Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The compound is a working monastery and is closed every day from 12pm to 1pm to
allow the monks to meditate. The 30 or so monks here are vegetarian and free vegetarian
food is served from the temple from 9am to 5pm.
The monastery is also where the highly respected monk U Winaya, whose solid sup-
port of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is well known in Myanmar, first resided. U
Winaya passed away several years ago and his body was entombed in a glass case at
Thamanyat Kyaung, another monastery about 25 miles southeast of Hpa-an. On one
night in April 2007, the monk's body was stolen (allegedly by soldiers) and has never
been recovered.
Saddan Cave
CAVE
( daylight hours)
This huge cave is simply breathtaking. As you enter the football
stadium-sized cavern you'll be greeted by (what else?) dozens of buddha statues, a
couple of pagodas and some newer clay wall carvings.
Saddan Cave can be traversed only during the dry season (around November to April)
and is 17 miles from Hpa-an along the road to Eindu. To get there, take a pick-up to
Eindu (K1000). From the village take a motorbike taxi (K2000) for the remaining 2
miles to the cave.
In absolute darkness (bring a torch; other-wise for a donation of K3000, they'll turn on
the lights for you) you can scramble for 15 minutes through black chambers as high as a
cathedral, truck-sized stalactites and, in places, walls of crystal. To add to the general at-
mosphere, thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands, of bats cling to the cave roof. In
places the squealing from them is deafening and the ground underfoot becomes slippery
with bat excrement!
Emerging at the cave's far side, the wonders only increase and the burst of sunlight re-
veals an idyllic secret lake full of ducks and flowering lilies hidden in a bowl of craggy
peaks. There is another cave on the far side of the lake that is actually half flooded, but
local fishers occasionally paddle through the cave for 10 minutes to yet another lake. You
may be able to persuade one to take you along.
DON'T MISS
MT ZWEGABIN
Hpa-an is hemmed in by a wrinkled chain of limestone mountains. The tallest of
these is Mt Zwegabin, about 7 miles south of town, which as well as being a re-
spectable 2372ft is also a home of spirits and saintly souls.
