Christmas Eve in a foreign country is always a bit strange, made more so in Myanmar by the fact that the dominant religion is Buddhism so Christmas isn’t even really celebrated. It was therefore a nice surprise to be treated to pancakes, home-made Belgian chocolate and Christmas cake by our hosts in Kalaw. Needless to say, Santa did not find us at our guest house - probably quite a good thing as our backpacks are already bursting at the seams with all the goodies we have purchased along the way.
Boxing Day saw us head off for our 3 day trek to Inle Lake with our guide, Elmuso. My parents were a bit reticent about the trek due to the fact that we needed to cover 60 kms of fairly steep terrain in the 3 days and, as they were quick to point out, at over 70 years old they are probably past their best trekking days. We were very fortunate, however, to have Elmuso as our guide. He was totally considerate of our (rather slow!) pace and looked after my mother when she took ill on the second night, arranging for her to get a lift by motorbike on the morning of the last day.
We stayed overnight at two different tribal villages, the first belonging to the Danu tribe and the second, the Pa-O tribe. It was fascinating seeing how they lived as well as extremely humbling. They lead an incredibly tough life, predominantly farming crops by hand, with their meagre income now being able to be supplemented with the steadily growing tourism market in the short, 4 month, trekking season. As is so often found, although their possessions are few and their daily lives tough, they were incredibly welcoming and it was a real privilege to be part of their village, even just for such a short time. |
As well as meeting the beautiful locals, we were treated to some stunning scenery. The first day saw us trek through the jungle up to high mountain peaks with amazing views. On the second day we walked through rolling countryside, reminiscent of rural France but with chilli, sesame and wheat crops instead of vineyards. Our final day brought a steep descent down to Inle Lake and a fascinating boat trip through the floating gardens on its tributaries. We also got up close with the famed Inle fishermen who steer their canoes with one leg wrapped around a long oar that serves as a rudder so that both hands are free to haul up the fishing nets. |
We have spent a couple of days exploring the shores of Inle Lake and are just about to head off to Yangon, Myanmar’s capital city, where we will see the New Year in – bring on the fireworks!