Saddan Cave

Saddar Cave - Sadan Cave - Sadan Gu - Seren Cave - Mahar Sadan Cave

Useful Information

Location:	Hpa-An. 22 km south-east of Hpa An. From the Clock Tower follow Ka Lar Tan Street for about 14 km. Turn right on dirt road marked with a small green sign pointing south. (16.740028, 97.718143)
Open:	All year daily 6-18. [2020]
Fee:	Cave temple: Adults MMK 1,000. Boat ride back: Per Person MMK 2,000. [2020]
Classification:	Karst Cave Cave Church
Light:	electric/bring torch.
Dimension:	Saddan Cave: L=800 m. River Cave: L=110 m, W=15 m, H=3 m.
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Saddan Cave.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

2009	cave surveyed.

Description

Saddan Cave is a buddhist cave temple with hundreds of small Buddha statues and a few big ones. There are even some pagodas erected inside the huge entrance hall. Highlights are a reclining Buddha statue and a natural rock which has a Buddha face. To enter the temple it is necessary to leave your shoes at the entrance. On the tiled floor of the temple this is no big thing, but at the end of the temple the show cave starts.

A concrete trail with iron railing leads down a main passage with thousands of bats. The floor is wet and slippery with bat guano. You remember what we said about the shoes? Yuck. We suggest to take the shoes with you in a bag, so you can put them on after the temple.

The through cave takes about 20 to 30 minutes. The temple is well lit, but the cave behind is sometimes a bit dark, so you should bring a lamp. On the other end of the cave is a small jetty with wooden canoes. For a fee the boats bring you back to the entrance. If you pay the regular fee you have to wait until the boat is full, it seats four people, or you can pay for four and get your own boat. Depending on the time of year the lakes might be dried out, and you have to walk back.

The way back is almost more interesting than the way in. The boats return through a second cave, a river cave, which connects two lakes on opposite sides of the karst tower.. From the jetty you can see a vertical cliff face with a dark ledge at the bottom. When you get closer see that it is a cave which is only 3 m high but at least 15 m wide. This passage, while natural, looks almost like a concrete sewage tube. The boats cross the cave to the lake on the other side. From there a canal was built around the karst tower to irrigate the fields. From the end of the canal it's only a short walk to the parking lot.