Epic Travel → Asia & the South Pacific → Myanmar → Pindaya

Location: Western Shan State, Myanmar

Time Required: Half a day (the cave is about an hour from Kalaw, and 1.5 hours from Heho)

Red Tape/Notes: open during daylight hours, $3 per person admission

What’s Nearby?: Shan Plateau, Kalaw, Green Hill Valley Elephant Camp

I had read that Pindaya was a beautiful cave, so I made a point of working it into our itinerary. I hadn’t realized quite how full it would be of Buddha statues, though. Upon arrival, it was obvious that it was once a very beautiful cave, but you could scarcely tell anymore because of the profusion of statues (apparently there are over 8,000, ranging in various sizes and styles). They are quite literally everywhere, floor to ceiling, with virtually every surface of the cave covered, stacked into rows and columns on the floor that create a maze through the main chamber. The cave continues on, and there are fewer Buddha Images in some of the areas further back, but fewer is a relative term. The effect for me was that the beauty of the cave was almost completely lost, and I had seen enough Buddha Images to last a lifetime. This was unfortunately, seeing as it was our first day in Myanmar (and believe me, there were many more Buddha Images to come). It did, however, make me incredibly curious about what other caves were in the area, waiting to be explored. Apparently there are two other caves on the same ridge, but this is the only one open to the public.

Near Pindaya, there’s a traditional umbrella making workshop called Pa O. I’m not sure they’re so much umbrellas as parasols. Anyway, you’ll see how they use roughage from various plant life (with some flowers and leaves for decoration) to create the paper that they use for the parasols (I’m pretty sure we did similar projects in art class when I was 7). The equipment used to turn and shape the wood used to create the parasols is also rather fascinating if you’re into that sort of thing.

Epic Travel → Asia & the South Pacific → Myanmar → Pindaya