Three-Day Trek from Kalaw to Inle Lake

This three-day trek from Kalaw to Inle Lake was the only thing I knew I wanted to do in Myanmar before I left home. The treks I've done around the world have been some of my most memorable travel experiences: Quetzaltenango to Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, the W in Torres del Paine in Chile, the Usumbara Mountains in Tanzania, the Simien Mountains in Ethiopia... 

This particular trek just got written up in the New York Times' travel section a few weeks ago, which I purposefully didn't read because I didn't want it to create certain expectations about what it was going to be like. Kind of like how I won't read a movie review before watching a movie. I also was hopeful that the article was recent enough that any increase in popularity would happen after I did it. 

I ended up trekking with Ever Smile Trekking Company because Patrick, a Swiss guy I had met at 2:30 a.m. the previous morning looking for our hotel after an early morning bus drop-off, had heard good things about it. The cost of 40,000 kyat (around $35) for three days including food, accommodations, guide, boat, and luggage transfer seemed really reasonable and was cheaper than the quote I had gotten from another agency, so I didn't spend any more time shopping around.  

Later, after talking with other people at the hostel who had trekked with other companies, it seems like we had found the cheapest company but perhaps at a cost to the delicious-ness of our meals. Some other groups had their own cook, while we had food cooked by the family whose home we were staying in. So no real coffee and banana pancakes with chocolate for us. Even though our food was simple, it was nourishing and it definitely tasted good after a long day trekking!

Left to Right: Patrick (Switzerland), Michelle (Sri Lankan Canadian, taking a break from traveling with her parents), our guide Zar Win, David and Isabelle (France)

Over three days, we hiked approximately 53 km from Kalaw to Inle Lake. The first day was about 22 km from the Ever Smile company office to Ywa Pu, a little village of 21 houses. The second day was about 21 km from Ywa Pu to Pat Tu Bauk. And the last day was around 10 km to one of the tributaries of the lake, ending with lunch and a boat ride to Nyaung Shwe. 

The first morning's hike was through what they called "deep forest" to a reservoir and was pleasant enough but nothing special. We lunched at a nice viewpoint where we ate delicious chapati and avocado salad (a less mashed up version of guacamole). I don't know if this is a universal "this is what you prepare for Westerners who trek" but it is exactly what my trekking guide prepared for me in Tanzania-- chapati and avocado salad! 

Then we passed through terraced farmland, where farmers were growing all types of vegetables and green tea, a Palaung village where they made green tea, and a few Pa-O villages. Every couple of hours we had a tea break. The guide didn't seem to be carrying any water, so we were guaranteed many tea breaks.

We spent the night in the Pa-O village practically next door to the home where a wedding was going to be held the next day. 

Our sleeping quarters on night one

Apparently, the night before a wedding, it's traditional to blast music all night. It was really difficult to sleep because of the noise, but at least it turned out we were invited to the wedding! 

Breakfast at the wedding

The wedding was from 7:00 a.m to 2:00 p.m. Village weddings are held early because people come from far away. We had breakfast at the wedding, heard the monks praying with the couple, and greeted the wedding couple. The bride was a trekking guide and the groom was trekking cook. I don't know if there was a ceremony, but unfortunately, we had to leave.

Bride and groom

My favorite day was the second day.

After the wedding, we hiked through more hills and farmland. Red peppers were in season, so the fields were dotted with patches of drying peppers. Pa-O women picked and sorted them. 

The French couple on the trek said it looked like Provence. A patchwork of of different colors everywhere you looked. White fields of radishes used to make oil, avocado trees, ginger root. Our guide seemed particularly into plants and what was growing, so he always took time to point out the particular crops. We jokingly said we should start a game of "Name that Crop."

Pa-O women heading to the monastery

There were quite a few other tourists out trekking, but everyone stayed at different houses and perhaps even different villages, and different groups started at different times (our group always got a lazy start to the morning). You might see the same couple groups over and over again, but it didn't feel like too much.

The second night, we spend also in a local house in a Pa-O village. The floor was as hard as the first night and it was just as cold, but at least there was no music! At this point, we had definitely started dreaming of mattresses and warmer showers. 

The second village we stayed at had a beautiful monastery in the town center and was circled by mountains. 

Mother and daughter at the house we stayed pound rice to make a rice flour

Group photo- the second day we were joined by an Italian couple who were
doing the two-day trek

By the time the last day rolled around, we were a bit on hiking auto pilot. The scenery wasn't quite as interesting, and I think we were all ready to get to the lake.

We passed people hiking in the reverse direction from Inle Lake to Kalaw, but I think it was definitely better to go from Kalaw to Inle Lake. 

The lake was so lovely that it seems fitting to be greeted by the star attraction after all of that work.