Kalaw is a small town in the northern part of Myanmar. It is around 6 hours bus ride from Mandalay. The main reason why most people would visit the area is to do a trekking excursion in the nearby countryside or (as we did) do a longer hike all the way to Inle Lake which is the second biggest attraction in Myanmar.
We got to Kalaw on our trusted VIP bus, JJ Express (tickets £7 each). We had previously exchanged some emails with one of the trekking companies called Ever Smile and decided to go with them for the trek.
Upon arrival in Kalaw, we checked in to Genesis Motel where we would spend the night before setting off on our trek. The place was pretty basic but the bed was comfy and had a proper duvet. Turns out duvet came handy pretty quickly as there was a power outage and everything including heating went off. Did I mention Kalaw is in the mountains and is by no means a tropical destination?? It was in fact quite cold at night so I was slowly getting worried about the trek itself.
With power back on, we set off to see the trekking company. We were given some basic info on possible routes and after some deliberation we chose to go for a 2 night/3 day trek starting the next day at 9 am (cost £20 each). We got a list of things to pack and among them was what they called a “layer” for the chilly evenings. Walking back through town we noticed all shops were selling proper winter gear so thinking of the worst outcomes we ended up buying a huge woolly hat and a pair of gloves to accompany a hoodie and a jacket we already had just in case.
The next morning we reported to the meeting point where we were divided into 3 groups. Ours was the smallest, only 4 people but we were told that 5 more will join the next day which was effectively how they do the 1 night/2 day trek. Our main luggage was tagged and sent to our Inle Lake hotel so we only had our small rucksacks with us. When I say small, they were packed full of stuff and quite heavy. Our companions for the day were a young German couple and our guide, a local lad. It quickly transpired that the trek was a lot harder than it was sold to be. At one point it was full blown jungle uphill climb and a mud river crossing. Sounds fun right? It may have been if you didn’t have to carry your life on your back. Admittedly, I’m not very fit but by lunchtime I was knackered.
The trek price includes all meals and accommodation which is incredible value. We had lunch in the village and it was all tasty and largely vegetarian (suited us scared tourists, after the food poisoning in Bagan we wanted to avoid any risky foods like meat). The guide was chatty and clearly wanted to practice his English but very often we found ourselves not really understanding him. We slept in villages both nights where the locals have prepared us bedrooms. We all slept in one room (4 the first night and 9 the second). The bed consisted of a very thin mattress on the floor plus a hard pillow and 3 blankets. As soon as the sun went down it became clear we will need all the clothing and blankets possible. It was freezing, like seeing your breath freezing. Not even mentioning the toilet situation, it was a hole in the ground located outside so a trip to the loo at night was out of the question (for me at least). The breakfast was pancakes, fruit and coffee which I actually enjoyed. The second day of trekking was easier but by that point I had developed huge blisters so was in pain by the end of the day. The idea is that the last day you get to Inle Lake and they give you a free boat ride to Nyaungshwe which is the base for exploring the lake. The third day we had to walk about 5 hours and I was literally dead at the end. The boat ride was amazing though and felt like a nice reward after the hardships of the trek. Knowing what I know now, I would 100% only go for one night. It is quite an ordeal for someone used to some comforts plus I don’t think we got anything more from the extra day in a sense of culture or local information. It is totally worth doing though for the experience.
Now for Inle Lake. The area is absolutely stunning. Think more of a sea when you first see it (it’s 22 km long!). It is surrounded by mountains and you can find villages on stilts on its shores as well as many floating gardens and allotments. The only way of transport is a boat, I love being on the water so this was heaven for me.
Nyaungshwe is the town where most visitors are likely to stay and where you can hire boats to go and explore the lake. We stayed in Mother’s Home Hotel which was set away from the noisy port area. It’s a great value option, just under £20 per night. A comfy bed and a fluffy duvet plus a small balcony. Breakfast was average but served on a nice terrace overlooking the town. We spent the first day on admin, like doing laundry, shopping and booking our boat trip.
What we noticed that as lovely as they were the boats were quite noisy (think tractor engine) so when we stumbled across an option of hiring a silent boat for the day we jumped at the opportunity. We probably paid too much but £25 seemed reasonable to us for the whole day. This included an English speaking guide too. We set off at 9 am the next day and the whole day was one of my highlights of Myanmar for sure. It felt incredible to be cruising on the lake, visiting the locals (mainly relatives of the tour agency’s manager) and finding out more about them and their lives. The visits were so genuine and not motivated by any shopping opportunity, the people seemed really interested in where we came from and how we live. We were greeted with amazing hospitality everywhere we went and I loved every minute of it. The day ended with a visit to Indein to see a site with hundreds of stupas. It was a pleasant stroll but I have to say I had reached a temple saturation point by then so can’t give a lot of detail on this. My blister was also flaring up so it was hard to concentrate 😂
Inle Lake is in the Shan state and we were told that it’s also a tasty cuisine so were keen to try it out. On our last day, we went to Sin Yaw restaurant for a bowl of the traditional Shan noodles. They are kind of sticky and set in a rich and peanutty broth with chilli. Very yummy indeed. We also had stir fried kailan (Chinese kale/broccolli) and a tomato salad with their signature sesame dressing. Really recommend this place if you want to sample Shan cuisine. Apart from being templed out, we were also becoming rice-d out so ended up having dim sum and roast duck pancakes twice for dinner at the Live Dim Sum restaurant. The dim sum were very tasty and so was the duck, all washed down with jasmine tea.
Nyaungshwe turned out to be one of my favourite places in Myanmar and I wish we had stayed a bit longer. I loved the relaxed vibe and the water setting. You could easily spend a day just watching the life go by from a waterside terrace. The boat trip was awesome too. In terms of trekking, opt in for one night for sure and only from Kalaw to Inle, not the other way round. The reversed route is all uphill!