Mentioning Shan state, located in the East of Myanmar, Vietnamese tourists often only talk about Inle Lake. However, if you have ever had more time to spend here, many of you will realize that apart from Inle, Shan also has tremendous interesting destinations for visitors who love the long-standing cultural values to explore in a cheap Myanmar tour. For Western tourists, Pindaya caves which are located about 100 kilometers far from the Inle Lake is a remarkable stopover in Shan if they have a chance to come here for a trip to Myanmar.
Traveling by car from Heho airport to Inle Lake will take you around 45 minutes. Along the way leading to the destination in this Burma tour, the road is quite narrow but it is flat and extremely peaceful with the beautiful basalt highland picture on both sides. And also, by the way coming to Shan state, tourists may experience the life of the local people, which is based on growing plants whose products are materials for making cigarettes in Myanmar. Therefore, it would be a very interesting exploration for tourists in a Myanmar travel tour to learn about the process from when they pick the leaves and dry them, then arrange them in a crate and sell them to families who make cigarettes.
Before reaching Pindaya caves, tourists will also have some times to visit a local market and buy any souvenir or things they need for the trip. In here, except for the variety of goods and specialties, tourists, when enjoying their holidays to Myanmar, are also allowed to take photos of women and children whose faces are made up with “tanaka” – a ground powder made from wood. The local people are really hospitable and open-minded to communicate with tourists because this is indeed a popular destination for international tourists when they seek for a cheap Myanmar tour.
Pindaya caves are located in the mountain ranges whose height is about 1,200 meters to the sea level. They are extremely suitable for those who love biking Myanmar. Along both sides of the road leading to the cave area, there are hundreds-year-old banyan trees whose shades cover a really large space and acreage.
Watched from the outside, Pindaya cave has the appearance of a pagoda, with walking paths for visitors roofed from the mountain foot up to the cave entrance. Inside the cave, just like anywhere else in Myanmar, there are tremendous Buddha statues varied in shape and size. All of them are gilded with brilliant gold lacquer. According to the tour guide instructions, there are nearly 8,000 Buddha statues located along the length of 150 meters of the cave. Among them, there include many rare and precious antique statues.
Some statues are shaped and designed distinguishably. They symbolize the styles in different times in the history. There are so many statues in the cave that there is only enough space for two people in some places.
In the second part of the cave, there is an open space with other thousands Buddha statues. They are arranged alternately with the natural rosin in the cave, which makes up twinkle light in the mysterious space. All of them create a solemn but gorgeous beauty for the cave. In this second part, there is also an area which contains a collection of Buddha statues surrounding a circle of reincarnation. Another interesting experience for tourists in such a cheap Myanmar tour. Tales tell that if pilgrims walk seven times around the circle of reincarnation and recite the Buddha at the same time, they will be very lucky during their lives. A thing to add in your to-do list Myanmar.
People here do not incense in the cave. They only bring fresh flowers to express their sincerity. The salespeople also sell only souvenirs but not offerings for pilgrims to come into this cave. After an interesting trip around Pindaya cave, tourists can enjoy their meal in a local restaurant. Restaurants are always best places to see in Myanmar. They are built in the traditional style, so their spaces are very nice and airy. Furthermore, dishes provided are also delicious with reasonable price. Normally, an eating portion consists of three main dishes and a glass of fruit juice. This costs you about 11,000 kyats.
With the above information, hopefully all readers will have another choice for tourist destination if you have a chance to go to Myanmar, in general, and to Inle Lake, in particular, for a short cheap Myanmar tour. For sure, you will save a lot of money and time if you follow the instructions of the article as well as advice from the experienced tourists. Beautiful Myanmar has even more to explore and learn, spend your memorable time here and enjoy your life!
