Hpa An

For once we arrived at the more sensible hour of 9am, but once again we got little to no sleep. On the way to the hotel we stopped for tea and naan with lentils. Along the way to the hotel I was getting a really friendly vibe from all the locals, even more than normal! Everyone was saying hello and was super smiley, it was like being in the country side up north 😊 We were too early to check in so we just chilled out in the lobby for a while reading our books until we could. The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing and doing our laundry.

In the evening we went to a cute little cafe for a salad and milkshake, walked around the local lake to watch sunset and finished in the night market. Unlike a lot of nightmarkets we have been to this one was really good with lots of freshly cooked food and all very tasty. We had an amazing sweet and sour chicken noodle soup, some freshly cooked chip shop type chips, a couple of meat skewers, some very stinky Tofu stuffed with tea leaf salad (bleugh) and a strawberry milkshake yum yum yum.

The next day we got up early and were feeling adventurous. As it was early and not as hot as midday (only 33 degrees 😢) we climbed up Mount Zwegabin. We've done a lot of hiking on this trip and to be honest as we've been ill a lot our fitness level isn't as good as it was but somehow this hike felt impossible the entire way up. The hike was vertically up steps for 2 hours with little relief in terrain and it was scorching hot and humidity levels were rocket high. We were drenched head to toe. We were hoping it would take us less time but it was impossible in this heat and humidity. Towards the top we met a lot of college students who were all litter picking. They were so proud to be looking after the enviroment and really helped our mood for the final half an hour push.

Once at the top we came to the pagoda and sat and rested for a while. A lot of locals were also at the top in tour groups. They were a good laugh and even offered us chicken bread. Now chicken bread isn't quite what you think it is. It's a very sweet croissant type bread stuffed with sweet oily hairy chicken strands. No it doesn't sound appealing and it wasn't great but we can't be rude about it. Although Will was sat there sniffing it for quite a a long time. All the ladies were giggling at him as if he was about to eat an alien.

The hike down was just as tough to be honest, slightly quicker, but long, hot and very steep. By the time we finished the hike it was definitely time for lunch but we decided to wait till our next stop for lunch.

Our next stop was Saddan Cave famous for its size in the area and when you exit the other side it leads to a lake where you can get a boat through caves, along the canal and through rice fields. It was unexpectedly really beautiful and very relaxing. For lunch we ate bamboo sticky rice and an avocado. I must admit I just can't get enough avocado!

Everything took much longer than expected today so our final stop for the day was the famous bat cave. We arrived over an hour before sunset and were the only ones there. You can't actually go into the cavern of the cave, but it is famous for being a viewing point where you watch millions of bat's leave the cave after sunset fly all the way to Mawlalmyine to feed and come back every morning. When the bats start flying out, they start beating drums (actually jerry cans) and using brooms to make a swishing sweeping noise so that the bats make interesting patterns in flight. We even joined in making the sweeping noise with our mouths once the ladies stopped as it was just fascinating to watch. It is an incredible sight! I wish I could upload the videos! If you are interested just let me know and I'll send it to you on fb or WhatsApp. Its beautiful to watch.

For dinner we went to Wadee Restaurant which is full of tourists but although very very slow it provides incredibly tasting local dishes. We sat with Simon who we met at the Saddan Cave and had a really good chat about travelling. I'm going to really miss meeting like minded people so easily. As we are getting to the end me and Will went all out and feasted like royalty. We had Prawn Curry, Chicken and Potato Curry (just like my mums at home), tea leaf salad, 2 banana milkshakes and a beer to share. We finally won a free beer too, it was a great day. I wish England had this beer game it so fun. Basically you have the chance to win cash or free beer by looking on the inside of the bottle lid.Read more