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Published: August 6th 2009
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While it took us quite a while to eventually make it to Kalaw, after a long flight delay in Mandalay, we were not disappointed. Shan State was one of my favourite destinations in Burma (both Kalaw and Inle Lake) because of its spectacular mountainous scenery. If it wasn’t for all the government restrictions and red tape, Shan State would be a lot easier for me to access from MHS because they practically border one another.
We arrived into Heho airport and then caught a taxi for an hour to Kalaw. The town sits on the western edge of the Shan Plateau at an altitude of 1320m and was once a popular hill station in British colonial days. Kalaw has a diverse population of about 20,000 consisting of Shan, Indians, Muslims, Bamar and Nepalis. It has a relatively cool climate and is a popular spot for trekking. While unfortunately there is a large military presence and base, I couldn’t help but love this picturesque town. Perhaps because we spent most of our days trekking in the mountains we were able to escape seeing the constant flow of green uniforms.
We stayed at a beautiful hotel called “Hilltop,” which lived up
to its name. It was located at the top of Kalaw town overlooking the mountains. That afternoon Matt and I visited Kalaw Central Market, walked around town and found a tour guide to hire for the next 2 days. We stumbled across the shop front of “Joseph Andrews Licensed Tour Guide” and warmed to Joseph straight away. He was of Indian background, had lived in Thailand and Malaysia and spoke English well.
The next day we walked down from our hotel to meet Joseph at the train station. He took us on a day trek which offered spectacular views of the Shan mountains. We passed through a monastery, a Pa-O village, stopped for lunch just in time to miss a heavy rain downpour near the Viewpoint Restaurant (located almost in the middle of nowhere that we thought he was joking when he said restaurant) and ended the trek at a temple on the way back into town. Tea is grown everywhere in Shan State and agriculture is the primary industry. We passed so many vegetable crops, fruit trees and medicinal plants. As there are so many trade embargos against Burma, the country has to rely heavily on its own
farming and agriculture.
Joseph was a wealth of information as we hiked up and down the trek. It was not particularly steep however it was extremely muddy and slippery which slowed down our pace in several sections. This mud however didn’t seem to phase the hill tribes as they trailed past gracefully wearing their thongs, often carrying things on their head and some with no shoes at all. We were equally amazed with a few who were riding their motorbikes on this track (not using dirt bikes) because it looked so dangerous.
On the trek Matt and I finally discovered what “mor mor” meant after asking Joseph. The whole trip young children had been pointing to their mouths saying “mor mor,” which means snacks or candy. Upon Joseph’s advice we had bought some candy on the trek so we could give mor mor out to the children in the villages. As you can see from the pictures there are heaps of children, which is pretty common in most villages and in Burma. She Wu kept us company while we were having lunch, shooing away the chickens clucking under our feet as her Mother cooked in the kitchen. She
was an absolute delight, had such an adorable nature and wasn’t too camera shy either.
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