Minglaba from Myanmar or My Burmese Birthday in Hpa-an, May 21-23 2015

Welcome to Myanmar (Burma), where the men proudly wear longyis (basically long skirts), the women paint their face with thanaka (a golden fragrant paste used as sunblock/cream), and the pagodas are sparkling gold and literally everywhere. It is the land of Buddha, of green tea and tea-leaf salad, of straw hats and umbrellas, and the friendliest people you'll meet.  Though tourists have been swarming in since the political situation was somewhat settled around 2010, there are many places that still feel authentic and untouched, compared to other destinations in southeast Asia.

This is an example of what I call the "elitist tourist paradox." When you backpack around the world you often hear people saying such things as "this place is too touristy" or "go there, there are no other tourists there", or the ever-popular "I was the only foreigner there." What they (and we) often forget is the small detail that they are tourists THEMSELVES, and by going to these so-called "off the beaten track" places, we are eventually turning these very places into "on the beaten track" or, heaven forbid, part of the infamous "banana pancake trail" (or the "hummus trail" for Israelis). I think we have to remind ourselves to embrace our inner tourist because that is what we all are, appreciate the privilege we have of simply being tourists, and just enjoy the amazing places we are able to visit!

Anyhow, I imagined Burma to be a mysterious and exotic land. In reality, you will probably see tourists everywhere you go, also due to the fact that most foreign tourist go to roughly the same places as many regions are still off-limits for foreigners or require special permits. So perhaps you won't feel like you are discovering the unknown, but it is impossible not to be charmed by Burma's undeniable uniqueness of culture, scenery and people.

Travellers tend to say that Burma is expensive but I have to disagree. True accommodation is a little bit more than what you would pay as a backpacker in southeast Asia (15-25$ for double room) but the rest- food, transport, entrance fees etc. is cheap, sometimes even ridiculously cheap.

Rain on my Parade

In Hpa-an, our first stop in Myanmar and the capital of Kayin (or Karen) state, we possible broke some kind of record by staying in 3 different hotels over three nights in the same town! How did this happen you ask? So it was my birthday and we decided to splurge and indulge in a super nice hotel and Daniel was left with task of finding such a place (I was skeptical about the degree of really nice hotels in such a small town, but I was proven wrong). He found the nicest place around, Hpa-an Lodge, an absolutely stunning place owned by a lovely French couple, but somehow he misunderstood that the place is under construction so before realizing this mistake we stayed in the lovely  Hotel Zwekabin  and then moved to  Hpa-an Lodge for the second night. That's 2, but why 3 hotels? So as it turned out I became quite ill the day after my birthday and we stayed another unplanned night in Hpa an but returned to our usual budget standards at the friendly Golden Sky. 

The winner was hands down Hpa-An Lodge, with beautifully designed bungalows and breathtaking views. the owners and the staff were friendly and attentive, and even surprised me with a delicious chocolate birthday cake and a song! At night we enjoyed an amazing dinner cooked by the hotel's chef and served on our balcony (since the restaurant was being renovated) accompanied by great red wine. Despite the rain we didn't pass up on a dip in the gorgeous infinity pool, perfectly set with the striking backdrop of Mt. Zwekabin.

Hotel Zwekabin

Hpa-an Lodge

So aside from moving between different hotels, we celebrated my birthday by visiting some Buddhist sites around town, despite the rain that literally did not stop for three days! We strolled through 1000 Buddha sculptures in Lumbini Garden at the foot of imposing  Mt. Zwekabin, and marvelled at the beautiful Kyauk Ka Lat Pagoda perched on top of a rock in the middle of a lake.  

On our last day in Hpa-an we woke up early and visited three Buddhist caves around Hpa-an as a part of a tour we booked through Golden Sky Guesthouse, joined by Fab a new friend from Italy. The most memorable was Yathaypyan Cave but Kawgun Cave was also rather impressive. The tour took about three hours which was more than enough for the three caves, and we returned to Hpan an at noon and boarded a bus to Kyaiktiyo, home of the famous Golden Rock.