Hi guys, today I'm going to take you to a destination that many Thai people love to visit these days. This is because it has such a beautiful view and not so far from us. It is "Mulayit", located in Myanmar.

Mulayit is part of the Dawna Range. It is the highest peak in the Democratic Karen Buddhist region, seen as a sacred mountain peak, and was also the highest among the four peaks (Mokotu or the Thirty Thousands Mangoes, Doi Phawee, Me La Ah, and Mulayit).

It is an important Buddhist place, a sacred place for Buddhists in Myanmar to seek for a pilgrimage.

- Taken here by social media -

Nowadays, we get to see so many beautiful places from various social media platforms. It is not wrong to say that even if we just sit and watch it all day long, it won't be enough. Then, my friend sent me a link and asked me to take a look. Oh my gosh, the field was so super breathtaking. Wow, these golden fields with beautiful mountains in a panoramic view have totally got a landscape photographer like me. Of course, how do I miss it? More importantly, this place is on the Burmese side where we can cross it from Phop Phra District, Tak Province, Thailand side. 

And yes, social media has taken me here, "Mulayit". 

- Holiness-

It is known as the mountain of faith that is very sacred. Before the journey, something came up that almost stopped me from this journey. Luckily, I finally got to come.

I chose to travel with a group of my friends. We took the late night bus from Mochit 2 Bus Station so that we could arrive Maesot, Tak at dawn. 

From home, I took a taxi to Mochit Bus Station. Since I still got plenty of time left, I deposited my luggage at the bus station. Right when I was about to pay for the fee, I realized that I've forgotten my wallet in the taxi. So what now, may be I won't get to go after all this strong intention of me to go? Then, I heard my name was announced, that generous taxi driver has returned my wallet to the information center. I'm so relieved. 

After we reached Mae Sot, we hired a Songthaew (two rows car) from Mae Sot Bus Station to Phop Phra district, Valley village (Ban Lung Cha). Although it was a charter price, he kept collecting passengers all the way, so actually, the hire price was not so different than regular price. 

When we reached Ban Lung Cha, we transferred our luggage to a 4WD truck. Then, again, I realized that I've forgotten my tent at the Songthaew. So lucky that we've asked his phone number in case we needed a ride on the way back. So then I called to ask him to come back again, otherwise, I really don't know how to sleep at night. These were 2 lucky incidents. I was thinking that probably, it was due to the holiness of my strong intention to go. Oh well, it depends on each person's view. But, of course, I had to blame myself for being so careless.

- A journey of dust -

After getting on the 4WD truck (the cost of round-trip fare is 900 THB) and departing from Ban Lung Cha, it's a 4 hours, patient journey. Because the road  was a dirt road which was quite difficult to go through. More importantly, it was so super dusty (please prepare a cloth to cover your face and nose well, it's very important). Here, the concrete road has started to be built for a very short distance at the beginning and still not working. However, soon, when the travel is easier with the paved road, there'll be much more people too. On the way, the truck stopped at a small village which had some food and water for sale. Tourists like to bring snacks and give them to children.

- Vegetarian power -

That's right, the vegetarian power. Only vegetarian food is allowed here. A pure vegetarian food and tourists are not allow to bring any meat. Let's say it's the mountain that we must live from vegetarian power. Oh well, I felt a bit overreacting saying that as I only spent a nigh here, haha. From the starting point for walking to the tent area was so short, only about a kilometer. I reached before I could feel anything. 

Here, when we go up, there'll be an open air without any shade. On the day time, the sun is very strong and the weather is very hot.  

- The sunset and the golden field -

When the sun is about to set, the golden light shines on the grass. What a beautiful scene. This place has such a breathtaking view of mountains and hills.  When the light is shining by, we would see a so beautiful dimension of light and shadow. If you love taking landscape photos, I guarantee that you will love it for sure. At this moment, all I could do was to keep pressing my shutter. 

- Cold night and the night full of stars -

After sunset, we cooked simple food like instant vegetarian noodle, instant vegetarian porridge cup, canned vegetarian food. All of these could be bought from various super stores. Even though it is not the vegetarian festival, we still could find some vegetarian food but maybe not many. At night, the weather cooled down. The later the night, the colder it got.  Have your warm clothes ready. I have to say that the wind was strong in addition of the weather being very cold. 

When the surrounding lights were turned off, I looked up to the sky to find countless stars. For me, this is another highlight making me wanted to come up to the mountain. When it's the right time, we could also see the Milky Way with our bare eyes. In the photo, you could somehow see them a bit faint. 

- Travel along the trend and lose to the nature -

I'm not sure since when we started to travel to forests and mountains so much. May be it's call "go with the trend'? I do believe that it's the social media that takes us here. Whenever anyone see any photos in any review, they too, wanted to come check in and posted those beautiful views on their social media. And it's just normal.

I still remember when I first start hiking. I went to Doi Pha Hom Pok and Doi Luang Chiang Dao for 2 days. At that time, all I thought was what I was doing there. There're plenty of beautiful places that I needed not to walk so painfully like this. Why would I just sleep and enjoy being home, it'd be much better. Also, I couldn't walk for several days after getting back home. Yet, I also remember how I felt when I took the bus on the way down from the mountain and looked up. I felt surprised of how I walked up? The feeling of conquering something could make us feel so great? There're also many other feelings that were hard to explain. 

After that trip, I kept on hiking. Probably, this is my way of "losing to the nature". 

- Two pagodas -

There are 2 pagodas for worshiping. Women can only visit the first pagoda, only men are allowed to go up to the top pagoda.

- Women have to wear sarong properly. 

- Women with period are not allowed to go to the pagoda but can hike to the mountain. 

- Shoes must be removed before going up. 

- Women and men are not allowed to walk together in close distance, they must keep good space from each other. 

At this place, we meet Burmese coming up for worshiping at all time. It is noticeable that a pilgrimage usually locates on a high place and difficult to travel to in order for us to have a determination, faith, and significant ethical spirit. 

"On the religious and spiritual aspect, pilgrimage is a journey or pursuit of something of an ethical significance to the mind. Sometimes, it will be a journey to a religious place that is important to one's beliefs or faiths. Members of the world's major religions often participate in pilgrimage. People traveling on pilgrimage are called pilgrims. "(Information from wikipedia)

Expenses:

- A round trip VIP bus from Bangkok to Tak is 1,200 THB. 

- A songtaew fare to Ban Lung Cha is 156 THB. 

- A round trip 4WD ride to the mountain is 900 THB each. 

- Water is 15 THB each. 

- Food, self-prepared 

For more of my journey, please follow me here: 

www.facebook.com/OKReady2go

Thank you very much :)

Regulatory sign before going up the pagoda: