No trip to Myanmar would be complete without a visit to my favorite little town in the country…Hpa-An. This Hpa-An guide will help you plan your perfect stay & help you fall in love with Hpa-An as much as I did.
Hpa-An: The most underrated town in Myanmar.
At first glance, the small town is nothing extraordinary. But you’ll soon find that the region surrounding Hpa-An is jam-packed with some of the best hikes, caving, and general exploring than Myanmar has to offer.
Hpa-An was our first stop in the country & we fell in love. Just a few simple streets with even fewer tourists (a theme for all of Myanmar), but PLENTY of activities for nature enthusiasts. Hpa-An is a hiker haven. Long flat dirt roads lead to towering limestone peaks where you can get a birds-eye view of the gold & green valley. It seems like every peak has a temple placed at the pinnacle and a stunning pilgrimage hike to get you there.
Just outside town the scenery drastically changes. Rural is an understatement. A complete culture shock if you’re coming from a developed Southeast Asian country such as Thailand. Locals live off the land and lead a simple happy life.
Caves are popular here as well. & I discovered that I harbor a slight phobia of enclosed spaces. But my curiosity always wins out. Rightfully so, because these caverns are some of the most impressive in all of Asia.
If I had to choose just one place to visit in Myanmar it would be Hpa-An. So we crafted this complete Hpa-An guide to help you fall in love with this little town too.
Travel Tip: Hpa-An was the one place we were able to rent a motorbike hassle-free all over town. & you’ll need one to reach most of the noteworthy attractions.
Getting There
If your traveling by land this will likely be your first stop into Myanmar & what a pleasant introduction it is!
From Thailand Border: Grab a seat in a shared taxi from the border at Myawaddy. These are the worst roads in Myanmar. Prepare for a long bumpy 5+ hour ride. We booked the whole trip through our guesthouse in Mae Sot (Thai Border Town), but it should cost you about $13 per person from your hostel in Thailand to the border to your hostel in Myanmar.
From Yangon: This is the closest major destination to Hpa-An and if you flew into the country you’ll likely be coming from here. The bus ride is comfortable but long. It can take anywhere from 6-9 hours.
There are no trains in service that connect all the way to Hpa-An.
Now that you have arrived here are our top picks attractions, eating, & sleeping in Hpa-An, Myanmar.
It wouldn’t be a complete Hpa-An guide without mentioning food & the best places to stay. Fortunately, there are two stand-alone favorites that will make your life extra easy.
Hpa-An Guide on Where to Eat: Wadee Restaurant
Hpa-An is small. Restaurants are few and far between. Luckily right around the corner from Lil Hpa-An Boutique Hostel is the only restaurant name you need to know. An amazing local joint that will prime you for a month of Burmese food. It’s the cheapest restaurant we found in the country & our hands-down favorite. If you go near meal time the place will be packed.
I highly recommend the chicken potato curry, tea leaf salad, and the potato salad (Burmese-style, it’s not like back home) but honestly, it’s all so good you can’t go wrong.
Hpa-An Guide on Where to Stay: Lil Hpa-An Boutique Hostel
Hands down the best place to stay in Hpa-An on a budget (or honestly at all). 4-person dorms with comfy beds that will make your sunrise alarms that much more unwelcome. Breakfast is included & HUGE, the owner is always present & super accommodating, & they rent out motorbikes for all the surrounding activities.
A word of warning. They book out in advance. Sometimes a week or more. So try and book your stay ahead of time and don’t expect to be able to extend on a whim when you fall in love with the town.
4-person dorms go for $11 per bed- w/ breakfast included.
Hpa-An Guide on the Top Attractions
Hike Mount Zwegabin for Sunrise
3,500 stairs climbing the tallest of the surrounding limestone peaks. Watching the sun peek out & illuminate the valley below. It’s a daunting task & even though it’s the top attraction in Hpa-An, I don’t recommend trying it day one. The stairs start out straight & even and become progressively more & more rugged the higher you climb. By the time of our descent, my legs felt like actual jello.
There are several reasons you should make this climb for sunrise.
- The views here are best when the sun is setting or rising since your getting absolutely unparalleled views of the valley below. Sunset has more people & an increased chance that the sky will be hazy since locals usually burn fields & trash in the late afternoon.
- The route is super easy to follow. It’s one path straight up through a forest monastery to the temple at the peak. It would be near impossible to get lost even in the dark.
- You just might keel over from the heat if you attempt this hike midday. Hpa-An is HOT year-round. We visited during the cold season and temperatures rarely went below 88 degrees in the daytime.
And fourth, although I do feel like it is something you need to do in Hpa-An without sunrise the views wouldn’t have been that remarkable after climbing my favorite peak–Tuang Wine Mountain.
Planning Your Hike
Be sure to check the sunrise time during your stay. You’ll need to rent a motorbike the night before & set sights for Lumbini gardens. This is the path up the mountain with stairs & since you’ll be summiting in the dark it’s highly recommended. The entrance is about a 20-minute drive from the hostel and even in the wee morning hours, there will be a monk attendant collecting cash for a ticket. You should give yourself 2 full hours to climb Zwegabin. It’s going to be difficult but honestly, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had originally anticipated.
Cost: 4,000 Kyat or $2.75
Make a side trip to Lumbini Gardens. Conveniently located at the base of the holy Mount Zwegabin, you can photograph the mist-shrouded neat lines of buddha statues before you head back to the hostel for a well-deserved nap.
Lumbini Gardens 
Sunrise at Zwegabin
Photography Tip: Where’s the Best Viewpoint?
The photos above were taken at the same spot & in my opinion, offered the best views from the peak. If you descend slightly from the summit temple you’ll see an area that contains quite a lot of construction equipment.
That’s the outcropping you’ll want to be on. There is a clear path and it faces the rising sun. It’s narrow and a little slippery with the dust so be extra careful as you descend to the lowest level.
The lower pagoda further down the path also has great views for the sunrise if you’re feeling less adventurous.
Tuang Wine Mountain
If you only do one hike in Hpa-An make it this one.
Actually, scratch that, if you only do one hike in all of Myanmar–make it this one.
The views speak for themselves.
Stairway to Heaven at Tuang Wine Mountain 
Visiting the Stupa at the Peak
We did this hike mid-morning & although it was exposed to the sun and we were dripping in sweat– it isn’t nearly as long as Mount Zwegabin. The path also isn’t as clear. You have to park the motorbike in a designated parking area & walk across a makeshift bamboo bridge to the start of the stairs.
Maps.me got us most of the way there but if it hadn’t been for the monks milling about the base which also serves as their monastery, we may never have found it.
The path is an uneven 45-minute hike with, in my personal opinion, the best panoramic views of the valleys far below. The grey temple that sits at the peak is frequented by monks & they will likely be your only companions on the mountain.
You’ll know you’re almost there when you reach the iconic iron staircase that guides you up the final jagged peak. You’ll have to do this portion of the hike barefoot as the summit is a holy temple.
Cost: $6 for the motorbike
Visit one of the Hpa-An Street Markets
Every night of the week at 6 PM there is a street food market on the scenic lake, Kan Thar Yar, in Hpa-An. We went our very first night in Hpa-An & regretted it. The market is small but the food at this market is adventurous. We ended up watching the sun set over the lake & trying out very first avocado shake.
On special occasions, the main plaza at the riverside also will have a night market. It’s packed with tasty food and handmade goods & definitely worth a wander if you see the red tents set up.
Visit the Bat Cave for Sunset
This is a truly unique experience.
Part temple-part bat viewing-part scenic sunset viewpoint, this makes for an evening to remember. Just a 20-minute motorbike ride from town you will join many other travelers in watching hundreds of thousands of bats wake up for the evening.
The bats come out of the cave in droves forming neat lines, drawn out by the steady beating of a loud gong. With each strike the bats coil and twist winding across the pink sky.
If you want the best views of the bats up close you should stay on the base of the temple. But if you want to see the swirling river of bats set against the pink sunset sky you should climb to the top of the temple. We climbed to the top and after about 10 minutes descended to see the bats up close.
I recommend getting there 30-min before sunset to get an ideal spot.
Cost: $1 per person
Saddan Cave
This massive cavern was the most impressive cave we visited in Myanmar. It was also extra terrifying as we were the only ones there since we visited late in the afternoon.
The cave is about an hour’s drive via motorbike but the scenery along the way was incredible. I highly recommend making a day of it & cows leisurely cross the roadway, lush green rice paddies and golden yellow fields waiting to be tilled line both sides of the paved streets.
The cave itself is HUGE.
The main cavern houses the typical cave temple paraphernalia such as a reclining buddha & some blinking LED neon lights. (These flashing colorful lights are used all over Myanmar in temples- it may seem tacky to us but they seem to love it). The deeper in you venture the more interesting the natural cave formations become.
Since we visited near sunset, the bats were beginning to wake up. We could hear them swooping and shrieking overhead the deeper we went into the cave.
I should mention since this is also a temple…you’ll be doing this trek across dirt & bat poop barefoot as well. Fortunately, the cave is well lit so it’s not too much of a problem.
Even if you’re secretly hyperventilating inside like myself, you have to walk all the way through. Trust me, it’s worth it. It takes around 20-minutes but at the other end— the riverboats. For a fee, locals will take you on a scenic canoe ride around the outskirts of the cave & under some of the overhanging cliffside dropping you back where you started.
If you time your visit at about 4 PM like us, the lighting for your canoe trip couldn’t be better.
Cost: $3 per person including boat ride.
Natural Swimming Pool & Kaw Ka Thaung Cave
This is a perfect stop-off along the way to the Saddan Cave. Besides it being about halfway, this cave was one of my favorites. Not because of the cave itself- although it was definitely worth checking out, but because of the swimming hole.
Just around the corner from the cave is a crystal clear refreshing natural pool that locals frequent to cool off midday. & if you’re here anytime after 10 AM it will be a welcome relief from the blazing sun.
We were lucky enough to have the pool to ourselves for about 30 minutes. Then about 200 screaming students between the ages of 4 & 12 joined us. Honestly, I’m not sure which was more entertaining.
Path Leading to the Swimming Area Natural Swimming Pools
There is a small portion of the natural pool that is men only. Things like this are common in more conservative areas of Myanmar. You’ll also notice that local women don’t swim in skimpy swimwear but in their clothes. They are accustomed enough with foreigners to accept whatever you want to wear, but consider more coverage than a bikini.
Cost: Free
Kyauk Ka Lat Pagoda
This Buddhist temple is precariously perched on top of a rock overlooking a placid lake surrounded by rice fields. Sound intriguing? It’s definitely worth a stop!
You can climb partway up the pagoda but the most impressive view is from the ground floor. Seeming to defy gravity the temple clings to the rock & leaves you to wonder just exactly how it got there.
This attraction is nearish to the bat caves. It makes a good stop for golden hour before you make your way to the caves for sunset.
Cost: Free
Motorbike Around the Buddha Valley Loop
If you happen to find yourself in Hpa-An with a little extra time, I recommend taking a drive. Although Laos takes the cake for the most scenic motorbike ride (blog post coming soon), this little loop made for a relaxing morning ride.
Stop off at rural villages & just enjoy the passing scenery. The loop itself is pretty clear on Maps.me if you drive toward Buddha Valley on the same side of the mountains as Zwegabin you’ll cut through the middle & loop your way back up the other side.
It takes about an hour or so of driving & if you do all the attractions above, you’ll have driven some of these roads before. But I couldn’t turn down an opportunity to take in Myanmar’s unique scenery.
Cost: Just the $6 for motorbike
Other Caves Worth Mentioning
There are tons of caves in the area surrounding Hpa-An. After visiting the three different ones above we didn’t feel inclined to visit the smaller caves. But if you’re really in the spelunking mood other caves worth visiting might be Kaw Gon Cave, Yathaypyan Cave, or the Bayin Nyi Caves.
Most have a small fee to enter that ranges from $1 to $4 per person.
Planning Your Trip: Where to Next?
Transport in Myanmar is easy & often relatively comfortable. Check out my full guide on transport in Myanmar & other general Myanmar know-how for more info on transportation.
Our route through Myanmar took us from Hpa-An on an overnight bus to Inle Lake–but if you have the time I would highly recommend you stop at Kalaw first instead.
You could also do the route in reverse & head straight to Yangon with a stop at the golden rock of Kyaiktiyo. This is a stop-off that we missed. I wouldn’t say it’s a must-see in Myanmar but it is worth the stop if you’re already heading that direction.
I hope you felt inspired by our Hpa-An guide & feel ready to plan your trip to this adventurous destination.
Here’s some more helpful links for your trip to Myanmar
Hpa-An gave us the taste of adventure that we had been craving. It was our favorite town in the country because of the scenery and easy access to interesting sights and attractions.
But there’s a lot more to the country beyond Hpa-An. Here’s a list of our Myanmar Blog Posts to get you started.
- Traveling to Myanmar? Here’s everything you need to know before you go.
- How to Get the Most out of Your Visit to Inle Lake & Myanmar’s Floating Stilted Villages.
- Your Bucket-list guide to the 17 Must-See Attractions in Myanmar.
- Bagan: Channel Your Inner Indiana Jones at Myanmar’s Ancient Sunrise Temples
Follow Our 28 Day Circle in Myanmar
Hpa-An –> Inle Lake –> Mandalay –> Pyin Oo Linn –> Hsipaw –> Bagan –> Yangon –> Ngwe Saung –> Hpa An .
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