Quando parliamo di bisogni degli esseri umani, parliamo dell’essenza della vita – Abraham Maslow

Where does travel motivation come from?

Sometimes we feel an imbalance between the situation we are living in and the one we wish for. The needs that push and support our behaviours come exactly from a sense of restlessness, an inner dynamism otherwise called motivation. 

First, we satisfy our primary and pshysiological needs, such as hunger, sleep, health. Then, we gratify the social needs, like family, friends, intimacy. The final step of the Maslow’s Needs Pyramid, is self-realization, our individual aspiration of becoming whatever we want to be.

Most, or some, of our journeys,  depend on our inner motivation.  This motivation wants us to experience the adventure we imagined, to desire the thrill of discovery, to struggle while visiting remote lands, to test ourselves with new experiences. All of this in order to find again a personal and inner balance within ourselves and the world. 
To me, it was Myanmar, especially the last stop, which was also my new year’s resolution: the majestic Golden Rock.

So, here it is, our travel motivation.

My travel resolution

Travel motivation: my Golden Rock

The Golden Rock is one of the most important Buddhist pilgrimage destinations, a 20-meter-high rock covered in golden leaves. In a precarious balance, quite miracolous, the Golden Rock overlooks the valley on the Kyaiktiyo mountain, in Mon State.
This sacred place of cult is reachable first driving through a curvy mountain road from Kinpun, then walking up for a few kilometers, and finally going barefoot for another hundreds of meters. A real pilgrimage. 

According to the legend, the rock maintains its precarious balance thanks to the Buddha’s hat. Today, thousands of pilgrims arrive here from every corner of the country, looking for benevolence. Men, women and children, monks or not, get together in order to light incence, donate flowers, water or fruits.  They all focus on a spiritual dialogue, singing prayers from sunset to sunrise, sleeping on the ground, and then going back from the mountain the next day. Men can get closer and touch the rock in order to attach the golden leaves on its walls. It is also thanks to these leaves that the Golden Rock became the iridescent landmark of this green valley. 

Balance

A night in front of the Golden Rock

In front of the rock

Candles and incense

First donations at dawn

Where does my travel motivation come from? 

Before leaving for Myanmar, I felt a sense of inner restlessness after a great loss, as if a previously repressed side of me started screaming, begging for a change. I needed a deep, spiritual and physical time off, far away from home, looking for new ways of living to nourish, and to bring out the image of me I wanted to see. 

The Golden Rock was the last stop of this journey in Asia. It was the place I dreamed to visit, in order to fulfill the need that prompted me to leave. 
Lele and I slept in a hotel in front of the rock. We wanted to observe the devotion and to experience the so evident spirituality, perceivable only in these pilgrimage sites of Myanmar.
First, we witnessed a sunset, then a sunrise, both inestimable. The atmosphere was sacred and contemplative. Every person in front of the rock was part of it, creating an unforgettable experience, even to amateurs like us. 

 

A sweet and sacred atmosphere to the soul.

At dawn

Soothing experience for my soul

Travel Psych Tips: how to get to the Golden Rock, where to sleep and prices

How to get to the Golden Rock

Lele and I took a private car for 125 euros (136 dollars).  Within 3 hours, we arrived at the trucks station of Kinpun, and then the car waited for us the next day to go back to the capital.

From Kinpun you can take a truck that, within half an hour, goes up a curvy road on the wall of the mountain, for 2000 kyat (around 1.30 euros). The trucks start only when full, the last one going both up and down the mountain, leaves at 6pm, so to drive on daylight time. 

Once there, foreigners have to register at the touristic office, where they will get a badge lanyard (6.000 kyat, around 4 euros).

After  a kilometer walking, you get to the entrance to the cult site, where to leave your shoes and keep going for another hundreds of meters barefoot. 

Where to sleep

We stayed in front of the Golden Rock, at one of the three touristic hotels on the mountain, the Kyaik Hto Hotel paying 65 euros, breakfast included.
In order to pay less, you can sleep at Kinpun, taking the first truck in the morning to witness the sundown prayers.

A special thanks to my partner in life and in adventure, Gabriele, who patiently followed me and took pictures of me during this journey.

Chiara Travel Psych

Una psicologa con la valigia sempre in mano.
Benvenuti nel blog di Psicologia del viaggio.

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