Pindaya

TREKKING in Myanmar’s mountainous Shan State entails an informal exchange of challenges and rewards. One minute you may find yourself struggling up a steep hill, thinking that maybe you should have taken an air-conditioned bus tour of the sights in Yangon instead. The next minute you are standing on top of the mountain enjoying an awe-inspiring vista across endless green hills or sharing a traditional meal with hospitable villagers.

These are things that people who stay on the bus rarely get to experience.

Trekking is also about the art of improvisation, as I discovered during a four-day, three-night walk from Pindaya to Kalaw last month.

Monsoon-driven rains had turned otherwise gentle pathways into treacherous red clay bogs that threatened to suck the boots off the feet of anyone who dared set foot in them. High waters in area creeks made crossings difficult and in some cases even dangerous.

These factors could have made my trip a nightmare had it not been for the expertise of my guide, Kyaw Kyaw.

Born in Kalaw and sharing Danu ethnicity with the inhabitants of most of the villages we passed through, Kyaw Kyaw has been leading treks in southern Shan State on a freelance basis for nearly 10 years.

Buddhist novices and nuns at the monastery in Taung Myint Gyi.

The value of having a guide with local knowledge became apparent whenever we stopped to consult with villagers about trail conditions and for advice on how to modify our route to avoid particularly grim obstacles.

Kyaw Kyaw first learned about the trails around Kalaw as a young adult when he volunteered with the International Red Cross to help take medicine and other supplies to outlying villages.

“That was when I was young, but I’m still finding new routes by talking to villagers, who give me information on trail conditions and on time estimates for walking from one spot to the next,” he said.

“Then I walk the trail to confirm the information and make adjustments according to what trekkers want,” he said.

The needs of clients is another reason that guides must be masters of improvisation.

“Not everyone is like me. Every client is different, and their personalities and preferences must be taken into account, so we must always adjust,” Kyaw Kyaw said.

These variables can range from the number of people on the trek – larger groups move more slowly and are harder to find adequate overnight accommodation for – to the fitness level of the clients.

“If someone who appears unfit wants to go trekking, I explain the difficulties of the route. If they still want to go, I figure out a way to take them,” Kyaw Kyaw said.

“This may mean hiring an extra porter to carry their bags, or adjusting the itinerary to avoid difficult sections of trail, or even arranging for a bullock cart to take them over part of the route,” he said.

Inle Lake leg rower

Monsoon considerations aside, my needs as a client were relatively simple: I had no debilitating physical ailments that provided an excuse to avoid climbing up and down hills or to bail out in a bullock cart, and our trekking party was small enough that we could move fast and find a place to sleep just about anywhere.

Five of us set out from Pindaya on a Thursday in mid-September under intermittent sunshine: myself, Kyaw Kyaw, two porters, and Zaw Htay Aung, the general manager of the Taunggyi-based Inle Zone Travel Services, and the Shan State representative of the Union of Myanmar Travel Association.

I faced an immediate baptism under fire as the trek began with a long, steep climb – the hardest of the entire four days, it turned out – on a rocky trail up to Htut Ni, the first of many Danu villages we would pass through on our way to Kalaw.

Along the way we were treated to increasingly spectacular views of the cultivated countryside below, and at the village we were greeted by curious school kids and Buddhist novices who gathered around a shady banyan tree to watch us pass through.

The climb continued after we left town, but by late afternoon we had topped the ridge and descended into a shallow valley, losing our vista to the closeness of heavy jungle vegetation. Although we saw no other people in the dark valley , we came across enough signs of human habitation – bamboo footbridges, water funnels, rock dams, nat shrines, rice paddies – to remind us that there were still others besides us on the planet.

We reached our destination for the night – a monastery in the Palaung village of Taung Myint Gyi – just in time to duck out of a heavy downpour. This became an ongoing and fortuitous theme of the trek: It seemed like every time we reached shelter, the rain would come down. Every time we set out from shelter, the rain would stop. Over the course of four days we got rained on for about one hour.

Children gathered around the banyan tree in the Danu village of Htut Ni.

However, the fact that we managed to avoid the worst of the precipitation did nothing to lessen the difficulties posed the mud and high waters.

Despite such inconveniences, 2004 gave birth to a small demand for monsoon-season treks organised by Inle Zone.

“In past years there was no demand for treks during the monsoon, but this year we had a total of four groups in June and July,” said Zaw Htay Aung.

“I think we’ll see even more demand in 2005 because a lot of people from Spain like to trek, and they’re on holiday during Myanmar’s monsoon, but October to March, when it is dry and cool, will remain the most popular period,” he said.

Inle Zone, which leads package tours of southern Shan State arranged by travel companies in Myanmar, started in 1994 and added trekking to its agenda during the 1996-1997 high season.

Although there was little interest at first – the company led only two or three treks during the first season – the number of clients has risen by 20 to 30 per cent a year since the 1998-1999 high season, Zaw Htay Aung said.

Inle Zone offers 18 routes in southern Shan State ranging from one to four days in length, including the trek in which I participated, which is new for this season.

“We are also looking into expanding into northern Shan State by offering treks in the Lashio area next season,” Zaw Htay Aung said.

Treks in the Inle Lake region are also offered by Kyolar Jokar Matethahar Travels and Tours Co., Ltd. – based out of the Golden Island Cottages (GIC) hotel on the lake – which specialises in excursions to nearby Pa-O villages.

Because trekking is not the hotel’s primary business, clients are attracted through word-of-mouth rather than advertising.

“We had about 30 trekking groups during the 2002-2003 season, so it’s not really popular yet, but the numbers are growing,” said GIC’s hotel manager, Khun Maung Ngwe.

When GIC opened in December 1996 there was no plan to offer trekking trips.

“But 10 days after we opened, two guests said they wanted to walk to the highest points east of Inle Lake and visit some of the villages, so I arranged a one-day trek for them,” said Khun Maung Ngwe.

The standard route now begins with the clients being dropped off by boat at the Intha village of Magyigone on the eastern shore of Inle Lake and ends at Kakku, a tightly packed collection of Buddhist pagodas about 40 kilometres south of Taunggyi.

To get there, trekkers must pass through several Pa-O villages and over a mountain ridge that provides spectacular views of the lake.

“The hike starts with easy climbing, but then gets very steep,” said Khun Maung Ngwe.

The trek is usually done in one day – which involves six hours of walking to the village of Naung Khe, where clients are picked up for a 45-minute drive to Kakku – but the itinerary is flexible and can be extended to two or even three days.

“I once led a three-day trek from Inle to Kakku at the request of clients, which we had never done before, so we came up with a route through villages that had never been visited by foreigners,” said GIC guide Maung Nyo, who started leading treks to Kakku when the temple complex opened to the public in 2000.

“When the kids in the village saw the foreigners, they started crying,” he said.

Maung Nyo, who is Pa-O, represents that breed of guide who, like Kyaw Kyaw, is intimately familiar with the territory through which he takes clients.

After he graduated from high school in 1997, he set out on his own for a month-long trek from one Pa-O village to the next that took him almost all the way to the Thai border and back home again.

“I did it just because I wanted to visit other villages and meet people,” he said.

“The GIC guides are all Pa-O and can communicate with people in Pa-O villages,” said Khun Maung Ngwe.

“They must be Pa-O because the people on the mountain are Pa-O. If there is a problem on the way, the local people will help if we can talk to them,” he said.

GIC also offers one-day boat excursions south from Inle Lake to the village of Sangha with a flexible itinerary that may include visits to Thakong Pagoda, five-day markets and weavers who use threads from lotus stems to make monks’ robes.

Although it is not necessary to stay at GIC to take these trips, arrangements and required permissions must be obtained through the hotel.

Shan State trekking is not limited to the Inle Lake region. Since 2000 the Yangon-based Seven Star Tours travel company has offered trips to Kengtung, later adding Kalaw and Putao to its list of destinations.

Most treks in the Kengtung area involve a series of one-day trips with nightly returns to town to spend the night in a hotel.

“Kengtung is a junction for roads to different places – Taunggyi, Mong Yang, Mong La, Tachiliek – so trekkers can go in a different direction every day to see different tribes that cannot be seen in other parts of the country,” said Phyu Phyu Mar, a managing partner of Seven Star Tours.

“It is possible for people to go out and stay overnight at a monastery, but for this we need special permission,” she said.

Most routes are reached from town by car. Clients are dropped off, spend the day walking and are picked up and taken back to their hotel.

Although treks from Kengtung tend to be easier than those in Inle and Putao – because there are usually no overnights involved and because much of the elevation gain is achieved in a vehicle on the way to the trailhead – the area poses complications of its own.

“Flights to the area are inconsistent ,” said Phyu Phyu Mar.

“If a client wants to go I will arrange the trip, but I warn them about the flight situation, and that we may need to arrange an alternative destination like Kalaw,” she said.

The condition of the roads leading to the trailheads also limits clients to the high tourist season.

“We have no demand for treks in Kengtung in monsoon season. During that time we are often unable to get to the trails because the tracks are impassable using cars,” Phyu Phyu Mar said.

Like Kyaw Kyaw and Khun Maung Ngwe, Phyu Phyu Mar was insistent about the importance of using competent local guides.

“Normally we send a guide from Yangon who can talk to foreign clients in their own language, but we also have to take a local guide who can show the route and who can communicate with the villagers,” she said.

The ability to communicate goes beyond just asking for information about trail conditions and alternative routes. Guides act as a liaison between trekkers and villagers, two groups of people who are from different cultures and therefore may have a different understanding of proper behaviour.

“The more foreigners there are visiting small villages, the more impact it will have on local culture, but if you have guides who can control the situation, the better chance you have of sustaining the culture,” said Phyu Phyu Mar.

“We want sustainable tourism in our country. I have been to many places and have seen other countries in Southeast Asia that lack awareness of sustainable tourism and have been ruined. I want to keep my country as it is.

Not change it too much. But we have to show it to people,” she said.

“The effects of trekking depend on the tour guide. If we don’t have guides who can control the situation, it could have a negative impact on culture,” said Khun Maung Ngwe.

Kyaw Kyaw agreed that a guide’s responsibility is greater than just getting a client from point A to point B safely.

Pa-O woman and child enjoy a view of the hills east of Inle Lake.

“For example, some inexperienced guides are reluctant to tell trekkers what they can and cannot do in monasteries where they spend the night – like taking off their shoes before entering or not pointing their feet at Buddha images – for fear of making the clients angry,” he said.

“Some trekkers leave the monasteries dirty, and after a few bad experiences the monks may stop accepting tourists,” he said.

“But I think most travellers want to be told about the rules of the monasteries, what they are doing wrong, because then they are learning about Myanmar culture and Buddhism,” said Kyaw Kyaw.

“Guides have to understand the local villagers. They need to know the language and the culture of the region. As a Danu who leads treks through Danu villages, I do not want to do anything that goes against my culture, but I also want to give my clients a good experience,” he said.

Having put my well-being into Kyaw Kyaw’s hands upon leaving Pindaya for our trip and emerged in Kalaw four challenging but exhilarating days later in one piece and with greater knowledge of rural Myanmar culture, I can vouch for the success of this approach to the complex task of guiding treks.