“Mount Popa”
Mount Popa, Myanmar. November 2019. (12 photos)
This is Part 14 of my posts about Myanmar, and Part 18 of my posts about my near month-long visit to Myanmar, Thailand and Singapore in November 2019.
Leaving the village of Salay where I had tea with the monks of Sasanayaunggyi monastery I continued on to Mount Popa.
Mount Popa is an extinct volcano 1518 metres (4981 feet) above sea level, in the region of Mandalay about 50 km southeast of Bagan in the Pegu Range. Mount Popa is perhaps best known as a pilgrimage site, with numerous Nat temples and relic sites atop the mountain.
“Villagers”
Arriving to the village at the bottom of Mount Popa, the visitor is required to make the ascent to the top by climbing a set of about 700 steps, quite steep in areas, in the heat and humidity of Myanmar.
As with many sacred sites, the climb is made barefoot. The climb is not made alone. According to National Geographic, there is a population of about 2,000 wild rhesus macaques living around the monastery. And after many years of being offered food by local pilgrims, they can become very mischievous and aggressive if they smell food on your person, or see something they can steal. Oh, and there will be sightings of monkey droppings on the steps and I was warned about scabies and rabies before beginning my climb. And the macaques don’t smell that great either.
“Taung Kalat Monastery”
At the top is the Taung Kalat monastery, a site of pilgrimage dedicated to the Nats.
They have a saying in Myanmar, “Love the Buddha, fear the Nats.”
Buddhism in Myanmar is heavily influenced by animist beliefs in which Nat spirits are thought to inhabit trees and water. Grand Nats, are malevolent ghosts, taking forms such as demons and goblins which evolved from male and females who died from unusually painful deaths. They’re believed to have supernatural powers to intervene in your life and can hex you if not treated with respect.
“Nat worship”
“Macaque looking for a victim”
“Outlook”
“The Descent”
Descending back to the village at the bottom of Mount Popa, I was then transported to my resort on the side of an opposite hill for the main event, the watching of sunset on Mount Popa.
“5:11pm”
“5:26pm”
“5:38pm”
“5:57pm”
“6:10pm”
…..
This is Part 14 of my posts about Myanmar, and Part 18 of my posts about my near month-long visit to Myanmar, Thailand and Singapore in November 2019.
Etcetera Etcetera Etcetera 
I liked all these photos, but those of the sunset are exceptional, especially after the sun disappeared.
Thank you very much. It was a spectacular sight. Unfortunately is became quite windy that night and most of my attempts to get night shy photos were affected by motion.
Beautiful pictures 🙂
Thank you very much. Photographing sunsets is so dependent on the weather and for my one chance there, I was lucky.
Oh my gosh! So it is really true, because I have heard that a million times before. You did a good job of getting that one shot 🙂
Yep, can’t control the weather. LOL 🙂
Nope! 🙂
🙂
Breathtaking photos! Well done!
Thank you so much.
Macaque looking for a victim, ha!
Did you get a vaccine against scabies and rabies before climbing those 700 torturous steps?
LOL. Didn’t need to go to that extent but I was constantly looking around for those sneaky macaques. 🙂
Oh, so wonderful, especially the sunset pictures!
Thank you very much. It was a beautiful sunset location.
Wonderful Lignum Draco!!!
Very kind. Thank you. 🙂
This looks so unreal. I’m afraid I haven’t heard of it. Thank you so much for sharing this part of the world that I know so little about.
You’re welcome. There is so much of the world to explore, if only we could see and experience it all.
Yes.
You disappeared for a while. Hope everything’s ok with you.
Technically didn’t disappear – the government won’t let me leave the country or even my local state. Just deliberately slowing down. Photography sites tend to run out of free storage space before non-photography sites and I’m approaching the limit of mine.
So I’ve heard. Hopefully, you’ll start a new blog.
Why don’t you take us on a tour around your city? That would be fun to see.
Haven’t decided what I’ll do yet. Slowing down should prolong the blog by a year or so. As for content, time will tell. The first 300 or so posts on this blog are from Australia, mostly Sydney.
I hope you’ll make a good decision. The show must go on.
Noted, with thanks. 🙂
What a magnificent sunset. Macaques can really be a nuisance. It’s good to see a post from you! Hope you are well. 🙂
Thanks, Julie. It was worth the overnight stay from Bagan. People were actively feeding the macaques which makes them more daring and aggressive in their behaviour, but I made sure to carry no food and had everything safely away in my camera bag and pockets.
I’ve made a conscious effort to slow down my blogging and spend not so much time online. Hope you’re enjoying life in your beautiful neck of the woods.
Surreal, that first image! And then the sunset… 🙂 🙂
Thanks, Jo. And I did have a glass of wine in hand for the sunset … 🙂
Great recount. I’ve just done a 240 step walk to a waterfall today and am flabbergasted by the thought of 700. I needed the sunset shots at the end to calm me!
Thanks. The climb up was doable with a few stops along the way. I always seem to find extra stamina when acting as a tourist. 🙂
Nice to know that there is something different to go back to when the world finally changes enough for us to start traveling again.
And from the answer to the previous comment, which wines did you try?
The question is when, or perhaps even if, will we travel or return to normal again?
There was a local winery near Inle Lake which I sampled when in that area, but as I recall the options at the resort were all international.
I think that winery had the only local wine I tried.
I did a quick google search – only 2 wineries in Myanmar, both near Inle Lake.
Yes, I have a vague memory of being told that the other one was closed at the time I visited.
A shame. I try (as I suspect you do, too) to buy the local produce/product when possible.
You are correct; I do too. I had a choice of local beers to try, so I didn’t mind so much.
A successful trip in that case. 🙂
Meraviglioso!
Grazie.
It must have been a careful climb up the top barefoot in those hot, humid conditions. Spectacular views. Looks like you got really lucky with the sunset there – warm coloulrs all round and lovely how the purple at dusk matched the purple lights down below.
Indeed it was worth the time to detour to this location for the experience and views. Yes, lucky with the weather. It was just after the wet season, so there’s always the chance rains might persist longer than normal.
700 steps! Stunning images of an incredible location. Just beautiful!
Thank you.
Love the panoramic view of the temple. The sunset shot is epic 🙂
Thank you very much.
Those sunset photographs are wonderful!
indeed, it was a beautiful sight.
Amazing to see how rapidly the sky changes comparing the times with the pictures. Amazing, too, that you ventured up there after all those warnings, but I’m glad you did. 🙂
Yes, well, on the assumption that I would never return to this area, I had to do and see what I could. That’s life as a tourist. 🙂
Wonderful series. This place has an unmistable aura. Well,the Nats did look out for you.
Thank you. Yes, luckily I made it up and down unscathed.
Oops, it is unmistakable.
No problem. It happens to all of us.
Wow what an amazing place…loved how you captured the sunset for us…thank you!
Yes, it was a good trip out of Bagan, a little bit off the beaten track. There’s so much more to see there though. Thanks so much.
Oh what a super post Mr Draco! I know I couldn’t have made that climb .. That monkey sure does look mischievous .. Beautiful sunset shots, thanks for taking us with you
Thanks, Julie. It was an effort to get up there, and I saw at least one person slip on the way down, but it was worth doing. Yes, wine in hand and camera on tripod was a great way to watch that sunset. 🙂
beautiful pics. maybe i’ll put this in my bucket list.
Thank you. It’s worth considering going to Myanmar.
Coming back to Myanmar through this post is almost as good as the real thing, Lignum. Your sunset shots of Mt. Popa are something out-of-this-world, brilliant and so deeply satisfying. Well done!
Thank you so much. I’ve been enjoying this reminiscing through photography, knowing it will still be some time before I can travel outside of Australia again.
As always, wow!
Thank you.
Oh, to travel again, thanks for the virtual tour.
Thanks, Sally. Life certainly is different these days.
Prises de vue prenantes et ennivrantes, un ravissement
Merci beaucoup
Thanks for sharing these beautiful shots and info of this unique monastery.
My pleasure. Thank you.