Wake up at six again. It is still raining or raining again. I slept ok. At eigth have some breakfast and i decide not to wait till the weather gets any better. Just head off at nine. The climb up take about four hours and is not that steep. I decided not to walk both ways, but take some kind of transport back. Gives me enough time to go slow. Once i am out of Kin Pun, i have the forest to myself. Just some locals every now and then. The path is following a stream and every now and then the path crosses the stream with a concrete bridge. Along the path at some points there are concrete steps. I like jumping from one rock to another better. Sometimes the stream is mingling with the path and I have to make my way over the rocks that just stick out off the water. My shoes are still water proof, as longs as it is not dripping in from above :) I have a raincoat and my chinese umbrella. That should do; wearing shorts makes walking easy and what you ain't wearing can't get wet. After just an hour or so i see a sign that mentiones a pagoda 5 miles out. Hmmm, that should take about an hour and a halve to get back here. I've got time so there we go. I end up at Daut Poung Su Pagoda in no time (so that is not 5 miles). Only 6 monks are at the monastary. They have not seen a tourist for sometime.
Along the way some other pagoda's are situated. Also some small 'villages' are located along the path. In high season they probably live from the tourist on this track, but i guess i will be the only tourist they see today. Every now and then the drizzle changes in to thunder storm. I am up in the clouds and have not seen the sun yet.
After four hours walking i think i should see Golden Rock. There are however no views today and the steps seem to be endless. At around two o'clock i end up at the entrance and pay the US$6 zone fee. I am tourist number 8 for the day. The others came by truck and a 45 min walk up a road. Did not have any distant views from Golden rock. The rock weighs about 630 tonnes and really balances. If you push it hard, you can see it is moving. The godl is rubbed on, using gold leaf. Since the sun is still not out, the gold is not really shining. It is beautifull nevertheless. I tried to push it over but did not succeed.
On the my way back a monk asks me if i can take a picture of him and a woman. Fine with me. He is vietnamese and is living in Myanmar for 7 years now. His sister is married to a dutch guy and is living somewhere in Holland. He wants to visit me if he is going to visit his sister. Fine with me, so we exchange mail-addresses. The woman is also vietnamese and she invites me to Ho Chi Minh. Sorry, i have already been there, but i accept the business card anyway. On the way back the sun has almost succeeded in breaking the clouds and i can take a nice picture of Golden Rock.
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