Hello guys Ryan here and welcome back to the One Shot Adventures channel. Today we are
in Myanmar once again checking out the mystical Mount Popa. The Mount Popa monastery sits
at 1500 meters above sea level. On top of a surreal tower of volcanic rock. But as serene
as it looks from afar. Climbing up Mount Popa is quite different. Thanks to it’s thousands
of hairy inhabitants and the mess they leave behind. So much poo! Mount Popa is only 50km
away from Bagan, which makes it very a popular half day trip for tourists. But we decided
to make our stay a little longer. And for an overnight Mount Popa experience. There
is one option that is leagues above the rest. After about an hour and a half the minibus
dropped us off on a stunning green mountaintop. Where we got our first look at where we would
be spending the night. Who are we? I think we may have been a little bit overindulgent
with our accommodation choice. Welcome to the Popa Mountain Resort and the view from
our amazing villa. Wow! We had this balcony all to ourselves. Complete with uninterrupted
views of the famous monastery and the beautiful mountain scenery around it. This whole place
feels like a treehouse. So cool. The whole resort is hidden in the jungle with wooden
platforms leading through the trees. And more than it’s fair share of luxuries. Check
out this view from the pool. It does not get much better than that. And to be honest as
you walk around the place you can’t escape amazing views of the monastery from every
angle. I’m not gonna lie this place is in no way affordable on any kind of backpacking
budget. But we’ve been travelling for six months now so we thought we would treat ourselves
to a nice night in a great hotel and this view is so worth it. The sunset from our private
balcony was completely surreal. The monastery stands alone in the plains with nothing else
around it for miles. And in the peace and quiet you can hear the distant sounds of prayers
from the peak. A few hours later we woke up for the sunrise. Which is very easy when you’ve
got your own balcony view. And it was equally as magical as the night before. After some
breakfast with a few more views it was time to climb the mountain itself. We took a tuktuk
down to the village at the base of the monastery and came face to face with Mount Popa’s
most famous inhabitants. So we just arrived at the base of Mount Popa and we’re starting
the walk up now through this covered market area. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen
so many monkeys in one place. It’s estimated that nearly 2000 Rhesus Macaques live on and
around the monastery. And you will see plenty of them as you walk up the 800 steps to the
summit. Because they are definitely not shy. Like all sacred sights in Myanmar you don’t
wear shoes when you are inside the monestery. Which is never usually an issue but with the
monkeys running riot, it’s not the most sanitary experience. It’s a pretty steep
climb up. It also faintly smells of monkey p*ss and sh*t. These little guys go where
they want. They eat what the want. And most noticeably they poo where they want. There’s
a pretty strong smell of monkey poo all the way up and there’s actually people cleaning
the steps constantly so we know why. Let’s just say I couldn’t wait to back and wash
my feet. At the summit we finally entered the actual monastery and got some views of
the surroundings. The monastery was built in tribute to what locals call Nat Spirits.
Which are the souls of humans who have suffered particularly violent deaths. But over the
years the temple has been fused with buddhist beliefs as well. So we’ve made it to the
top and it’s actually a much smaller area than I expected but the views are really nice.
The Mount Popa Monestary gets its name from the volcano that created it. The real Mount
Popa is now extinct but still towers over the scenery below. I feel like this is one
of those places that is much more impressive to get a view of than to climb up. When you
are at the top there’s just not a whole lot to see apart from the views. Unless you’re
a practicing buddhist where you can see that it’s quite an important place to come. But
for a tourist I think it’s much more interesting to get a view of it. The whole climb and visit
took us about an hour. And then we returned to the resort to catch a ride back to Bagan.
It’s so strange seeing the view of the mountain from here is just so different from being
on there. Looking at it now it just looks so mystical and surreal. But being up there
is such a different experience. So all in all my comprehensive review of Mount Popa
would be views good, climb bad. Honestly unless you’re really stuck for things to do in
Bagan I wouldn’t even bother with the day trip here but if you do just make sure you
keep your distance. Thank you so much for watching this video, if you liked it make
sure you leave it a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel. The very last Myanmar video
will be going up very soon. So I will see you next time.