WHAT’S THE SCORE WITH KALAW?

LEAVING BAGAN FOR KALAW

I packed up my things to leave Bagan after spending an amazing few days there. I was heading to Kalaw and had booked a minibus to pick me up from my hotel.

The minibus cost 15,000 Kyat (approx. £9) and the ride took around 6 hours including stop-offs. The drive was fairly comfortable, until the last few miles when we were up in the hills and the road was winding up and up. It reminded me of the drive from Chiang Mai to Pai, in Thailand.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

When I arrived and jumped out of the minibus what struck me straight away was how much cooler this place was and how much clearer and cleaner the air seemed. It felt like England on a good summer’s day, not the oppressive heat and dusty air of the lower land of Myanmar.

Kalaw also had the air of a place which is seen as a holiday destination for both locals and foreigners; equipped with amenities befitting such a holiday destination; such as bars and restaurants with many cuisines on offer, salons, street markets, tourist information and up-market resorts.

There was also a contrast of different building types throughout the town, with the typical wooden structure of Myanmar housing, brick-built colonial housing and even a catholic church.

STREET MARKET

Wandering through town I noticed a typical Burmese street market that was running through one of the roads in the centre of the town. This was very similar in nature to many others that I’d seen on my travels and there were vendors selling myriad food types and crafts.

HIKING IN KALAW

I spent a couple of days relaxing in Kalaw, finding my way around the town, chilling at my hotel, catching up on my blog and getting a well needed haircut!

I’d heard about a great day hike from Kalaw which took you through a local village, named Myinmathi, to a pagoda and an underground cave system, so I decided to give that a shot on one of my days in the town.

The initial hike up, was pretty tough, even in the cooler temperatures of Kalaw, as I made my way up further into the surrounding hills. When up high, the views of the surrounding fields and valley floor were impressive and I was surprised at the amount of greenery there was here!

On my way to the village I descended down into and through a large agricultural area – presumably tended to by the local villagers.

ARRIVING IN THE VILLAGE

Upon arrival in the village I was struck by the realisation that the locals were as interested in me as I was in them. They would stop and say hi and were very friendly, although they spoke little to no English, I got a feeling of great warmth from them.

The housing was basic here and so was their way of life, it seemed – constructing shelter themselves and living off the land.

It appeared that they had a great community spirit and sense of inclusion. All working together to keep the village ticking over. This might be subsidised in some way, by the local kids asking any passer-by for money.

PAGODA AND MYIN MA HTEE CAVE

Leaving the village, I walked another couple of hundred yards, before making to the area where the Myin Ma Htee Cave underground cave system was situated.

On the way there, I passed by a small pagoda.

The cave was situated beneath this impressive temple. I stopped by to pick up a ticket (1,000 Kyat) for access to the cave and then made my way over.

The entrance to the cave was guarded by this cheeky little dragon:

Some of the treasures hidden within the cave are apparently over 2,000 years old and the cave system stretches for 1,028 feet underground, weaving through limestone. It really felt like a proper Indiana Jones moment, wandering through the caverns and discovering all of the relics that were on display here.

After traipsing through the 1,028 feet of underground tunnels I reached daylight. It was raining. Heavily.

I darted back to collect my shoes, which were soaking, and hid out in one of the nearby food stalls and waited for around an hour, until the rain had eased off a little.

I made my way back via the same hike I’d taken to get here, carefully retracing my steps through the now somewhat muddy terrain.

The full-day’s hike, was quite tiring, but one I’d definitely recommend to do if you’re in Kalaw. Especially, as a warm up to the typical Kalaw to Inle Lake trek which most people embark on if they’re in this area.

Here’s a video of the day hike in more detail:

CLIMBING UP FOR A SUNSET VIEW

On my last evening in Kalaw, I decided to hike up to a viewpoint near my hotel, where I could watch the sunset.

Initially I walked through a monastery where I caught a glimpse of the monks praying.

The route up to the viewpoint was an 850 step, monster of a journey.

That was one hell of a hike up and I felt like Rocky Balboa once I reached the top.

The sunset itself, wasn’t anything too special unfortunately, so I wouldn’t be in a rush to repeat it, but it was a nice view of the town from up here.

LEAVING KALAW

I’d had 3 nights in Kalaw and had really enjoyed my full day hike and the comfortable climate of the place; as well as having a couple of days to fully relax.

It was time to move on though, again, and I’d booked myself onto a 3 day trek to Inle Lake, starting the next day.

Stay tuned to find out how this went….