It’s easy to become exhausted while travelling, especially when you’re travelling at a faster pace. Sometimes it’s obvious like a plane itinerary that reads over 50 hours long. Other times it catches you off guard. Setting out to Mount Popa, or Taung Kalat on this Bagan day trip, it appeared to be another easy way to see more of beautiful Bagan.

It was anything but easy.

Throughout the day, I personally felt unsafe at times, along with physical, emotional and mental challenges combined to become an incredibly exhausting day. It wasn’t until 10 pm, back safely in my hotel room was I able to relax. The journey to Mount Popa is around one hour south-east of Bagan.

Mount Popa is easily reached as a day-trip from Bagan. If you’re looking for the best places to see (so many temples, stupas and pagodas!) eat and drink, check out my 2-day itinerary of Bagan!

Bagan Day Trip to Taung Kalat – Mount Popa

Other than one of the seatbelts missing, we made it to the halfway point without issues and we made an unexpected stop along the main road.

 

Judging but the shocked faces and surprised waves from the locals at this pit stop, not many tourists visit. A bunch of road-side stalls producing peanut oil (peanuts were growing the fields being the stalls) and acting as a mini-distillery the produces Toddy, which is the liquor produced from the sap of the palm tree. See the sketchy ladder working it’s way up the tree? That’s how they harvest it!

However, after the short little tour around the market/restaurant? (not sure what to call it), we headed back on the road with our driver. The relaxed part of the journey was over.

Not too much further, locals began to appear by the sides of the road.

From the taxi’s front seat it wasn’t hard to piece together this heartbreaking puzzle. Lining the sides of the road say people with outstretched arms and wailing pleas. Poverty was indiscriminate here. Male, female, young, old, it didn’t matter. Kilometre after kilometre, people were scattered along the roadside.

Focused on the sides of the road, I didn’t notice the truck in front of us filled with local, younger males. A constant flutter of undistinguishable paper flew out of their windows. It was only once the beggars ran from the sides of the road,  out onto the middle of the road did the penny drop. It was money. If these scraps of paper could be considered worthy. These people obviously did!

Following behind this truck of free-flowing bills, our little sedan caught the crest of the wave. Everyone would rush from the sides of the road and scramble to pick up what they could. At times we had to come to a complete stop in the middle of the high-speed road until it was picked clean and we could continue.

My heart stopped as one man risked his life to very literally leap in front of our taxi – all for the equivalent of 10-15 cents in Australian dollars. Our driver smoked a cigar to calm himself down. I can’t really blame him after dodging and weaving!

This event continued for kilometres. With every sense heightened and feeling emotionally overwhelmed, Mount Popa seemed a lifetime away. Due to the language barrier, all our driver could say “no money, poor”. Four tourists and one local drove the rest of the way to Mount Popa in silence.

 

Finally! Arriving At The Base Of Taung Kalat

After making our way up the narrow switchbacks in the car to the town of Popa, we arrived at the base of Taung Kalat (Mount Popa Monastery). There were swarms of people everywhere!

With colourful outfits, deafening music and no room to move, it was difficult to find the entrance to begin the climb to Taung Kalat. Our visit coincided with a local festival. It was utter chaos (or at least that’s what it seemed like from an outside perspective).

Outside the car’s windows, the crowd began to get more and denser as we drove into the small town of Popa.

Ahead a towering volcanic rock stood in front of us. Not actually adjoined to Mount Popa (hiking the extinct volcano itself is around 3 hours), 777 steps finds the beautiful monastery Taung Kalat at the summit.

 

Ascending the 777 Steps to Taung Kalat Monastery – Mount Popa

Leaving shoes at the temple entrance is customary in Myanmar temples (I was even asked to remove socks in Mandalay), and the cold marble floor sent a chill up my spine. It was a sign that the adventure wasn’t over just yet! We later found out we could have worn our shoes farther up the stairs, which would’ve likely prevented us from losing them later!

I tried to count all 777 stairs, but at this point, my brain could only handle around 35. There was simply too much going on! I was probably also distracted by the amazing view of the mountains and Bagan plains in the distance every time I lifted my eyes!

Mount Popa has the nickname of MonkeyMountain, I was about to learn why! Monkeys have always been an animal I love to watch, they have so many quirky little antics. But I like to see them from a distance… This wasn’t one of my favourite times encountering monkeys, but it sure was an experience.

The novelty of an unusual wild animal for an Australian wore off very quickly. This quirky monkey behaviour I once loved to witness soon developed into fear.

About halfway up the climb to the top of the monastery, wild monkeys began to appear everywhere.  the number of monkeys was directly proportional to the number of steps – 777 of them! Unfortunately, the amount of space available was the polar opposite. While they are masters of climbing many structures, a man-made staircase built on a sheer cliff face became the only way of going up or down for humans and the monkeys (other than the cliff face itself!).

So many monkeys and so little space. A recipe for aggression. Dominant males prove their strength to anyone in the area, whether provoked or not. My heart stopped when one monkey brushed my arm while chasing of another of its kind.

One bite or scratch could mean severe health concerns. Not to mention they are deceivingly strong! I wasn’t too keen on a visit to a local Myanmar hospital.

Near the summit of Mount Popa, Mother Nature decided to throw one more curveball into the midst as black storm clouds appeared out of – dare I say it – thin air!

The storm was brief but it was intense. The stairs quickly turned into little waterfalls, and staying dry was impossible!

The roof above the staircase was of corrugated tin, and the racket from a hundred scrambling monkeys and the downpour were deafening! It was impossible to hearing anything else!

Less than 20 steps from the doorway entrance to Taung Kalat, around 40 monkeys were crammed into this tight space. They hung from the roof and railings and sprinted between our feet. As they fought for the limited space, we had no choice but to continue up and push through them. I don’t think my partner has EVER squeezed my hand nearly as tight as them few steps!

At the summit of the monastery, there are a few enclosed rooms. Space runs out quickly though when dozens of visitors are escaping the storm… as well as monkeys.

It’s hard to believe humanity is at the top of the food chain when a house cat-sized animal can make so many ear-drum perforating shrieks from humans. I may or may not be partly guilty here, but my point still stands!

By the time the storm moved on, my senses had been heightened for so long I was completely exhausted! But looking out at the beautiful soggy sunset made it all worth it!

The golden pagodas and shrines at the top shone so intensely, a great contrast with the black clouds that were rolling away.

However, the descent back to the foot of the mountain was not without its events either. The marble-like stairs were drenched and slippery, making for a treacherous journey down. One man even had his glasses plucked right off of his face by an ambitious monkey! It was a tense walk down.

To top it off, we somehow ended up exiting from a different entrance than we entered, where our shoes were, leaving us to walk around the crowded, muddy streets in search of an area we recognized. We got plenty of sideways stares let me tell you. It was a fitting end to an overwhelming adventure!

Luckily, four tourists in a sea of festival locals were easily spotted. Our taxi driver waved us over to him all while having a slight giggle at our expense.

The quick one hour drive back to our hotel was nowhere near enough time to reflect on this adventure. I’m still reflecting on it even today.

This story can definitely be viewed as negative, but it made me realize something that I have known for a while now.

I have my health, and I am lucky enough to have the ability to travel.

despite all the chaos, Mount Popa is an incredible place to visit. The views afforded as you climb those 777 stairs are inexplicably beautiful.

 

Mount Popa Day Trip Info

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The last thing you want while travelling is to be injured and not be completely covered by travel insurance. It’s just not worth the risk! If you’re looking for amazing travel insurance coverage, look no further than World Nomads – in my eyes, they are the best out there!

If you’re in the market for a guidebook for Myanmar, for planning OR even on the road (they are super helpful with the sometimes weak WiFi), Lonely Planet is where you should look! In-depth and amazing recommendations. There’s even a PDF version so you don’t carry around the physical book!

Our taxi was 100% organized by our Ever New Guesthouse. He was definitely on a first name basis with the owners of the hotel, and his “taxi” was just a regular car. But in the end, it did the job!

This hotel also rents E-Bikes. They are the best way to independently adventure around the temples of Bagan. The range of the E-Bike battery charge is around 35km, although I got to almost 40km before my bike began to feel sluggish.

 

Mount Popa Tips

Don’t look at the monkeys in the eye. This can be taken as a sign of aggression and/or alpha status. This may trigger the monkeys to become aggressive and attack

While climbing Mount Popa I saw one man taunting a monkey. Please don’t do this. Leave them be as wild as they can be (they are fed by humans though). Also, this is for your safety. The monkey might decide to turn aggressive.

The best way to walk passed monkeys is with confidence. Don’t cower away and appear fearful as monkeys can sense this.

When you leave your shoes at the entrance to a temple, keep a good sense of where this entrance is. It can become quite disorientating with so many people and exits around.

 

Mount Popa Highlights

• The view from the summit of the 777 steps was well worth the trials of the day.
• The whole experience is one I will never forget. I’m sure of it!
• Lots of monkeys!

 

 

Have you visited Mount Popa or Taung Kalat? How was your trip there? Did you experience anything like I did? I’d love to hear some of your stories through a comment below!

 

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