Mount Popa - Temple in the Clouds

This is a damn long overdue post (we went in July 2014!) that I could just ignore. But I want to share with you about Mount Popa.

Mount Popa is located about 50km from Bagan in Myanmar.

I was too lazy to find out whether there were any form of public transport to the mountain, so we joined a tour arranged by our hostel in Bagan.

This is the lorry that brought us to Mount Popa:

The lady at the hostel charged us 10,000 Burmese Kyat each for the return trip. On the way to Mount Popa we bitched with the other travellers that she had overcharged us.

As you can see from the photo above, the lorry was not the best form of transport for a group of 7 travellers (8 including the driver). We were all seated at the back of the lorry on the hard floor. I kept on shifting myself because my bum was getting numb.

I was glad the driver made a pit stop at a place where they made food stuff like palm sugar, peanut oil, snacks, etc.:

So much fascination with a guy on a coconut tree!

Sample of some of the products sold at the shop:

Only July and it felt like Chinese New Year!

I don't particularly buy foodstuff when I travel but I bought this assam (tamarind) to support the shop:

Kept this for so long in my home that I had to eventually throw it away when it started moulding.

Mount Popa approaching:

Looks like a fairy tale temple. Somehow Jack & the Beanstalk comes to mind.

Two elephants welcomed us at the entrance of Mount Popa:

According to superstition, pilgrims or travellers to Mount Popa should not wear red, green or black as  those colours are reserved for spirits called Nat who live on the mountain. I wore a grey t-shirt and pants that day.

We had to leave our footwear at the entrance of the temple and enter barefeet. As I mentioned in my previous posts on Myanmar, the temple floors are covered with animal poo and I had to look carefully where I stepped.

I had read beforehand that there are many monkeys on Mount Popa, so I had prepared myself like not wearing anything bright and not carry things like sunglasses or wear a hairband in case the monkeys do a grab and go, just like their counterparts in Uluwatu in Bali.

But I was totally unprepared for the level of aggression of the Mount Popa monkeys.

They hissed and threatened to attack anyone who gives them even the slightest glance. Worst if it's a female monkey carrying a baby because she thinks you want to attack her baby. The best is to ignore them and walk on.

The monkeys was the main reason I didn't take many photos on the way up the mountain because a slight movement like taking out the camera or aiming the camera at an object is deemed as an attack on them and they will start hissing fiercely.

I was so pissed that I was contemplating of having live monkey brains (with wine) for dinner.

Anyway, back to the story.

Signage to show the height of Mount Popa:

At 2,417 metres above sea level, we had to climb many flight of steep stairs to reach the top. 

Rows of shops that we saw on the way up:

Reminds me of Kek Lok Si Temple in Penang which has a similar layout.

We saw shrines and altars like this: 

People who made a donation to the temple had the option to engrave their name on plaques:

I was surprised to see an acquaintance's name on the wall. I snapped a photo and asked him whether it was really him. So busybody.

As you can see on the plaque, some well wishes and pilgrims came all the way from San Francisco, California in the United States of America:

I deduce that a Burmese restaurant owner made a pilgrimage to Mount Popa to offer prayers for his business.

Pagodas at the top of the mountain:

View from the top:

The village at the bottom looked so small:

A man praying so fervently till his forehead touched the ground:

Maybe this man will also put his name on the plaque if his prayers are answered.

All signages are in Burmese:

Couldn't help noticing these yellow bottles:

Still haven't figured out what's inside.

My thighs were aching for a few days after I returned to Bagan and Yangon - something strange because I only get aching thighs after a steep climb. So either the steps in Mount Popa were relatively steep for my level. Or maybe I was climbing at top speed to get away from those darn monkeys.

Visiting the Temples of Bagan

The ancient city of Bagan in the country of Myanmar had fascinated me with its sea of temples doting the landscape.

After seeing breathtaking pictures of Bagan's temples in magazines and on the internet, I made it a point to make a trip there one day. 

The trip materialised in July last year during the long Hari Raya Aidilfitri holidays (cheers to long weekend public holidays!) and here's an account of my experience there.

All visitors entering the ancient city must purchase a Bagan Archaeological Zone ticket:

You can opt to pay USD 15 or Euro 15 or even in Burmese Kyat. I paid in US Dollar because it had the best exchange rate against the Malaysian Ringgit at that time.

We stayed in New Bagan where the cheaper accommodations are located.

Since New Bagan is located approximately 5km from the temples which are located in Old Bagan, we chartered an air-conditioned van to take us around the temples.

We could have opted to rent a bicycle instead to explore the temples. But the area was huge and we were too lazy to navigate our way around. Moreover it was too hot to cycle in the heat.

(Note: We visited the cities of Yangon and Bagan in July which is the rainy season in Myanmar. However we encountered heavy rain in Yangon only. Bagan had a dry and humid weather in July)

The temples in Bagan come in different shapes and sizes:

We visited between 7 - 8 temples that day. I can't remember the exact number because by the time we hit the third temple, everything began to look the same, if you know what I mean.

No footwear is allowed inside the temples. So we had to leave them at the entrance. You may wear your socks, though. The temple floors had animal faeces, mud and dirt. So be prepared to get your feet icky and dirty.

Since you'll be visiting a few temples in a day, better to wear slippers/sandals for easy removal.

Leave your expensive footwear at home in case they get stolen when you leave them outside the temples.

The pink slippers were mine :-) I was glad I had a different coloured pair because I could spot them easily in a pile of dark coloured slippers.

There were water containers outside each temple like this: 

Anyone in need of a drink could dip the steel mug into the clay vessel, drink the water and put the mug back for the next person to use. Not hygienic in my opinion ...

Some of the temples had narrow stairs like this:

You may not want to squeeze your way into small, tight stairs like this if you're horizontally challenged or even claustrophobic. Climbing up the stairs is also another tiring affair for the unfit.

Most of the temples were built like a box with 4 sides. There were statues of Buddha on each side.

We met a young artist in one of temple:

The poor boy painted in the temple to support his family. 

We bought a painting each to support his efforts. He was delighted as we were his first customers for the day.

I like the energy of the 5 dancers depicted in this painting. The young artist had skillfully captured their beauty with gold paint on a piece of white, cotton cloth. I got the glittering painting framed when I got back to Kuala Lumpur. The frame was more expensive than the painting. And this photo cannot do justice to its beauty. You have to see the painting with your own eyes. 

Towards late evening the driver brought us to the final temple for the day to view the sunset, i.e. Shwesandaw Temple.

(That's the convenience of having a driver as he will be able to bring us to the right temple for the sunset and at the appropriate time. If we had gone gallivanting on our own on bicycles, we would have to do sufficient research beforehand and navigate ourselves around the huge place. We would also need the luxury of time which we didn't have.)

We arrived early at the temple and climbed to the top of the temple to 'chop' a strategic spot to view the sunset.

Not long after, other tour buses and more tourists started arriving in droves.

This is the view from top of the Shwesandaw Temple:

Temples of various shapes and sizes dot the landscape as far as the eye can see. I like to think that it were aliens from outer space who built these temples as co-ordinates to guide their way to Planet Earth. 

The sunset was relatively dramatic that day:

Photo could have been better if I had a better camera.

People climbing down after the sunset has gone. The climb up was not easy as each step was steep and higher than a normal step. Many travellers had to stop half way to catch their breath before continuing their climb to the top.


Our trip to Bagan was about temple, temples and more temples. I call it a 'temple fix'.

Now that I can finally tick Bagan off my list, we vowed not to visit another temple again for a long time.