Myanmar - Hidden Pindaya - IgoUgo Myanmar Journal

Myanmar - Hidden Pindaya

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Overview

Pindaya Town Side Street Photo - Myanmar, Asia

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Very early in the morning, we flew into Heho airport from Mandalay. Heho wins the prize as the most disorganized and chaotic airport we encountered in Myanmar. We finally were able to get things sorted out with the “help” of a number of people, some official, some not, but all of whom expected tips. We met our guide, Tutu, with car and driver and headed for Pindaya. We were told the trip would take about an hour. It actually took two hours plus a stop at Aungbahn, a most interesting market town that is about half way between Heho and Pindaya. You can read more about the trip in the accompanying review, “On the Road in Myanmar.”Pindaya, itself, is a delightful little town, nes...Read More

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Conqueror Hotel

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Hotel

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We enjoyed our 2-day stay here. We were both surprised, almost astounded, at the luxury of our room. Each huge room has a separate entrance and its own verandas, front and back. The rooms are huge. Ours had one king-size bed, along with an ample armoire and a serviceable shower. One of the benefits of staying here is that you are near the foot of famous Pindaya Caves and also within easy walking distance from Botoloke Lake. You can also make trekking arrangements through the front desk, although the staff's English-language skills were not highly developed. The lobby is Chinese style, which means it’s a little overdone but not too off-putting.The restaurant is OK but not gr...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on July 10, 2006

Conqueror Hotel
Singong Quarter
Pindaya, Myanmar
+95 (1) 4481211

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Pindaya Caves

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Attraction

Elevator to Pindaya Caves Photo - Pindaya Caves, Pindaya, Myanmar

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Containing 8098 Buddha images (no, I didn’t count them), these ancient limestone caves are about 1 mile southwest of the town and can be reached by taking a horse-cart, motoring there by car or jeep, or just walking on foot. Except for the young and energetic, the best way is to go leisurely by horse-cart to the foot of the hills at a cost of about US$1. We went by car. Until recently, one had to ascend 200 steps up a covered stairway to get to the cave entrance. Recently the government installed an elevator, which allowed us to save our energy for exploring the huge, meandering maze made up of numerous caves. The caves are supposed to be 20 million years old, and since ancient times, they ...Read More

Containing 8098 Buddha images (no, I didn’t count them), these ancient limestone caves are about 1 mile southwest of the town and can be reached by taking a horse-cart, motoring there by car or jeep, or just walking on foot. Except for the young and energetic, the best way is to go leisurely by horse-cart to the foot of the hills at a cost of about US$1. We went by car.

Until recently, one had to ascend 200 steps up a covered stairway to get to the cave entrance. Recently the government installed an elevator, which allowed us to save our energy for exploring the huge, meandering maze made up of numerous caves. The caves are supposed to be 20 million years old, and since ancient times, they have been places of worship and veneration.

The images are made of all kinds of materials, like teak, marble, alabaster, brick, cement, and lacquer, and are enshrined in the nooks and crannies of the winding caverns. There is one wooden piece that contains a thousand images on its four sides. Right at the entrance to the main cave there is a 50-foot pagoda called Shwe U-min Paya, or the Golden Cave pagoda. If you are claustrophobic, stop here and wait for your friends to reappear.

There is also a statue at the entrance commemorating an ancient legend involving the daughters of a Nat (pre-Buddhist spirits) king. The princesses decided to spend the night in a cave and were trapped by a giant spider that weaved a web across the entrance. They yelled and screamed loud enough to attract a handsome prince, who dispatched the spider and, as a reward, married the most beautiful of the princesses. Sigh!

The cave complex is 490 feet long and contains numerous stalactites and stalagmites, many of which have been given fanciful names which were pointed out to us by Tutu, our guide. Unfortunately, I didn’t write the names down. Some of the smaller caves are used as meditation chambers and are only accessible if you crawl in on your hands and knees. Needless to say, I did not try to enter any of these tiny rooms.

Be cautious as you are wandering around. The floor is slippery, some of the passageways are very narrow, and a hefty person could get stuck. The complex was relatively crowded when we were there. It is a very popular destination for pilgrims from within Myanmar. Photo taking is allowed, but it’s important to be sensitive, as many of the people come to the caves to pray.

This is a must-see destination if you are anywhere near Pindaya. Read Less

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on August 22, 2006

Pindaya Caves
1 Mile Southwest Of Pindaya, Shan State
Myanmar, Pindaya

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Sights in Pindaya

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Story/Tip

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Pindaya is a small quiet town perched on the bank of the placid Botoloke Lake. It also contains at least two large monastery compounds with numerous pagodas and stupas, all in different stages of preservation or dilapidation, depending on your view of things. It is a religious center for the Palaung, Shan, Danu and Pao peoples living in the vicinity.Pam and I spent a couple of hours just wandering around. We find that, while on a tour, even a custom one such as this, we must take time for ourselves to just hang out. If we don’t, we go into “tourist attraction” overload. Also, while I value a knowledgeable guide’s input, I find I don’t retain that much unless I write it down soon ther...Read More

Pindaya is a small quiet town perched on the bank of the placid Botoloke Lake. It also contains at least two large monastery compounds with numerous pagodas and stupas, all in different stages of preservation or dilapidation, depending on your view of things. It is a religious center for the Palaung, Shan, Danu and Pao peoples living in the vicinity.

Pam and I spent a couple of hours just wandering around. We find that, while on a tour, even a custom one such as this, we must take time for ourselves to just hang out. If we don’t, we go into “tourist attraction” overload. Also, while I value a knowledgeable guide’s input, I find I don’t retain that much unless I write it down soon thereafter. In this case, Tutu gave us an over-view and we asked some questions later.

One of the Pagoda filled areas we visited is actually a burial ground for the now extinct Shan royal family. The other is connected to an active monastery, whose name I forgot to write down. The wooden living quarters of the monastery are fascinating and look like they are about ready to collapse. On the other hand, nearby, is a modern meeting hall, which is evidently available to rent out for conferences, etc. I found myself questioning their priorities but maybe the meeting hall will provide enough income to rehabilitate the living quarters or maybe the monk’s living quarters are intended to be sparse and dilapidated. Tutu was unable to shed any light on the matter.

While we wandered the Shan Royal tombs and pagodas, a storm came up adding a little drama to a fascinating walk past monuments to forgotten VIPs. Even though, we were unable to read the inscriptions, we could imagine the status of the various deceased based on the size of their tomb. It was also nice to wander through the area by ourselves and without other tourists, a rare occurrence in most tourist attractions.

After visiting the pagoda complexes, we walked across the road to the Lake Botoloke shore. It is small, placid body of water. Some of the locals were fishing and smiled and nodded at us. After the rain, a nice breeze had come up so we decided to walk around the lake. There’s really not much to see but the ambiance is peaceful and the wild flowers are very nice. After about 30 minutes, I decided some relaxing time back at the hotel would be good for me. Pam decided to finish circumnavigating the lake. When she returned, she said it was pretty much the same all around except for some very marshy spots at the North end of the lake.

We really enjoyed our stroll around the area and I recommend taking some time to experience this non-tourist infested small town. Read Less

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on August 25, 2006

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Climbing the Mountainside to a Palaung Village

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Story/Tip

Tea Trader Bargaining With Local Growers Photo -

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In the hills above Pindaya there are a number of villages that are accessible only by foot. These villages are inhabited by the Palaung people, one of the 135 ethnic groups in Myanmar. In the recent past, many Palaung were in revolt against the government, but a 1991 agreement ended the uprising, if not the discontent. Some of the Palaung are still living in refugee camps in Thailand. Others have joined the Wa army and are still resisting the Military dictatorship.It is about a 2-hour hike up the hill to the first Palaung village. The road is a rutted dirt track. It might be possible to take an ATV up the hill, but I seriously doubt it. A tracked vehicle like a tank or a bul...Read More

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On the Road in Myanmar

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Story/Tip

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After flying from one place to another we were finally able to go overland from Heho to Pindaya and from Pindaya to Nyaung Shwe on the shores of Inlé Lake then back to Heho. As you might guess, traveling by road is a great way to get a sense of the country that you miss by flying or by only visiting the large cities.We were fortunate, also, to be able to stop where we wanted and take photos or just stretch. The roads in Myanmar are generally one and one-half lanes wide and not well-graded, even if paved, so one’s rear end can take a bit of a beating, too. The road along the western shore of Inlé lake is particularly bad. If you are at all subject to car sickness, you might want to medica...Read More

After flying from one place to another we were finally able to go overland from Heho to Pindaya and from Pindaya to Nyaung Shwe on the shores of Inlé Lake then back to Heho. As you might guess, traveling by road is a great way to get a sense of the country that you miss by flying or by only visiting the large cities.

We were fortunate, also, to be able to stop where we wanted and take photos or just stretch. The roads in Myanmar are generally one and one-half lanes wide and not well-graded, even if paved, so one’s rear end can take a bit of a beating, too. The road along the western shore of Inlé lake is particularly bad. If you are at all subject to car sickness, you might want to medicate yourself if you do this drive.

The road from Heho to Pindaya climbs up to the market town and important highway nexus of Aungbahn. As you can see from the photo, it is a busy place with vendors, cars, busses, and trucks all competing for space and attention. There are also many shops and food stands; I wouldn’t exactly call them restaurants. We had an enjoyable and interesting time wandering around, observing the vendors, moving in and out of the shops, marveling at the decorations on the trucks, and basically soaking up the atmosphere.

After leaving Aungbahn, we were treated with some great scenery as we drove over the rolling hills of the Shan plateau through almost endless fields of dry cultivated mountain rice, colorful mustard and wheat. We also passed through a couple small farming villages and were able to take photos of the dwellings there. Tutu, our guide, told us each village is populated by people of the same ethnic heritage, Pao, Danu, Shan, etc. Therefore the inhabitants of each village speak a different dialect and have problems dealing with people from other villages. Bamar, the dialect of the dominant culture, has not caught on as the military rulers might wish so those who want to trade with the locals must learn to speak a number of different dialects. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that many of the rural people are illiterate so written communication isn’t an option.

The highway, itself, is used by a wide diversity of vehicles and non-vehicles. Everything from ox-carts and horse-carts to cars like the one we were in. Add in ex-Russian busses, two stroke diesel tractors hauling a year’s worth of crops on a trailer, pick up trucks carrying a full load plus upwards of ten passengers, over-loaded two stroke diesel trucks with sagging suspensions, military vehicles that neither stop nor slow down for anyone, Chinese style bicycles (like cruisers but not nearly as well built), and farmers walking on the verge carrying 50 to 75 pound loads on their backs and their heads, and you get some idea of why a two hour trip took more than three hours.

I wanted to get out and take a photo of what I was seeing about every ten minutes. If I had gotten my way, our trip would have taken an additional two hours. If photographing people in their natural environment is your thing, a couple days on the roads of the Shan State would be very profitable.

The drive from Pindaya to Nyaung Shwe was different as we spent a good deal of time running down the western edge of Inlé Lake on a road that felt like it hadn’t been repaired since the British left in 1947. The route we took went through some hilly tree-covered country that was not being farmed. Because of that we didn’t see the potpourri of people that we had seen 2 days earlier.

Our last morning in Shan country was taken up by the drive from Nyaung Shwe to Heho airport. We had to depart very early, take a pre-dawn boat ride from our hotel to Nyaung Shwe, and then drive for 2 hours in the early morning to arrive at the airport before 8:30am.

It amazes me, how many people are out walking on the highway at 6:30 in the morning. I assume they are going to work or farm or maybe just visiting. It makes sense to do one’s walking in the morning before the heat of the day but the numbers of people strolling along an otherwise traffic-free highway boggles my mind. It also indicates how poor folks are since they walk great distances rather than take a bus or other transportation that seems dirt cheap to us.

I’m happy we had the opportunity to see all that we saw on our “road trip.” I recommend you take the time to travel the rural highways. It’s an opportunity to see and experience things you won’t get in the cities. Read Less

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Myanmar - Hidden Pindaya