Southeast Asia Tour 2015
Bagan | Mount Popa | Myanmar
01 Dec 2015 | Tue
Day 13 of 46
Drive to Mount Popa | Our Car Broke Down
Starting our Journey to Mount Popa
Today we are taking a side trip to visit Mount Popa – where a Nat and a monkey-filled Buddhist temple (Taung Kalat) sits on top of a 225-meter (737 ft) extinct volcano! Sounds interesting, doesn’t it?!
Our tour company Tour Mandalay Travel provided a car (2001 Toyota Crown Royal Saloon) and driver. Even though the car was a bit older, it was definitely a luxury-type vehicle that was very roomy and comfortable. The drive from Bagan to Mount Popa is only around 60 km (37 miles) but we were told it would take about an hour and a half (due to the roads being very rough).
Car Broke Down
After starting our journey around mid-morning we got about 30 minutes into our trip when our car broke down. Lucky for us it was a beautiful day.

While we waited, I took a few pictures of our broken-down vehicle along with the surrounding area. Nearby was a local restaurant and gas station.
Our New Driver and Vehicle Arrives
Our tour guide contacted the travel company and within 30 minutes, we had a new driver and vehicle (Toyota Hiace).

We were impressed by how quickly Tour Mandalay Travel took care of everything. So after a bit of delay, we were quickly back on our way as if nothing had happened.
Drive to Mount Popa
The drive to Mount Popa gave us an opportunity to see the beautiful rural countryside of this region. The terrain was mostly flat but you could see a few mountains in the distance. Along the way, we saw mostly farmland and small rural villages. Due to bumpy roads, I was not able to get a lot of clear pictures but I did catch some farmers making haystacks.
