The Golden Rock

On to the golden rock, one of the 3 top pilgrimage sites in Myanmar.   The story of the rock is beyond the reach of my imagination but briefly it involves this guy who found  a hair belonging to Bhudda and wanted to find a special place to keep it that was shaped like a head and he did....it was this magically balanced rock on the top of a mountain. Now pilgrims come by the thousands to pay their respects by applying small pieces of gold leaf to the rock. Only men are allowed to do this.
It is a bit of a  commercial gong show at the top of the mountain where the rock and the designated holy precinct are located. You take converted dump trucks with bench seats up the steep hairpin turn road to get there. That was the most exciting part. You also have to resign yourself to the special foreigner only ticket costs for the ride and admission both of which seem have gone up recently.


 While in the village of Kinpun the " basecamp" for Golden Rock mountain, we decided to treat ourselves to a flashpacker resort-like hotel instead of the more bare bones backpacker guest houses which are quite pleasing in Thailand, but not up to the same standards here in Myanmar. So much for sacrifice.

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