. But in the previous days I managed to cover a lot of things. I loved Hpa-An, and maybe I will return one day and climb all the hills and mountains in the area that can be climbed. We'll see, but would be really nice!

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