The cool, refreshing charm of Buddhist Hsipaw
There is an old Bamar custom to bury a pot of oil in the center of a town, based on the belief that the town will last until the oil runs try. Such a pot was buried under Hsipaw (pronounced “Thi-baw”) in its early days. In the 1980s, a few curious residents unearthed the clay pot, and were happy to find sufficient oil still remaining. Perhaps, too, they were equally happy not to find any human skeletons in the pot, dispelling rumors that the oil had been a part of human sacrifices. Thus, for those meditators especially attracted to Hsipaw’s charm, it will come as a relief that the town will probably be sticking around a while yet! And getting there can be a romantic adventure in its own right: the train from Pyin Oo Lwin to Hsipaw and on to Lashio has been called one of the great railway journeys of the world.