Burmese Days On The Trail

PHOTO ALBUM – KALAW & INLE LAKE

After the cramped bus ride from Bagan, we spent two laid-back nights in Kalaw stretching our joints and enjoying the cool weather.  We booked a trek through a local trekking agency (Sam’s) along with several other travelers we met.  We were to walk the 45 kilometers from Kalaw to Inle Lake in three days/two nights.  We had a group of five –Tom (Belgium), Celine (Holland), and Caroline (England), Elise, and me – who would be let by a two guides and a cook through the mountains visiting and staying in the villages of three different tribes along the way. 

This trek turned out to be an incredible experience. 

Our lead guide, San Mya, is 19 years old and a native from a village in the mountains in this general area.  She spoke very good English and was well-networked in the villages even of the different tribes – speaking their languages and translating for us appropriately.  The trek followed mountain ridges and rolling terrain through forests and farmland of rice, ginger, chili peppers, onions, potatoes, and many other crops.  The weather reminded me of warm days and cool nights of the Colorado Rocky summers. 

Itinerary:

Day 1 – Leave Kalaw

Lunch Village:  Lupin (Danu Tribe)

Night Village:  Kyuksu (Pa-O Tribe)

Day 2

Lunch Village :  Kone La (Danu Tribe)

Night Village :  Park Tupork (Taungtu Tribe)

Day 3 – Finish at Inle Lake

Because of the political situation of the past two decades, the tourist industry has not really developed in Myanmar like other nearby countries, so our trek through these villages felt like we were rare visitors rather than just another tourist.   We were welcomed wholeheartedly everywhere we went.  Numerous comments were made on how tall we are and how beautiful the girls were.  Myanmar women are beautiful themselves – but  from their perspective it is clear that there is nothing more beautiful than blond hair and being taller.  Twice we were invited into monasteries where the monks brought out all of the food, treats, and tea they have on hand for special guests.  Chatting - and in one case observing (in reality distracting) a large group of young boy monks during their 2-hour spiritual reading session – went on for over an hour in each case.  Our incredible guides cooked unbelievable meals and we were fed so much food that I was never hungry despite walking 15km per day. 

The first night, we were invited to chat with a group of mostly younger girls and women of the village.  The entertainment of the night consisted of dressing the Elise, Celine, and Carolyn up in the traditional Pa-O tribe’s formal outfit.  With the benefit of having a good translator with us, everyone was always interested to learn what countries everyone was from.  They also always wanted to know who in our group was married –only Elise and I.  In villages where the average woman has kids before age 18, there was always an amusing reaction when it was learned that Elise and I not only were married, we were over 30 years old but did not have children.  Despite that initial cultural shock, we were asked several times to come back and visit their village again with our children some day.  That would definitely be a unique experience.   The second night we stayed in a monastery and the final morning were blessed by the monk wishing us a long and happy life and good jobs. 

On the final day of the trek we descended into the valley towards Inle Lake – a large lake and water-world of floating villages, floating gardens, leg-rowing fisherman, and lots of agriculture, surrounded by picturesque mountains.  We entered the lake at Taungbogyi and had a one-hour boat ride to our guesthouse in Nyaungshwe.  The following two  days were spent relaxing our sore legs and continuing to enjoy the company of the members of our trekking group. 

The Queen Inn (our guesthouse) was amazing….excellent breakfasts in the morning (unlimited banana pancakes) followed by pots of tea while we hung out and talked, random appearances of lassis or lemon juice in the afternoon if you happened to walk by the reception, and a very helpful owner who had some great advice on activities around the lake. Elise and I also took an interesting trip around the lake by bicycle:  rode south from Nyaungshwe to relax in some hot springs, then loaded our bikes on a boat to be ferried across the lake, then back to Nyaungshwe through some beautiful agricultural and mountain scenery in the late afternoon sun. 

“Two-Thumbs-Up” to the Kalaw and Inle Lake region of Myanmar!