I left Bagan by bus, having decided to do the trek from Kalaw, a fairly small hill town in the Shan state of Myanmar, to Inle lake. This is one of the better known treks in South Asia, encompassing two nights and three days of trekking. Getting to Kalaw from Bagan involved a fairly lengthy minibus journey from the guesthouse; I had originally thought that the minibus left around an hour later than it actually did, resulting in a mad scramble to pack up my stuff from the guesthouse and check out. The minibus accommodated about six people, and my rucksack and blue holdall (I'd somehow managed to accrue more "stuff" over the past few weeks, making the term "backpacker" somewhat redundant) being strapped to the roof of the vehicle. The promised air conditioning did not work, but it was of no consequence, as the journey was fairly comfortable.
Reaching Kalaw after about five hours felt like arriving a miniature version of Pokhara in that there are a number of trekking agencies in the town, roughly a dozen or so, all vying for the attention of tourists wishing to take the Inle lake trek. As I spoke to different agencies, I got the sense that Kalaw was soon to become a tourist hub in the next few years, so I was glad to be there at that time. I finally selected A1 trekking agency after much dithering, and it was a tough choice, although they essentially offer the same service: a guide, accommodation in tribal villages and all meals over that time period. There was little difference in cost, although I plumped for A1 as they didn't take more than six trekkers at a time, which appealed to me more than being within a larger group.
So I booked into a hotel that was just on the perimeter of Kalaw along a winding uphill path. It was fine during daylight hours, but traipsing back into Kalaw in the evening for dinner was somewhat different without street lighting. I have a peculiar relationship with the canine world: I feel i'm quite ambivalent toward dogs, but they seem to have a profound dislike of me, and as I passed numerous snarling creatures, I reminded myself that I didn't have a rabies innoculation before leaving the UK, and the prospect of spending a few nights in a Myanmar hospital receiving treatment was not in any way appealing. Over the weeks ahead, the issue of feral dogs and personal safety was recurrent. In India there were plenty of feral dogs, although they seemed fairly docile and undernourished, whereas in Myanmar they seemed much more energetic and aggressive. After my meal, I ended up taking a taxi back to the hotel, a walk of around 20 minutes or so, but watching the assorted hounds of the baskervilles bareing their fangs at the vehicle from the safety of the passenger seat, I was pleased that i'd done so.
The next morning, A1 sent a scooter to collect me from the hotel and after arriving at the office in Kalaw, we started our trek by picking up a couple of people staying in neighbouring hotels. There were five of us; a couple of French guys living in Shanghai, a Polish guy and his English partner from London, and me.
Leaving Kalaw we walked uphill through the town, and within a few minutes the countryside opened up before us. The landscape became fairly rugged as we climbed, and soon some wonderful views opened up before us. We came to a village where tea and turmeric were cultivated, and saw them being dried out in the hot sun, and for a time walked along a railway line that had trains passing through twice a day. As well as walking through areas of gorgeous wild flowers, stupendous views of the surrounding countryside opened up before us.
Our guide, Yellin, was pretty helpful in explaining the ethnic diversity within the areas we walked. So in the morning, prior to lunch, we passed through Hin Khar Kone village, which is home to the Palaung tribe, and then by lunchtime we had arrived at another village, Kham Bar Ni, which is populated by people from the Danu tribe. The Palaung are one of the ancient indigenous tribes of Myanmar. Their language is comprised of different dialects, very different to Burmese, and they often wear very colourful traditional dress. They are famous for their production of tea which, after being plucked, is steamed, rolled and dried in the sun.
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| Turmeric |
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| Green tea |
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| On the railway tracks |
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| Wild flowers |
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| Wild flowers |
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| Wonderful landscapes |
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| Wonderful landscapes |
After a delightful lunch prepared by a chef from A1, who had driven ahead of us on his scooter to prepare the food in advance of our arrival, we continued to the Danu village where we stayed overnight. I had hoped that there might be greater interaction with the people of the village, but we were in separate living accommodation from them, and on reflection I felt this could have been done quite differently, perhaps with the use of an interpreter. I would have liked to learn more about their ways of life. The meal was cooked using firewood within one of the huts adjacent to where we slept, and although the room was basic, it was comfortable enough, and the beer and conversation was enjoyable after a hard day's trek.
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| Preparing dinner in a Danu village |
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| Preparing dinner in a Danu village |
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| Dinner |
The next day we continued the trek to Lamine village, which is home to the Pa-O tribespeople, and where we were extremely fortunate to witness the aftermath of a Buddhist initiation ceremony. The guide, Yellin, told us that such ceremonies generally took place from year to year in different places, and so to have been there at that time was pretty special.
Outside the initiation hall, a large crowd of well-wishers had gathered, generally family members, and pressed envelopes into the palms of their loved ones as they emerged from the initiation hall. The Pa-Oh tribeswomen wore the most fantastic clothes of vivid colours, and their head-dresses were particularly eye-catching.
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| Pa-O Tribeswomen |
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| Pa-O Tribeswomen |
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| Post-initiation |
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| Post-initiation |
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| Post-initiation |
We then continued trekking through Nann Yoke and Paw Koe villages, both of which were Pa-O, before arriving for lunch in Khone Hla village, which belonged to the Danu people. My impression throughout was that different ethnic communities tended to occupy separate spaces from each other. The land was so utterly arid, yet its contours and the pockets of folliage made it delightful, though exhausting, to walk through.
At one point we came across some ancient stupas, and their neglected state in an abandoned environment was evocative of a time long since past.
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| Landscape |
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| Landscape |
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| Landscape |
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| Landscape |
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| Landscape |
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| Pa-O Village Women and Child |
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| Landscape |
When we reached Inle lake, it seemed to appear out of nowhere. A boat awaited us as we clambered on board and took us to the other side of the lake, past houses built on stilts and floating gardens, to the district where our pre-booked accommodation was located.
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