I still haven’t figured out exactly how to pronounce the name of this city, though I believe it is something like ‘Paaan’

In stark contrast to the day before, I woke up in almost complete darkness.

‘CockadoodleDOOOOO’

More like cockadoodle DON’T. I reached over to my phone. 05:30AM – far too early. I’m going back to sleep.

‘CockadoodleDOOOOO’

Groans went up across the room. Clearly I wasn’t the only person distubed by the bird. Myanmar, beautiful as it is, needs to deal with its alarm clock system in hostels because I really wanted some rest.  Despite this, I’m not sure how, but I was able to sleep through until 8:00AM.

Soon I found myself in the breakfast room, for one of the best hostel breakfasts I’ve ever had. When 90% of hostels offer a paltry choice of bread, jam and butter, finding a place like this is a true luxury: croissants filled with lentil and onion, noodles with veggies, French toast AND a friend egg. What a way to start the day! Plus, it made up for that evil animal. I’d planned to leave the hostel early, but while breakfasting, Tash, who I’d spoken to the day before, joined me and soon we were talking about every Briton’s favourite subject: Brexit.

PSA: The next paragraph is about Brexit

As a British person who hopes to reside in the EU, Brexit of course directly has an effect on me, as I’m not Irish enough for one of their beautiful passports. Every day I’m reading about what’s happening. I have no idea how things will pan out, but I’m fully prepared to stop travelling in March in order to live in Europe, if that is what is required of me.

In the end, we spoke for an hour – discussing various political things. After our long conversation, I was ready to explore Hpa-An. I rented a scooter from the hostel and drive out on Burmese roads for the first time. I was very impressed. Very flat, not too busy and polite, respectful drivers. Every five minutes, I would stop to check my location until I saw the sing I was looking for: “Sadan Cave”. It was a dirt road. No more easy driving for me. I turned on to the path and began to feel like I was on a horse: up, down, left, right.

It was here I felt like I was seeing a much more local Myanmar. Women picking crops in the fields, schoolkids riding their bikes holding umbrellas and farmers leading their livestock.

“F***” I caught myself swearing as I turned one corner. Above, the sky was perfectly blue, with white clouds floating through the air. On my left stood a huge mountain coated in trees and to my right were various islands, each with their own collection of greenery. All of this was reflected in the pristine mirror like water on both sides of the road.

When I reached my first destination, Sadan Cave, I had to spend a few minutes composing myself. This was easily the most beautiful country I’ve ever been to. I parked my bike and climbed the steps to enter the cave.

And took off my shoes.

And my socks.

“What?”

The cave houses a temple and like all temples in South East Asia, that means going barefoot. Tentatively, I took my first steps on the rough ground. Initially it was dry, but that soon changed as I walked through several puddles.

“I have no idea what I’m doing, but I love it” I said to myself at one point. As I walked out of one ‘room’ into another I saw a bridge in front of me. Slowly I made my way over, nervous of the drop below and nervous of the sounds above…bats.

This cave was filled with bats, which meant two things. Firstly, the shrieks they made were incredibly off-putting, but secondly, (and if you haven’t figured this out already, then get ready to be shocked), faeces underfoot. I tried to not be put off walking, but became very careful with each step.

*

The only other people I met within the cave was a group of five Polish travellers who were shining their torches at the bats. To me, it seemed it was making them scream their unpleasant, high-pitched, car break-like screeches even louder. Passing the Poles, I rounded the corner and saw daylight peeking through a crag.

As I exited the cave and my eyes adjusted I was able to see the floor I’d been walking on. Laden with pebbles and muddy water, the floor was not to my liking. I saw my feet, toes painted by brown by what I hope was just dirt.

Tom’s Top Travel Tip: Take a towel with you on day trips. There will be several times when you want to use it.

This side of the cave was very well-hidden, but still had a lot of people. There aren’t many options in the cave – it’s a straight line, so everyone ends up here. That means there are only two options: Walk back through the excrement in the dark OR get a gondola around the side of the cave. I opted for the gondola.

Waiting at the ticket counter, I met Manuella and Emilie, who were doing a tour from their guesthouses. The boat would only depart with a minimum of three people, so I joined them and our gondolier. (Are you really a gondolier if you aren’t in Venice?)

For ten minutes we waded through the water. The only sounds being the oar leaving the water, letting the water drip back into the lake, the occasional scraping of boat on grass and camera shutters operating.

This place is too beautiful

“We’re going to the waterfall village for lunch. You should come along and join us” offered Emilie. My stomach was getting empty again.

“Sure, but….where is it?” On a semi crudely hand drawn map, Emilie showed me the approximate location, before getting in the tuk-tuk with the other members of her tour. This lead to them driving off into the distance as I got myself ready. As they hobbled along, I sped up, soon overtaking them. At one point, I stopped to take some pictures, take in the landscape and relax. After a couple of minutes, they would trundle past, smiling and waving at me. Soon, I’d be back on my scooter to repeat the whole process again.

*

The waterfall village did not live up to its name. Two pools of water, one with a Buddha statue, a few restaurants and some drinks shops, all being used by locals…but no waterfall. I took a place next to an English couple who had been travelling for several months.

“You’re going to Vietnam?” They asked.

“Yeah, I’m quite looking forward to it.”

“Be careful. We accidentally ate dog there.”

“…”

“Yeah, we went for food and when we saw it on our plate, we kind of knew. Being British, it would have been rude to not at least try it.”

“So how was it?”

“DISGUSTING!” They declared unanimously.

It’s moments like these that are perhaps some of my favourites while travelling. Meeting people for only a few minutes, sharing one anecdote, but never being able to forget it.

After lunch, the group went their own way, but I had my own plan: Zwegabin, a mountain just outside of Hpa-An, with a shrine at the top and incredible views. From the first time I considered coming to Myanmar, I knew this was something I wanted to do. Arriving at the entrance, I was greeted by thousands of Buddha statues, parked up and began my ascent.

1 minute: This will be a piece of cake!

5 minutes: BOOM BOOM BOOM. Is that my heart? Maybe I should take a rest.

10 minutes: God. I’m really sweating here. I’m not meant to get my back wet…

15 minutes: OW. My neck. Is that sunburn. I’ll take a picture of it. click. Ah….that is sunburn. BUT, I have my towel. I can cover my neck and I’ll be fine! Oh, and I’ll put on some suncream.

20 minutes: No. This is way too much, I can’t. I want to continue, but I can’t get my back wet AND sunburnt.

Reluctantly, I gave up, I’m sorry to say. Zwegabin will still be there in years to come and I shall conquer it! I returned to the hostel and began preparing for the next day: Yangon.

Thank you for reading. If you know of somewhere more beautiful than what you can see in these pictures, please leave a comment down below!