An early start today.  We had breakfast at the Central Hotel and found ourselves drawn to this utterly delicious soup they had (in addition to the normal fried vermicelli, omelette station, fruits, etc).  We soon learned this soup is the hallmark of Myanmar food -- mohinga.  A hearty fish broth with lemongrass, lime, chili and coriander.  Just delicious.  We soon recognized that many of the stalls selling food on the side of the road were selling mohinga.  Too bad the Burmese restaurants at home don't sell this -- it is simply delicious! We soon met Nemu in the lobby and we were on our way to Kyaiktiyo, the town at Golden Rock.  The day before Nemu asked us if we would be ok if the driver's wife and 2 children joined us on the trip to Golden Rock.  Apparently this weekend was a big celebration at the Rock for the Full Moon.  Of course we were fine with it and welcomed the opportunity to interact with locals.  A few minutes into the journey Nemu admitted that she didn't have breakfast and asked if we minded if we stopped at a roadside restaurant for a snack.  Great idea!  We didn't eat anything, but Nemu introduced us to something we'd be seeking out regularly for the rest of our trip -- the delicious black tea with condensed milk -- delicious!  Nemu snacked on some fried stuff and we were admiring the huge vegetables at the market (the biggest eggplants and cucumbers we'd ever seen).   We were soon on the road again and couldn't help but notice all the trucks jam packed with locals with "trees" on the flatbed loaded with random items.  It turns out that for the Full Moon festival locals make donations of these items to local monasteries.  Trucks were literally lining the road.  To make it even more interesting, many of the trucks were equipped with loud speakers blasting music to help everyone get in the mood.  It was really quite a site to see and unlikely anything we'd experienced before.  We'd soon be quite accustomed to this "loudspeaker Buddhism" as we would be seeing this on the roads for the next several days up until the full moon the following week. On our way we stopped at the moving and very well maintained Taukkyan War Cemetery which serves as a monument to the thousands of Allied troops (many Indian and African) who died fighting the Japanese in WWII.  We then pushed on to the city of Bego where we visited a couple of key sites including the Shwemawdaw Pagoda (a bit like Shwedagon, but under a veil of scaffolding).  This poor pagoda has seen its share of earthquake damage, and a large chunk of the top of the original stupa is still visible.  We then stopped at Shwethalyaung Reclining Buddha to see the incredible 55m statue.  We'll see many more of these in the coming days, but this one was quite spectacular. Soon we were back on the road to Golden Rock.  Shortly after Bago we crossed the river and were now in Mon State.  The geography changed and we had moved from the somewhat parched and flat plains to a more hilly and lush jungly zone.  We learned this area is famous for growing cashews, pumelos and other more tropical fruit.  Pumelos were in season and we'd soon realize we'd be seeing them everywhere in Mon State.  We drove along and stopped at a roadside restaurant for lunch.  We faced a bit of a dilemma here -- the place seemed relatively clean (although we are in the tropics, so there are flies everywhere).  We had read to make sure the food you eat is hot and fresh.  However, a common style of eating is to place the prepared dishes (kind of like curries with meat in a sauce) in large containers and they are served lukewarm or even cold with tons of side dishes (veggies, rice, etc) that were also on our warning list because they might have been washed with unpurified water.  We decided to go for it and dug right in.  The food was tasty and we were happy to report that even 24 hours later we had no stomach issues.  Maybe we were just lucky, but from that point on we decided to really enjoy this place we had to let go of some of our preconceived notions about what to eat.  We had immodium, rehydration salts and antibiotics handy, so we were prepared just in case. A couple of hours later we arrived at Kyaikto (not the same as Kyaiktiyo).  Confusing, huh?  Kyaikto is the town from where you take the open seated trucks up to Kyaiktiyo and Golden Rock.  Bear with me here.  The road up to Golden Rock is incredibly steep and not open to normal traffic.  Instead, you have to get onto a flatbed truck with about 6 rows of benches that "fit" 6 people each.  You get crammed onto this vehicle which then brings you up the death-defyingly steep road to Kyaiktiyo.  The journey takes about 45 harrowing minutes.  In hindsight this experience was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.  Being squeezed into the truck was pretty uncomfortable, but not as bad as we had feared.  This is why you don't want to take luggage with you -- there's no room (although we learned there is some space in the back of the truck and sherpas at the top will take the luggage to your hotel). After 45 minutes of gut wrenching uphill driving (with the knees of the passenger behind us jammed into our backs) we arrived at the top station.  From here, it was an easy 10 minute walk to our hotel, the Mountain Top Hotel.  We learned that up until about 6 months ago the truck stopped further down the hill, meaning you'd need to walk another ~30 minutes uphill to reach the hotel.  Thankfully those days are in the past! We also learned that they are building a gondola that will eliminate the truck ride. Progress for sure, but it highlights how Myanmar is changing and why you should go NOW to experience this magical place We checked into the hotel which has a fabulous location but clearly charges a premium for this given the lackluster accommodations.  Oh well, the room was clean but small and would work just fine.  Nemu, who was with us throughout the entire journey up from Kyaikto, said we'd meet around 4pm to walk to the Golden Rock (about 15 minutes) to see the sunset.  That gave us a couple of hours and we went to the restaurant and had a drink and gazed out at the magnificent Golden Rock (from afar) out the huge restaurant windows and made us even more excited to see it up close later in the day. Efren bought a $2 pair of sunglasses from a street vendor that he is still using today. Nemu was early as usual and we set off to the Rock.  Nemu paid the entrance fee, which was good for 2 days which was good because we were planning to come back the next day to see the spectacle at sunrise.  The walk to the rock was lined with shops and hotels and vendors selling everything imaginable.  Thousands of pilgrims walked along with us, including monks in their traditional clothing.  What a site.  We learned this is considered the 2nd holiest place in the country (after Shwedagon) and that it was extra busy this weekend with pilgrims because of the upcoming full moon.   As we got closer, we could see what all the fuss was about.  A small pagoda is perched atop a huge gold-covered boulder (Golden Rock) which itself is setting nearly impossibly on a slab of granite.  Reportedly you can pass a piece of string under the boulder, so it is considered a miracle that that it hasn't fallen -- even during earthquakes.  Something unusual and spiritual is keeping that rock there! Pilgrims thronged the site -- praying, lighting candles, having picnics, setting up sleeping bags for the night as they sleep at the rock to be there at sunrise the next day.  We walked around observing with fascination the devoted pilgrims as much as the rock itself, whose hue changed with the lowering sun.  Efren and Craig purchased gold-leaf and were able to walk out on the catwalk and apply it to the boulder.  What a moving experience.  Women are not allowed to do this, so Nemu bought a packet of gold-leaf and asked Craig to apply it for her. We spent a good 2 hours just sitting on the steps under the rock watching it as the sun set and observing the people.  Probably the best people watching ever.  People praying reading from books, others lighting incense, others setting up their tents and cooking food for the night.  We completely enjoyed ourselves here and after sunset walked back to the hotel.  We made plans to meet Nemu at 6am to head back for sunrise.  We ate an overpriced but quite yummy dinner at the hotel and were winding down when the power went about.  Apparently quite common.  Despite the hotel and all areas nearby going dark, the lights on and around the Golden Rock stayed on -- undoubtedly due to back-up generators, but part of us wondered if the mysterious power of the rock helped contribute to keeping the glorious site softly illuminated despite the power cut.