Kyatiko- A Happy Entry about a Golden Balancing Rock.

After a pit stop in Yangon, we decided to head south towards Karen and Mon states. Only a 4 hour bus ride and couple hour pick up truck ride away, we landed in Kyatiko, home to the amazing balancing boulder-cum-pagoda, naturally. This bizarre natural phenomenon is one of the holiest pagodas and pilgrimage spots in Myanmar. Posters of "The Golden Rock" can be found in restaurants and shops throughout the country. We planned to stay only for a night en route to points further south. Posted above are school children, preparing for the journey up the mountain.

Waiting for the truck to take us up the mountain to see the Golden Rock. The huge pick up trucks seat about 50 people on minuscule wooden benches. This lady was Kara's friend and had traveled with us on one of our smaller pick up trucks to get to the town.

Here is Max seen waiting on the truck before the rest of the children came aboard. We arrived in the town around three pm and wanted to see the boulder and get out. The last truck to go up the mountain left around 4, which at that time, we thought was perfect timing for our plan.


The ride up. Bumpy, foggy, and beautiful, all at the same time. We climbed steep hills for about 30 minutes before reaching the top.

After being dropped off at the top around 5, we learned that the last bus going down the mountain left at 6:30. To get to the rock, you must walk an additional hour or so up the mountain. For some reason we thought we would be able to make it down to the last bus in time. No, that didn't happen. We climbed into the thick of the fog, and arrived at the Golden Rock just in time to see nothing and also to be stranded on top of the mountain for the night.

But we were not alone. Here is our Argentinian friend whose name we can't remember now, even though we spent the night with him on top of the mountain. Though we had already paid for our cheaper hotel at the bottom of the mountain and all of our stuff was there, we couldn't get down to sleep. Our only option was to stay at one of the two or three luxury hotels on the top of the mountain, that charge a whopping $60-100 USD per night. We were able to negotiate with a nice Indian hotel owner for a $30 room for the three of us. Thank you, Chennai man.

The next morning, the fog cleared and we got to see the Golden Rock in all its glory. The view of the surrounding area was equally stunning. Other less grand balancing rocks dotted the hillsides below. The rock itself was worth the trouble, as it really is balancing so precariously. Honestly, we don't know how it survives the elements without falling. So, maybe it is holy. According to legend, the rock maintains its equilibrium due to an expertly placed hair of the Buddha himself that enshrined the pagoda on top of the boulder. Legend states that the Buddha spent many years walking through Myanmar. We don't really know about that.

Mountain top village.

"Ladies Are Not Allowed to Enter" the holiest part of the rock area. Men are allowed to walk up and paste gold leaf on the rock itself. Women aren't even allowed in the best viewing area. Kara thinks this has nothing to do with the teachings of the Buddha. Kara, not happy, shown above.

We came, we saw, we rocked.

See? We told you it was a happy entry about a golden balancing rock!
No human rights abuses here! (That we know about.......?) But we couldn't help talking about that sexist "no ladies" thing. We tried folks, we tried.

Kara and Maximilian