Bagan - Kalaw - Nyaung Shwe
Departure 2013-Dec-13 - 7.30 Arrival 2013-Dec-15 - 15.00
The next thing on my list is going on a hike from Kalaw to Inle Lake. This is 30km trek that people usually do in 3 days and 2 nights. I will go for the quicker option of 2days and 1 night. I take the morning-bus to Kalaw to be able to see some of Myanmar's countryside, which I had missed on the night-bus from Yangon to Bagan. In contrast to my first bus in Myanmar, this one is filled with foreigners and hardly any locals. Most of the tourists are going straight to Inle Lake, only some getting off in Kalaw to go on the hike.
I had to laugh when I saw this foreigner-filled bus with hardly any locals, because usually it is the other way round (at least in any other country I have traveled). This is the one thing that I don't enjoy about Myanmar: the routs you can travel are restricted by the government and the open ones are crowded, special and overpriced. On top of that, the main sights are charged with high fees and nobody seems to know where this money goes to. Signs that claim "Foreigners 10$/10€" don't really help to clarify this issue. However, people are friendly and I like this country, so I try to ignore the downside.
The way to Kalaw is pretty impressive, I even get to see farmers with an elephant ... Really! Arriving in Kalaw, this is a regular small town and most people only stop by for a night or two before they go hiking. So do I. I organized my two day/one night trek with Uncle Sam upon arrival. After a delicious local meal in Uncle Sams Family Restaurant and a night with bedbugs in the simple Winner Hotel, I leave Kalaw at 7.30AM the next morning.
My guide on this trek through the rolling hills of central Myanmar is nineteen-year-old Joela. Being from a neighboring village he belongs to the minority group of the Ba-O and is able to speak to the different tribes we pass on the way. I am deeply impressed by his knowledge about the area and the secrets of nature, as well as his cooking skills. Joela speaks great english and I am spending two interesting days in his company. He shows me fields of sesame, ginger- and peanut plants, banyan trees, points out different kinds of chillies, lets leafs pop like a ballon, makes bubbles off a plants stem, shows me a natural tooth-brush and teaches me which plants are used as medicine in his tribe. I feel like a little girl going on her first trek ever. It is great, though.
The night we spend in a village along the way. I get to sleep in the attic, right next to the avocado supply. Joela prepares a delicious dinner on an open fire and I go to bed at around 7PM, tired of a 25km walk.
The next morning we leave at 7AM to make our way to Inle Lake, another 2 hours. It is mostly down hill and yet again the countryside and vegetation changes. After a cold night, it is a beautiful walk through the morning sunlight.
Arriving at Inle Lake, we take a boat that brings us from the south tip through the farming patches all the way up Nyaung Shwe, in the North of the lake.
Nyaung Shwe is a village filled with backpackers and tourists. There is plenty of restaurants and food stalls and it is a chilled place to be. My hostel (May Guesthouse) has a small porch and enjoy sitting in the sun, my legs are pretty tired!
The next day I take a bike to explore the area. I don't get really far ... or just far enough. I discover the Red Mountain Estate, a french vineyard, which offers wine tastings. The wines are pretty good and I stick around for a few hours, enjoying the views, chit-chat with other customers and afternoon sun. Who would have thought to find a vineyard in Myanmar...?!
continue with ... MANDALAY