Golden Rock followed by a short hop to Mandalay

What can I tell you about Golden Rock? Well, it's a rock and it's golden and that just about sums it up! To elaborate a bit, it's at 1200 metres and it is quite famous. It's a bit of a trek from Yangon, 4 hours on a bus, a 45 minute uphill struggle in a bone-shaker of an open sided truck, then a one hour hike. You can see it in the distance before you get there:

But close up it is an impressive sight, especially with the sun behind it:

As is not uncommon in Myanmar/Buddhism the viewing platform that you can see at the base is for men only, no point getting irritated about this, it's just the way it is.

I suspect the luggage porter has more to get irritated over than the lack of viewing platform access for women:

And the sun setting over the hills in the distance makes it all feel quite magical:

And then......... The coloured lights start flashing and the hawkers appear and the chants echo out at top volume and enormous groups suddenly materialise and the noise levels reach a crescendo and the air of spirituality descends into something resembling a fairground, and the spell is broken.

Shame!

Next stop: Mandalay, reached by plane as otherwise the distance and time element is too great. Super little plane, reminiscent of the glamour of years ago, when you more or less dressed up to travel, rather than the current trend of giving the impression of wanting to look as casual and scruffy as possible!

Ah, Mandalay: the history, the romance, the glamour. I wonder will it be as I've always imagined it? Time, and my next blog, will reveal all.