Meandering in Myanmar: Yathaypyan Cave in Hpa-An

Yathaypyan Cave is actually the first cave I visited when I was in Hpa-An for a day. While riding a motorcycle taxi, we went to the main road again and followed the Thanlwin River, crossing it once, and then driving on a dirt road for a few minutes. We approached a limestone hill, and sure enough, there was an opening, and from there we ventured forward.



As expected, there are Buddha statues everywhere. This one however has the better view, in my opinion, and better rocks too.



The entrance area is dotted with Buddha statues, and we actually had to remove our footwear here. Buddhism forbids footwear in holy places, so visitors to temples must remove their shoes. But we carried our shoes with us, since we would use it later when the Buddha statues disappeared and only the rocks remained.



Now this is a cave I liked. I really didn't care too much about the Buddha statues, but the rocks, now that was something else. The hike in the cave is pretty easy, and can be doable by someone who doesn't have good footwear, though not recommended. The pathways inside are clean, and looked well-maintained. It is a dead end, as the path terminates to a look out on the other side of the rock, so one must backtrack and get out the way one got in.

Overall I enjoyed Hpa-An. I was there only for a day, but it was quite a very interesting day indeed. I recommend this place, especially because travelers seem to be very sparse here, and so it is not swamped by people.