Hill Tribe Trek from Kalaw
Kalaw in known for its trekking in the surrounding mountains. The weather in the winter is excellent for trekking with temperatures in the low 20’s Celsius and clear blue skies. Most treks will take you to a Pa Oo village where they farm crops with many techniques that have not changed for millennia. The Pa Oo tribes only live and farm on the hillsides.
This trek visited two villages and involved about 5 hours of walking along mostly hillside trails. Some of the trails were very narrow on steep banks but nothing too crazy. The last stop for lunch was at a Nepalese restaurant on a hilltop that had an excellent view. It was a nice rest before a two hour walk mostly downhill back into Kalaw.

The guide said there is a four day trek to Inlay Lake. One of the nights you stay in a monastery where you get a get a good sense of the daily life of the monks that live there. The other nights are spent in villages along the way. I would like to do this on my next trip.
In the river valleys vegetables can be grown year round with irrigation from a mountain streams. Elsewhere there is only one crop per year.
This man was caring bottles of fruit flavoured alcohol made in Kalaw to villages 20 miles away. He buys the alcohol for 400Kyat and can sell it for 100Kyat. I could just barely lift the basket he was carrying. I was very impressed at how he could carry this up and down the narrow mountain trails.
The trail passed between two crops. Above is a leafy vegetable and below mountain rice.

Our guide with the trail ahead, winding around the sides of the hills.
Approaching the first village.
A foot operated hammer for making rice flour.
A house where we stopped for tea.
The house was home to two families. It had separate cooking and sleeping areas for each family. In the past houses were extended to accommodate children and their families. However, in the past two years the multi family dwellings are being replaced with single family houses.
The tea was grown on their property. It is roasted until smoking before being added to the water. The tea was really good. It had a very rich flavour and was not bitter at all.
The baby was sound asleep while we had tea.
A lady splitting nuts for linseed oil.
A pig had died and was being butchered in a nearby stream. The meat will be shared amongst the village. They only have meat every three to six months.
The roller cart looked like it was from the Flintstones.

The sheltered tables provided a welcome resting place from the hot sun.
The view was amazing.
The hillsides were very pretty at this time of year.
Chapatti, sauteed pumpkin and chilli paste. It was very tasty.
The chapatti being prepared in a small house behind the tables,
I think being cooked on an open fire adds allot to the flavour. I have never had any chipatti as good as these back home.
The kitchen.
I wanted to see if I could provide enough empty bottles to reach the roof, but there was still a two hour walk ahead of us on narrow trails on steep hillsides:-)
The 'pumpkins'. Their flavour was a much stronger that pumpkins at home, similar to squash.
It was amazing that the ox carts could negotiate the trails. In many places there was lots of erosion and deep ruts.
Boys and a dog herding ox through a rice field. The boys seemed to really enjoy it. I am not sure about the ox though.
As we walked back into town most children to wanted to offer us something.
Many offered us flowers.
Dinner at the Seven Sisters restaurant in Kalaw. Normally this restaurant would be full, but we were the only guests.
Shan chicken with chillies, fish cooked in a banana leaf and coconut rice. It was as an excellent combination with a variety of flavours. The fish had a slightly sweet flavour and a really nice texture.