Kyaiktiyo Things to Do

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On the way to Kyaiktiyo one can find a lot of open-air beer-pubs, serving a delicious draft.beer.
Most of the burmese breweries have been founded at the beginning of the last century by german expatriates. So you can savour a very good and cheap drink, wherever you find the sign of "Myanmar Premium Quality"

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Before you enter the Golden Rock area by the end of your anscent, you first pay your entrance fee (in US$). They write down your name and nationality (statistics??). Luckily the ticket entitles you to visit Golden Rock as many times as you wish within a few days.
Then at the entrance you have to take off your shoes and socks (carry them in a bag or pay a fee to someone to take care of them). After you reach a huge platform with fine view over the surrounding landscape, full of people. By the end of it you see the magnificent Golden rock which you can visit around in two levels using the stairs.

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If you visit Golden Rock then you'd better do that both at day and at night. As the Golden Rock is brightly illuminated at night the gold leafs reflect their yellowish colour. Given the atmosphere with candles and people praying it is a very inspiring experience.

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This mystical pagoda built in the enshrinement of Buddha relic stands on a gold gilded boulder, precariously perched on the edge of the hill over 1100 km above sea-level.
The pagoda on top of the boulder is called in Mon language Kyaik-I -thi-ro, which means "pagoda carried by a hermit on the head" Kyaik-I-thi-ro later came to be known as Kyaiktiyo Pagoda. The hill on which the Pagoda stands is also called Kyaiktiyo Hill.
The big boulder like a human head, the circumference of which is about 15 m, rests on top - to be exact - on the edge of the rock. At a glance, with ignorance of the gravity, it appears that the boulder will fall at a slight push.. A small pagoda 7 m high, was built on top of that boulder. By using a piece of bamboo strips as a lever, with a piece of thread tied to one end and placed under the rock you can pass the thread from one side to the other side of the boulder which goes to show that the boulder supporting the Kyaiktiyo Pagoda does not touch the rock below it.

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This is another type of burmese massage ,I think.

After a long journey from Yangon and the thrilling ride from the base and the long hours climbs, I would recommend yuo to try the burmese healing hands which help to give your muscle some good rest .

This man gave me a massage for only USD5 for 45 minutes which include reflexology and shoulder massage. As you can see from the pic, he's
using the herbal oil to do the massaging. Kinda experience I would said.
You can find his shop at the Kyaithiyo street not far from the golden rock.

Tho' I lacked the foresight to photograph these things, I did see a strange sight or two during the hike up the hill to Kyaiktiyo...

One guy waved me over and gestured into a large garbage back he was holding.... Inside was a large constrictor snake that I guess, he recently grabbed from the nearby woods...

More startling was a local barbeque that was taking place up the path a little further... I looked at what they were cooking and could not identify the main course: Large animal with huge eye teeth... When I inquired, the cook make a clawing gesture with his both of his hands, and said in the English that would make the Queen's mother proud: TIGER!!!

Guess they arent extinct yet in these necks of the woods....

I have to say that sitting up on this mountain top on a cool, breazy, moon lit evening listening to the worshippers chanting in rhythm is about as close to magic as you will find anywhere in this world...