Chris and I awoke with a plan to catch the bus to Bago, which the hostel would be paying for as compensation for messing us around with the room. However, when we found out it would cost nearly $10 to reach the bus station (1 hour away), when the bus ticket to Bago (2 hours away) should only cost a couple of dollars each, we immediately began searching for an alternative. The manager who spoke very good English was not very forthcoming, so along with our own research we caught a taxi to the central train station to find out if a train to Bago would be possible. The manager had said there would be no trains until later in the evening as we had missed the morning train by now, but also that it would take nearly six hours! Thankfully we did not listen to him and the very helpful ticket men at the train station assured us that there was a train leaving at 11am, taking two hours and it cost us just £0.45 for the both of us!!
We did opt for the standard class tickets for the experience. This of course meant hard wooden seats and being surrounded by curious locals. Smiles go a long way and we felt extremely at ease. Although the rickety wobbly carriages were not so reassuring! I can only compare the journey to a children's roller coaster! Bumping up and down, shaking side to side, and blown away by the fresh country air. In and out of resting my eyes I caught a glimpse of the tranquil countryside, and enjoyed watching the locals tuck into their packed lunches. No Tupperware here, just 'chike' (English translation) - three small circular metal bowls that stack on top of each other with a handle.
As we disembarked at Bago, a friendly gentleman helped us to the bus ticket 'office', aka a small wooden table with a poster advertising bus tickets. We thought we would spend the day and one night in Bago but spontaneously decided to continue travelling and try and reach Kinpun, the gateway to the Golden Rock. So after some negotiating with the ticket sellers, we agreed a price for a VIP bus to Kinpun, leaving at 3.30pm, including a transfer to the bus station.
Travelling different countries is a continuous learning curve, and our transfer was on a motorbike taxi, which thankfully was only around the corner to a bench on the side of the road, aka the bus stop. Obviously we had no helmets and being on separate motorbikes is always a real worry and risk for us, but sometimes there really is no other way. Worries aside, we had a few hours to kill, so we sat in a tea house with the ticket seller drinking 'lap'eq-ye' - black tea served sweet with a dollop of condensed milk - the standard! I actually couldn't drink mine it was that sweet, despite absolutely loving Vietnamese coffee which is served with condensed milk, the tea was just not strong enough. However Chris seemed to enjoy it! I much preferred the rice pudding cake that was served along side it. The ticket man tried very hard to sell us a couple hours tour on his motorbike around Bago, however he did not provide us with anywhere remotely safe to leave our main backpacks. His option was to chain them to a bench on the side of the road! I don't think so!
Soon it was time to wait at the 'bus stop', only to be approached by a man telling us we had to go to another bus stop on his motorbike. Feeling very wary we called our ticket man (luckily he gave us his card). Next thing we know he is also saying that we had to go to another bus stop, not too far. Again, reluctantly we climbed onto the motorbikes. Thankfully they drove very carefully and it really wasn't too far. We waited again at this 'bus stop', but felt somewhat confused when the bus was shouted and whistled down but did not stop! Seeing the panic in the motorbike taxi man's eyes, we knew this meant another unwanted ride on the motorbikes, but necessary to enable us to catch the bus. I have to say that all sorts of thoughts were running through my mind as I lost sight of Chris' motorbike and held tightly onto the motorbike as we raced to catch the bus. It was a good 10/15 minutes before we eventually caught up to the bus, which was definitely not a VIP bus. The cramped local bus welcomed us with confused looks as we tried to find our 'reserved' seats, but obviously realising that this was not the bus we should be on and with our heads down made our way to the only two free seats on the bus, at the back row.
It was a bumpy, breezy journey for nearly three hours, before we were ushered off of the bus and onto the VIP bus. This felt a lot more like the bus we should have taken from Bago; air-con, comfy seats, spacious. Unfortunately we were on this bus for just 20 minutes, taking us to our destination, Kinpun. Arriving in the dark, hungry and tired, we hesitantly settled in a dingy room at 'Sea Sar' for a ridiculous $15! The horrible room was not even worth half of that.
We ended up enjoying a very nice evening at a local restaurant, speaking with the locals and meeting a Polish guy and a girl from Denmark. We couldn't help but laugh at the 'homemade' bottle opener. Simply a piece of wood with a screw at one end - it did the job!

From our understanding there would be a few small pick up trucks transporting the keen been tourists up to view the Golden Rock at 6am. How very wrong we were!
Although we had our alarm set for 5am, we were woken much before then by voices over a microphone sounding similar to an auction. We thought it must be the local market, however, after making our way to the pick up truck station after breakfast, it soon became clear where the noise was coming from. Crowds of local tourists were swarming around various raised platforms in order to climb aboard an empty lorry to secure their place and chance of reaching the Golden Rock as early as possible. Looking around it seemed we were the only foreigners and we had to put our local heads on in order to get even a slight chance of reaching the platform. Orderly queuing does not exist in SEA. We held our ground in the crowd, and watched in horror as empty lorries approached the heaving platforms only to be swarmed by people from all different angles. In fact the people waiting on the platform were at a disadvantage as others literally climbed aboard from all the other sides. It was totally insane and something we were definitely not prepared for.
We put our Asian hats on and joined in the barging to secure a place in the lorry. It was definitely cozy, but luckily we were on the edge so could just about breathe. Despite being jam packed and overloaded with people, the driver did not hold back....he thrashed the lorry up and around the steep mountainous road. We could have been on a roller coaster! Our lorry was even overtaking at any opportunity on 45° roads! We were certainly glad to reach the top of Mt Kyaiktiyo after nearly an hour of terror.
It was then a ten minute walk along dirty, dusty paths, with no shoes on out of respect, to reach the Golden Rock. There is an option to be carried, literally carried in a bamboo 'throne' by four people, but there was no way we could ever bring ourselves to do that! We joined the crowds of people walking, dodging the thrones and other porters carrying insane amounts of luggage on their heads.
The Golden Rock is the second most important religious site in Myanmar. Legend states that the boulder on Mt Kyaiktiyo maintains its balance due to a precisely placed Buddha hair in the stupa.
As we approached the Golden Rock the crowd became overwhelming. Huge groups of people, friends and family, camping out, setting up picnics, sleeping, meditating. It was bizarre but fascinating to see just how important this sight was for so many people.
The Golden Rock for us was also striking. A precariously balanced golden boulder topped with a stupa. A site completely different to anything we have seen before and without doubt a memorable experience. We spent our time embracing the atmosphere and since men are only allowed to touch the rock it was only right that Chris joined in.
An hour or so of mooching around was enough time for us and we battled again in fighting for a space on a lorry to take us back down the mountain. Unfortunately this time we were squeezed in the middle of a row and the person behind me decided that my back was a comfortable place to sleep on!
Back in Kinpun our plans drastically changed once more and suddenly we had booked the bus back to Bago and from there we would continue North to Kalaw. Thankfully this time it was a 'VIP' bus with AC and before we knew it we were back in Bago mid afternoon.
We had already pre-purchased our bus ticket for our onward journey to Kalaw, and the ticket agent was waiting our arrival in Bago. He ushered us over to a tea house and began his sales pitch for a couple hours motorbike tour around Bago. This time there was somewhere fairly safe to leave our main backpacks, and other backpackers had already left theirs. However we weren't too fussed as the main pagoda was being restored and therefore had bamboo scaffolding over the iconic centre stupa. Our relaxed and not-bothered attitude worked to our advantaged as he eventually accepted our offer of 7,000 Kyat (£3.50) for the both of us from a starting price of 10,000 Kyat each! So we grabbed our valuables and squeezed ourselves onto the back of one motorbike.
Our first stop was the 'Shwemawdaw Paya' standing 376ft high. The main stupa reaches 46ft higher than the 'Shwedagon Paya' in Yangon, and despite being disguised by bamboo scaffolding it was still impressive. We didn't see the point in paying nearly $10 to enter so just admired the magnificent structure from outside. Our guide then took us a little further out of town to see the 'Snake Monastery'. I was unsure at first, especially when our guide said the python resident was not in a cage but just living in a room. With which we entered only to see a ginormous python, at least 17ft long, curled up in the corner next to a statue of a nat the snake is said to be a reincarnation of. Luckily she wasn't hungry and didn't move even an inch whilst we were in the room. I even lay some money next to her for good luck (supposedly!). She had a good 5m squared room with a small pond as well. Although she is sanctioned to the room she had plenty of space to move around and it was much nicer than seeing an animal cooped up in a small cage.
We continued on to 'Shwe Taung Yoe Paya' on a small hilltop to watch the sunset. Unfortunately the area we were riding around was extremely littered and dirty so it wasn't very pleasant. Once the sun had set our final stop was at 'Shwethalyaung Buddha' to see a huge reclining Buddha, measuring 180ft long and 53ft high. The Buddha was actually rediscovered in 1881 during the construction of the railway line, having been overgrown by jungle. Although its housing was much nicer than the reclining Buddha in Yangon, the Buddha herself was not as impressive, but still very grand. A little rushed for time, we literally power walked around the Buddha then jumped back on the motorbike to head to the bus station. Thankfully our main backpacks were there and we just about had time to go to the toilet, grab some snacks, then climb onto our first 'sleeper' bus in Myanmar. Unlike most other SEA sleeper buses, this bus had reclining seats, not horizontal beds. It was tightly packed and we knew from the get go it would be a long night....