3 Day Trek from Kalaw to Inle Lake

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In my previous post I talked about how we chose a trekking agency, packing tips and more.  In this post I will share the experience of our 3 day trek starting in Kalaw and finishing in Nyaungshwe in Inle Lake.

We had arrived on the overnight bus from Yangon so we had a whole day in Kalaw before planning to start the trek the following day.  I will talk about things to see and do in Kalaw in a separate post.  Sam’s Family was our choice of trekking company based on reviews and recommendations.

We visited their office the day we arrived in Kalaw and they showed us on a large map the choice of routes and their distances (more information in my previous post). We chose the longest (60 kilometers) of the 3 day route which is said to be the most scenic.  We had already been assigned to a group as we had emailed them beforehand,  so there was 6 of us in total meaning we only had to pay 70,000 kyats for the two of us.  They gave us a couple of tags to put on our main packs and said to meet back at the office at 8am the next morning with all our gear.

Day 1 – Kalaw to Danu Village (20 kilometers)

We met back at Sam’s office at 8am in the morning with our large packs and day bags.  The office was packed with trekkers all going on different treks and in different groups. We handed over 70,000 kyats, details of our passports and visa and we were given a sticker of the group we were assigned.  About 15 minutes later we met with the remainder of the group – Simon and Jelena, a young couple from Switzerland, Jonathan from France and Justin from Canada. We were by far the oldest in the group which seems to be often the case these days!! Sam himself came out to greet us along with our young female guide Nweley and our cook. Sam gave us a speech and encouraged us to ask as many questions as possible of our guide and spend time interacting with the tribal people.

With just our day packs we set off through town eventually hitting tracks and leaving behind the noise of the traffic; the track was fairly flat with mild undulation.  We hardly noticed the walking as we were too busy getting to know our fellow trekkers.  All of them are travelling for quite some time anywhere from 3 months to 1 year, it reminded us of our time long term travelling only a couple of years ago and we can’t wait to do it again in 2017.

We stopped at a small reservoir for a quick break, Nwelli gave us some small oranges to snack on.

The next part was the hardest part of the whole trek, around a 1.5 hour slog up to the viewpoint. It wasn’t really that steep but I was feeling the lack of fitness! The path went up through light forest then downhill to a small creek. Logs paved the way to crossing the creek, so it was a question of balance or you were on your ass in the mud.

Finally we reached the summit surrounded by tea bushes and although it was hazy we had beautiful views across the hills and to the first village we would be passing through.

A little more uphill brought us to the viewpoint and the Nepalese restaurant there where we sat and enjoyed the views some more while tucking into potato curry, roti bread, condiments and welcoming cold drinks.

After lunch we followed a dusty track which we also shared with motorbikes. It wasn’t too pleasant as every time a bike went past they kicked up a heap of red fine dust which covered us, suffice to say we needed that bath when we reached our first nights stop!

We came to our first village, home to the Balaung tribe where we were first greeted by some cheeky but cute local kids. The villages main source of income is tea and oranges which they grow on the surrounding hillsides. Nweley took us to a house where a family were busy sorting and bagging loose tea. 1kg of tea fetches 5000 kyats which is quite a sum of money to the locals.  She explained that marriage is traditionally arranged and children have their partners chosen for them at a very young age.  If a child does not want to get married they have the option of joining the monastery.  Any member of the tribe who chooses to marry someone from another tribe must leave and take up residence with that tribe and if at any time they wish to come back to visit family then they have to pay money to the chief!  I guess it’s an incentive to think twice about going against your parents wishes!

The afternoon was quite a pleasant walk through countryside and even along a railway track and meeting locals along the way.  We stopped for another break near the station, parking our bums in a cafe where the locals were watching Myanmar Idol, very entertaining!

We thought the very last couple of hours of the days walking was definitely the nicest as we passed through some lovely farmland and had good photo opportunities of locals going about their activities in the fields. It was later in the afternoon by the time we reached the small village of the Danu Tribe and our bed for the night.

I was relieved to reach the village, not only was I tired but my feet were very sore especially my little pinky toes! It was nice to get out of the shoes and put the flip flops on.

Our accommodation was a small two-storey family house made of timber and bamboo, the family live in two rooms upstairs and underneath the house is like the garage and place for the chickens to take refuge. There is no creature comforts like cosy lounge chairs, simple bamboo mats make up the seating area and each house has a corner filled with Buddhist ornaments. Our beds were simple cotton mattresses about an inch thick rolled out on the bamboo floor, complete with blankets and a pillow, it was certainly cosy. Cooking is done over a fire and electricity is solar energy. We took turns in the outside shower which is nothing more than a large trough of cool water with a bowl, screened off by a bamboo screen which gave you some level of privacy. It was nice to feel clean and refreshed as it was a very dusty trek.  We were not the only trekkers in the village, other groups were scattered about in other homes in the village.

Dinner was served on a low round table, there was a chicken curry accompanied by a selection of vegetable stir fry dishes all cooked with fresh herbs and spices making it very tasty indeed.  Desert was fresh fruit and beer was available for purchase (can’t guarantee that its always cold!)

The sounds of the village was all you heard at night, the chickens, the pigs and roosters and locals pottering around and chatting amongst themselves. It was pleasant to listen to and the feeling you were really amongst it all experiencing rural Myanmar life.

Day 2 – Danu Village to Paoh Village (23 Kilometers)

We awoke to the smell of wood fire smoke and the sounds of chattering locals,  chickens and roosters. Breakfast was omelette and fresh fruit, hot tea and coffee.  Before we set off Nweley brought out the thanaka, the yellow paste made from ground bark that you see painted on the faces of Burmese people, particularly women. The paste is supposed to be for sun protection and for beauty and looks great on the complexions of Burmese but I wasn’t convinced it was going to look so cool on us westerners! We each took it in turns to have our face done, it has a cooling effect when applied and as it dry’s it darkens.  We didn’t look too bad but I still say it looks better on the locals 🙂

I wasn’t keen on putting my shoes back on my sore feet, even Vaughan had some blisters developing.  I think we both wished we had packed the hiking boots, it was silly to wear trekking shoes that we had not properly worn in.  And to think our guide was walking in a pair of flip flops!

The first 45 minutes of the walk was uphill and once we reached the small summit we had nice views back over the village and its temple.

The track then stayed pretty much flat passing through fields of chilli bushes and terraced allotments. The area was a patch work quilt of colour reflecting whatever was or was not growing.  In reality though it was really quite dry and dusty, I would imagine during the wet season it would be a very different place, everything would come to life and the landscape would be lush and green.  We past through more villages along the way and witnessed locals hard at work in the fields doing everything by hand. The extent of their machinery is ox and cart, life is very simple out here.

We passed through quite a large village and we stopped to observe a lady crushing roast ginger, she was very happy to allow me to take a photo of her and even joked that I should e-mail it to her!

Further on we stopped at the village shop for some light refreshments and to stock up on water. A young lady walked in with the most beautiful jewelled head dress and red embroided umbrella, I just had to take a photo of her!  She was very obliging when Jelena and I asked if we could photograph her.

Lunch was in a locals home in another Danu village. We had Shan noodles, tomato salad, strawberries and soup.

Leaving the village we picked up some new additions to our group, two dogs decided to join us and they stayed with us all the way to our nights accommodation in the Paoh village!  The afternoon was pretty much following narrow tracks through farmland until we reached a slight up hill through a gap in the hills that took us to the village of the Paoh people and our home stay for the night.

The Paoh village was much larger than the previous nights village and had a monastery where some young monks appeared at the windows to greet us.

Our hosts, a husband and wife and two daughters, were quite interactive with us whereas in the last village they were not so much. The Paoh people have their own traditional costume which is like a turban head dress. Once again we had the same sort of bedding, toilet and shower arrangement. By the time we had reached this village I felt crippled and I was just too tired and sore to move far from the house!  Vaughan, Jelena and Simon went for a walk around the village to practice their photography skills.

This village was far more lively than the last village, we could hear locals laughing, playing music and games it was really very pleasant.  Once again our cook served up some wonderful food, we sat around for a while before hitting the sack, it had been a very long day and we were all very tired and foot sore although it was hard to get to sleep when the room filled up with the smoke from the cooking fire!

Day 3 – Paoh Village to Inle Lake (16 Kilometers)

Up early this morning as we needed to complete the trek by lunchtime then it was a boat ride to Nyaungshwe. I was relieved the walk was shorter but by now my feet were over it and very much protested when they went back into the shoes!  After breakfast of pancakes, fruit etc we had a group shot with our hosts before starting out towards the finish line.

The first part of the walk was following tracks up through farmland until we reached a road where we had to pay our Inle Lake entrance fee of 25000 kyats (12500 kyats per person).

The next couple of hours or so was on dirt tracks shared with vehicles although we didn’t pass any. We stopped at a small row of shops for a break and refreshments and Jonathan joined in with some local boys to play a local game called Chinlone. It is played by passing via foot or head a small ball made from rattan. During this last day we met other trekker groups including a group of three Dutch girls who we nicknamed the “hotpants” girls because of the inappropriate attire they were wearing. Short shorts and cropped tops are great for the beach or your own country but here in conservative Myanmar we thought they were being disrespectful.

The tracks we followed were quite uneven and full of small trenches which was making life agony when walking so I finally switched to my flip flops, at least now I can keep up with the group.

The landscape very much changed to something that resembled the Australian outback, there was quite a bit of cacti around too, the same species that grows wild in our outback. We passed through a thick lush, almost tropical forest which then changed to bamboo forest.

The last part was a rocky downhill, not something you want to do in flip flops, I had to stop twice to put band aids on my bleeding bashed pinky toe 🙁 Once it flattened out we were back in bamboo forest and the air became noticeably more humid as we neared Inle Lake. Finally by midday we had reached our lunch stop and the only walking we had left was to the boat.

Lunch was a happy occasion as we knew we didn’t have another 4 hours or so to walk but only 15 minutes to our boat but it was the longest 15 minutes of my life!

At the boat we said our fond farewells to our guide Nweley and our cook, now she would jump on the motorbike head back to Kalaw and do the whole thing again!  For me I think once is enough 😉 For now we enjoyed a lovely half hour boat ride across Inle Lake to Nyaungshwe.  For us it was whole new scenery and our first glimpse of life on the lake, the journey was lovely as we saw the fisherman working on their catches.

When we finally arrived we didn’t say good bye to our trek buddies as we all met up that evening for a lovely celebratory meal, beer and cocktails and reflected back on the last three days of our amazing trek.

Overall Impressions:

The trek was excellent, our guide was knowledgeable, friendly and fun to be around, our cook served up some very delicious meals and our luggage safely made it to our guesthouse in Inle Lake. We thoroughly enjoyed it and we recommend Sam’s Family as a choice of trekking company . Even though we suffered with sore feet it didn’t detract from the overall experience. The countryside is lovely, the locals so warm, hospitable and friendly. It’s an opportunity to experience life in rural Myanmar which you would otherwise only catch glimpses of from a bus or train.  For anyone who has a reasonable level of fitness then I highly recommend you embark on a trek in this beautiful country.

Visited Month:  March 2016

If you have enjoyed the photos and would like to see more! then the complete gallery can be viewed in the Trip Photos