Mt. Popa and the Plot for Outbreak, Part II

I had one last day in Bagan before I would begin my way back home. We would drive to Mt. Popa this morning, about one and a half hours. Along the way we made a few stops, one was at the post office, where mail was once delivered by train. The trains no longer run and the concept of mail is gone. In fact if you have a government job and you are not doing it well, you end up here as the station master, with nothing to do but watch the hours tick by.


Another bus passed by.


We then made a much more important stop at a roadside distillery. They take the palm fruit and first grind it to extract its oil.


Distilling it to make Arak, an alcoholic spirit around 120 proof.


Of course I gave it a try. It was a little funky, but I figured nothing could really live in it, so I finished off my sample. They also make candy from it, however I was plenty good with my sample shot and did not need any more.


We continued on and I needed a bathroom stop about 10 minutes down the road. But soon Mt. Popa was in sight, with the Taungkalat monastery on top.


They were working on the road so we had to get out and start walking at this point.


In fact even those with cars were walking, but for different reasons.


We continued on towards the base of the mountain.




This place had a lot of monks and a lot of monkeys.






There are a little over 800 steps to get to the top, so I took off my shoes and began heading up. Even if you for some reason don’t see the monkeys you will know they are here because the stairs are covered with their number ones and number twos, and you’re barefoot.


A nice view and a nice number two, oh and a nice monkey.


I was not sure how to proceed, there were monkeys all over the steps, can I just walk around them, will they attack me, I moved cautiously. They mostly ignored me, however they often fought among themselves right in the middle of my path. Not wanting to get in the middle of their misunderstanding, I waited, then walked around the blood stains.


Almost there.


Last few steps.


At the top were monks and monkeys, the monkey is on the left.




I already had a number of monk pictures so I focused on the monkeys.










OK, maybe one monk picture, but I’m going to go for something here, me taking a picture of a monk taking a picture of a monk, thats gotta be some kind of art thing right?


A few last views before I headed back down.




Heading down.


As long as everyone stays where they are I’ll be good.






We then went and had lunch with a view.


I had some more time before my flight back to Yangon, so I asked my guide to take me to some more ruins to explore. We made one last stop in Bagan before heading to the airport in Nyaung U.












I got to the airport and checked in, thanked my guide, and then actually went through a real security checkpoint. We walked out to the plane and took off. It took about an hour and half to get to Yangon. I headed to the same hotel that I was at on my first stop in town, checked in, and went to sleep. I had one more day in Myanmar tomorrow and then would continue my way home tomorrow night.

VIDEO: Day 8 - Mt. Popa