Eastern Myanmar - Myanmar (Burma) - page 393

Right in the centre of Kalaw is Aung Chan Tha Zedi MAP (Aung Chan Thar St; day-
light hours) , a glittery stupa covered in gold- and silver-coloured glass mosaics.
Kalaw's market MAP (Min St; 6am-5pm) is also worth a browse - several stalls sell
dried fruit and local liqueurs. Every five days the market is swelled by traders from hill-
tribe villages around town.
South of the market, the myriad stupas of Hsu Taung Pye Paya MAP (Aung Tha Pyay
St; daylight hours) were restored from ruins using donations from visiting pil-
grims. For a good view over the market area, take the steps on the north side of Union
Hwy (NH4) to Thein Taung Paya (Union Hwy (NH4); daylight hours) , a modest

Buddhist monastery with a small congregation of friendly monks.

Trekking
Almost everyone who comes to Kalaw goes trekking in the hills. The town is surrounded
by Buddhist pagodas, hilltop viewpoints and the peaceful villages of the Palaung, Danu,
Pa-O, Taung Yo and Danaw tribes, all set in a gorgeous landscape of forest-capped hills.
Popular destinations for one-day treks around Kalaw include the Myin Ma Hti Cave ,
the Pa-O villages south of Lamaing , and the Pa-O, Danu and Taung Yo villages near My-
in Dike train station. Another common route runs southwest from Kalaw to the Palaung
villages of Ywathit and Tar Yaw , passing the Viewpoint MAP

GOOGLE MAP , a rustic,

Nepali-run restaurant with sweeping views over the hills.
The guides at Ever Smile do visits to Pane Ne Pin and Myin Ka , Palaung and Taung
Yo villages respectively, located in a beautiful area north of Kalaw. Alternatively, the
guides at Jungle King lead one-day treks to Patingone , a four-hour hike south of Kalaw,
where there's a Pa-O/Taung Yo traditional healer.
The most popular overnight trek is undoubtedly the two- to four-day trek to Inle Lake;
for details, Click here . One Kalaw-based outfit has recently initiated two-day mountain-
bike treks along a similar route; contact Naing Naing Hire Bike ( Click here ) for details
on this. A less common overnight route is the multiday trek to Pindaya, via Taung Ni. If
you're interested in nature more than culture, Moteh, a guide based at Viewpoint, offers a
day or overnight 'jungle' trek through a protected forest. Trekkers sleep in the woods or
stay overnight at a Taung Yo village.
The level of development varies as you move from village to village. Some tribes wear
traditional clothing and live without electricity or running water, while their immediate
neighbours watch European football on satellite TV. The standard of living for tribal
people across the region has been raised by development projects run by the UN and oth-
er international NGOs. Most villagers depend primarily on farming, but some subsidise