Moving on from Nyaungshwe, we headed south through the old capital city of Yangon (they recently moved it) and made our way to Kyaikto, also known simply as Golden Rock. We heard mixed reports on this place, mostly negative, but for some reason we were determined to see it. This is one of holiest Buddhist sites in the country and thousands of pilgrims arrive daily to do their thing here. The crazy thing about this rock, other than that it's completely covered with gold leaf, is that it looks like it’s about to roll down the hill at any moment. Fortunately, it’s said that one of the Buddha’s hairs is wedged in there holding the thing up for centuries. I’m sure civil engineering calculations would back this up.

To get up here we had to sit in the back of these heavy duty work trucks that climb the mountain. Included in the ticket price was life insurance, which I found a little disheartening. Although it’s just a rock, the best part was observing how serious the locals regard this place. And of course walking around and looking at it from all angles trying to figure out how it doesn’t fall down and roll away.

It’s time to get ready for New Year and the beach…