June 12, 2014 ----After two days in Old Bagan, all pagodas and monasteries started to look the same, no more excitement... (Don't stay longer than two days in Bagan unless you are super crazy about pagodas!) One recommendation from the hotel was to go to Mount Popa for a day trip. The car and driver could be arranged by the hotel for 50,000 Kyat or US$ 50, which was expensive.
The ride from Bagan to Mt. Popa would have taken about an hour if we didn't stop anywhere along the way. It took us two hours because we first went to get some money exchanged, then stopped at a palm sugar shop and learned about the traditional Burmese way of making peanut oil, palm sugar and alcohol. I bought some sugar candies mixed with coconut for my mom.
Mt. Popa is an extinct volcano located an hour away from Bagan. The top of the mountain has the shrine of the Mahagiri Nat spirits. To go up to the shrine, you have to take off your shoes and climb over 700 stair steps. Besides the filthy dirty flight of stairs, you will encounter hundreds of monkeys running around; some are nice, but some are evil, so don't bring any food up because you can be attacked by these monkeys.
The shrine of the Mahagiri Nat spirits wasn't that impressive. I wouldn't recommend anyone to go there unless you are really interested in Nat spirits and Nat (ghost) worship in Myanmar. The view from the top of the mountain was just okay, and there were a lot of beggars asking for donations for "cleaning" the stair steps.
In the afternoon, our driver took us to lunch at a local fruit/vegetable market. The food was really overpriced, like US$ 8 for one serving of fried rice! Oh well...
After lunch we went back to Bagan and got some souvenirs at a lacquer-ware shop. I loved all the souvenir shops in Myanmar because they are all interesting and affordable. Then we went back to our hotel, chilling out by the Irrawaddy River and waiting for the bus to Yangon in the evening.
Palm Sugar Shop
Mount Popa
Fruit and Vegetable Market
Lacquer-Wear Shop
