Travel Day 1159 – Hsipaw, MYANMAR
Coming back into Hsipaw through the rice fields yesterday and realizing how nice the hike in the area had actually been, I decided to stay another day…
Women dancing at Nat shrine, Hsipaw
Initially the idea had been to move on rather quickly and to use the remaining time to also do a hike in Kalaw. But not really knowing what to expect from Kalaw and being in a place already that seemed to have a lot to offer, it really seemed to make more sense to spend one additional night in Hsipaw. This gave me the chance to delay my next undesired overnight bus ride and I was able to use this day for some additional exploration of an area called Myauk Myo, at the outskirts of Hsipaw…
There was actually a whole list of day trips recommended at my friendly guesthouse, ranging from visiting a sunset hill, over walks to Shan villages or a waterfall in the rice fields with a natural pool for swimming, up to the northerly area of Myauk Myo. This area, locally called Little Bagan, promised at least some cultural and historical value since the walk was supposedly passing by some Buddhist monasteries, some Angkor Wat like overgrown stupa ruins and even a local Nat shrine…
Buddhist Stupa in Little Bagan, Hsipaw
The entire package of the Little Bagan area seemed to have the most appeal to me, especially because the walk was bringing me through the village-like area of northern Hsipaw. This way I could see a little bit more of this laid back town and enjoy the local village life with all its many variations of open hood trucks that were delivering goods and produce for the local market. These monster-like looking trucks would have been so illegal anywhere else in the world, but here they seemed to be the staple means of transport and they certainly enriched any walking experience along the road by vision, sound and even smell…
Eventually I reached Madahya Monastery, a wonderfully aged wooden complex with a bunch of little monks running around. Obviously I couldn’t resist the temptation of entering the stilted monastery structure and slowly walk barefoot on the squeaking wooden floor, from one room into the other. Actually there were not really divided rooms, everything was rather organized into little areas of use. There were mats on the floor in one corner where the monks would sleep, there was a low table somewhere else where they would eat and in the center of it all there was a golden Buddha statue on a slightly raised platform…
Bamboo Buddha Monastery in Hsipaw
The entire monastery was surprisingly simple, yet well maintained and charmingly old. For me it was a lovely place to linger and enjoy the atmosphere, especially because everything seemed to be a more simplistic version of those great Mandalay monasteries I had seen before. The same proved actually true for the next monastery I visited along the way, the Bamboo Buddha Monastery. This monastery hosted a 150 year old Buddha statue made entirely out of bamboo and covered my many layers of gold. But what was even more interesting than the monasteries was a visit at Sao Pu Sao Nai, the local Nat shrine…
While I had already visited a Nat shrine at the Nat festival at Mount Popa, here the local shrine promised to be rather animistic influenced than by Buddhism. And in fact the statues of horses, elephants and tigers gave Sao Pu Sao Nai a very special flair, as did the rhythmic music and the female dancers in green costumes. For me it was unfortunately once more impossible to understand the rituals, but watching the Nat ceremony was definitely something special and in combination with the wonderful wooden monasteries made the extra day in Hspiaw more than well worth the time…
Find all Hsipaw photos here.
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