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We reached Kalaw earlier than expected. I personally had in mind we were going to arrive at 5am. But it was only 2a.m. when we reached Kalaw. Kalaw is located in a hill town with 1320 metres elevation in the Shan State of Burma. Kalaw township is within the district of Taunggyi and was popular with the British during colonial rule. At present, Kalaw offers huge trekking opportunities into the unknown realm of Burma.

One of the highlights of my trip, which I had in mind even before I left for Burma, was to complete the 3 days 2 nights trekking from Kalaw to Inle Lake, the freshwater lake located some 50km from Kalaw. With a bus ride, you can get to Inle Lake in 3 hours. But on foot, it takes you 3 days at most to reach the last village before you hop on the boat to Nyangshwe Township.

Desperate to save money due to rejection of my USD, we hanged out at local coffee shop – apparently bearing Indian Muslim code number 876. The locals were watching Euro game between Chezh Republic and Polland. We chose the farthest corner with wall which we could lean on. Flipping through the pages of Colin Thubron’s To a Mountain in Tibet, my eyes got heavier after few pages. With my Osprey backpack on the lap, I felt asleep until the sun shone.

 

We then asked the locals where we could get a good trekking guide and all hands pointed to Golden Lily Guesthouse which was some walks away from the coffee shop. We felt a slight pang on the face when we saw the signboard that read: Highly Recommended by Lonely Planet – Golden Lily Guesthouse : Room Rates USD 3/6 including breakfast. We should have had taken the room at USD3.

Golden Lily Guesthouse is owned by Gujerati sisters who have never been to India themselves. When we arrived, one of the sisters was lacking in humour and appeared to be very serious. In a very serious manner, she attended to us and told us for 3 days 2 nights trekking, the costs payable is USD40 inclusive of food and accommodation throughout the trekking days. Cheap! We paid the amount and changed into trekking suit.

Our luggage would be left at the guesthouse to be transported to Inle Lake for our next destination. We only brought limited stuff – only the things we required. Sharp at 8.30am, we departed from Kalaw joined by two Chinese girls from China. We passed by villagers with thanaka cream on their faces walking to and fro markets. At the nearest temple, monks could be seen going in and out with bowls in their hands.

I was lucky to have witnessed collecting alms ceremony by a number of nuns who walked in a like and together they chanted prayers. As we walked, I found our guide walking too fast a walk. If only I have one thing to complain, it would be the rush naturally instilled in my guide. For the first time and probably my only time in Kalaw, I would rather strolled down the trekking alley and absorbed what were there to offer.

Since it was rainy season, you could imagine how occasional drizzle spoiled the trekking given I had hung my DLSR around the neck. From time to time, I had to put it back inside the back and brought it out whenever I saw interesting scenery. Many a time, I missed some moments. If you were a photographer, then you would understand my sorrow in failing to capture the best moments available.

After awhile, patches of green pastures unfolded. We rejoiced when we reached our first stop that was a view point, at which stood a signboard that described it all – Indian Food Resting Place with Beautiful Scenery, Recommended in the Guidebook. Exhausted, we aimed straight to the resting place in the form of a hut enjoying the mountain view.

In a kitchen, food was still cooked using wood. Nepali lady was preparing a chapatti for us to have for lunch. It was included in the package, only thing they only served meal and tea. If you would like to have a tin of Coke, it would be under your expenses.

After 3 hours of walking, we reached what we thought our destination of the day, the Shaman’s house. We thought we were done with walking for the day. The tribe was known as Pa’O tribe. We sat listening to stories on how powerful the shaman was that people from the next village came to him to find cure for diseases. We nodded as a sign of approval when in fact shaman – the traditional witch doctor was never relevant to my life in Kuala Lumpur.

We then proceeded to even more beautiful pastures. We inched into that part of a countryside where you would spot buffalos ploughing the land for cultivating and locals who worked extraordinary hard under the scorching hot sun. I glanced through my watch and it impressed me that they even worked at 12p.m. when back home in Malaysia, by noon, our people would call it a day and take to resting at home.

Ah, throughout the trekking, one of the best things I had seen was the look on the face of the tribal kids. Unlike Vietnam and Cambodia, these kids were not magnetized to tourists for money. They stared straight into your eyes, smiling sheepishly and shouted ‘hi’ or ‘mingalabar’ at you when they had confided in your presence. The kids belonged to the hill tribes. Some were novice monks who adore tourists just as much as the younger ones.

When we arrived at our lodging for the night at the village of Intha tribes, we were given a room to ourselves for we were the first two to arrive. Food was awesomely delicious. Oh, how I am missing the good food of Myammar now. While the rest of the team played cards over the night, I slept tight embracing the cold of the mountain terrain.