On To Kalaw, Burma

After viewing the sunset on my final night in Began I turned in the scooter and got to formulating a plan for the rest of my time in Burma. I was over thinking when I ran into an Australian brother and sister who I had met the previous day and who had also happened to be on the Mt Popa day trip. We decided to get dinner together.

The sister seemed to be a pretty seasoned traveler and I expressed my indecision as to what to do next. She was brilliant in helping me sort it out and could relate to my predicament. I really wanted to take the boat up the Ayeyarwady but I didn’t really want to spend time in Mandalay. From there I wanted to see Inle Lake but I needed to consider how transport can be lengthy and un predictable in a third world country. I need not forget a real passion and interest for me is hiking. It was really more obvious than I was realizing. Why not go straight to Kalaw? From there hikes or treks as they call it can be arranged through hill tribe villages to Inle Lake. From Inle Lake I could arrange for a bus to Yangon where I’ll catch a flight back to Bangkok. Perfect. However, for whatever reason, I still had a strong desire to boat up the Ayeryarwady. Sometime after 9 pm I made a final decision and bought a minivan ticket to Kalaw.

The minivan picked me up at 7:30 am then stopped by the hostel to pick up a Swiss man and a couple from Holland. After that we drove all over the place picking up some local people and stuff to be put on the roof. We made a stop at what seemed like someone’s home then then finally left Bagan where we drove to another village and picked up some more people and stuff. The van was full with the driver’s helper riding on the roof. Finally, we got going for real.

The gentleman sitting next to me was forty five and from Switzerland. A well seasoned traveler with the intentions of doing the same kind of hike I wanted to do. We talked along the way and decided we would look into making arrangements together. The van rolled on.

We crossed wide long valley with the occasional dirty poor town for quite awhile before we could see hills in the distance. The hills got bigger and closer. Finally, we began to climb, and climb, and climb, slowly.

It was a long van ride that took most of the day. I was happy to see that Kalaw was a much nicer place than some of the villages passed on the way up. It’s set in a lovely high valley. The air is crisp and cool. Aside of dusty streets it’s a pretty clean place. As they say the crap flows downhill. Kalaw is at the top of the hill so to speak. With a number of hotels and plenty of daylight left I decided check out options for accommodation. Most all of the accommodation I looked at was ok but the hotel on top a of hill overlooking the village was by far the best in opinion. They only had one night available but I decided to take it. Thirty dollars for a very nice and quiet European standard hotel with breakfast and view. Luxury.

In the process of looking for a place I met up with the Swiss Guy whose last name is “Boss” but whose first name is not easy to remember. I just call him Boss. I also met up with the owner of a guest house who happens to be a guide who grew up in the in the village and has been leading treks for 20 years. Within a couple of hours I had a place for the night and a guide for a 3 day hike to Inle Lake that will leave at 9 am on Tuesday.

That evening Boss and I went for dinner at a Nepalese restaurant. Kalaw kind of reminds me of a Himalayan hill village. A lot of the people living in Kalaw have descended from migrants who came over from India and Nepal to work for the British in the 1940’s. Mostly for the railroad. Our trekking guide is a Sikh who was born in the Kalaw but his father moved here from northern India.

So, I arrived in Kawlaw on Sunday. Today is Monday. I’ve decided to just hang out and enjoy the village for the day. Tomorrow I’ll start the Trek to Inle Lake. So far there with be four of us and the guide. Our guide says he limits his groups to 5 or 6.

On another note. The internet has been pretty bad in Burma and the last post took me a few hours due to technical issues otherwise I probably would have posted more with photos by now. When I get back to Thailand, internet access should be fine.