Kyaukpadaung Local Customs

Almost all of the rest rooms I saw were 'squat'-style (i.e. no seat), though I did come across one exception by the foot of the mountain. I'm guessing this must be a bit unusal in Kyaukpadaung because of the sign on the door !-)

Just a few kilometers out of Kyaukpadaung, we had to stop to wait for a goat herder to move her stock off the road. An unusual sight! The road between Mandalay and Bagan has been in use for a long time, evolving from a track to an earth road and now a bitumen semi-highway. This is the driest part of the country, and during the dry season (November to April), stock are sometimes taken along the road like this to a water source for a drink.

There were quite a few of Monks enjoying the afternoon when we were there at Mt Popa. Many of the them seemed like tourists themselves as they carried cameras with them. At first I thought they lived there at the Monastery.

This Mama seemed to be sharing with her baby. I don't know a whole lot about monkeys but after the baby had a little snack the mother ran off to forage more food and just left the baby to play by itself.

At the main Stupa you will see many pilgrims praying. Some of the chants were so beautiful to just listen to. They seemed to be chants or songs I couldn't really tell that lasted about 15-20 minutes. I wish I would have had some sound recording device!

There were a couple of the food vendors that seemed more popular than others. These ladies had lot's of people when I passed it on the way up and on the way down so maybe she had some specialties?? The food looked great!

If you want to have flowers for an offering at the various Temples on the way up the hill you won't have any problems finding any. There are loads of ladies at the bottom selling the proper flowers that you will need to make your offerings to the Nats on the hill. They ladies didn't try very hard to sell any to me and my son but they sure pestered the Burmese Pilgrims that were starting their ascent to the top!

There are plenty of cows hanging around in the village at the bottom of the complex too! They seem to be waiting for handouts of bananas from the pilgrims. They also eat anything that they can lick up from the ground too. Plastic bags, newspaper etc...