Since I don’t really have much time here in Mandalay, I had to make do with whatever time I have here. I decided to head to Sagaing Hill. The bus from Mandalay terminated at the market area of Sagaing town. However, I needed to find a way to the hill itself. Along the way, I already saw the hill so it can’t really be that far. I started asking around about the hill but no one seems to understand me. I then made a praying motion by clasping my hands together and they understood that I meant to go to the temple of Sagaing Hill. The helpful locals then pointed me to yet another public transport which will bring me to Sagaing Hill.
According to the guidebooks, there is supposedly an entrance fee for tourists visiting the ancient towns of Amarapura, Inwa, Sagaing and Minggun. However, I didn’t really see anyone collecting these fees. I could be because I managed to slip in through public transport system which they do not bother checking or maybe there really was no checking. Either way, I’m thankful that I didn’t have to shell out that fee as it would have further diminished my available funds.
The bus quickly filled up. I managed to find a seat inside the bus, what I noticed was that the women tend to sit in the bus, while the men hung outside the vehicle. Obviously, Burmese men are a chivalrous lot. The bus stopped by something that looked like a storehouse and the men on the bus started loading the vehicle with wood. It looks like there is some construction going on at the top of the hill. Anyway, we started moving again going round and round the hill. Some parts of the hill were quite steep and with the added weight of the wooden planks, I was worried for the stability of the bus.
Well, we managed to make it through to the top. Before, that we unloaded the wood somewhere nearby. At the top, there was a small set of staircases on the left which leads to a panoramic view of the town of Sagaing. Immediately, you can see the huge number of stupas that dot the hill. It makes you wonder why people built them so close to each other. The viewpoint also overlooks the Ayeyarwaddy River in the distance and as expected the weather on top is much better than the sweltering heat below. I savored the nice mountain air before moving on.
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