Unforgettable Journey on Foot: Our 35-Mile Trek from Kalaw to Inle Lake

Matt and I hopped on another JJ Express deluxe bus from Bagan to Kalaw, making the six-hour daytime journey through diverse terrain including curvy mountain roads and dry, flat plains. We arrived in the hill town of Kalaw in the late afternoon, hungry and somewhat grumpy from another nausea-inducing travel experience paired with not having eaten all day. We walked ten minutes to our modest hotel to drop off our bags and set out to a highly-reviewed restaurant only to discover that the establishment was closed! Grumbling and searching rapidly on Google Maps for another sanitary and tasty place to fill our bellies, we landed at a Burmese restaurant that served lackluster salads and side dishes. We were fairly disturbed by the number of flies buzzing around our heads and landing on the food, so we ate quickly (and minimally). We were unimpressed with Kalaw’s relatively unmemorable hostels, markets, and restaurants however understood that the town serves mainly as the starting point for popular treks and hiking routes—which was in fact the reason we found ourselves there. The recent tourism boom appeared to have sparked a new crop of accommodations and dining options, however the quality and customer-service orientation still seemed in its infancy. We’d be curious to see how Kalaw develops in the next ten years as more foreigners travel through. The only surprising aspect of our experience in the town was that we happened upon an Italian bar and restaurant for dinner called Red House that ended up being delicious! Matt and I split a wood-fired mushroom and cheese pizza and after many Burmese meals, it was refreshing to take a break and enjoy a more familiar cuisine. Apparently the fancyish, western-feeling joint was run by an Italian restaurateur and his Burmese wife, and they imported many of the ingredients.

We awoke early for a hearty hotel breakfast, checked out of our room, and headed to the Eversmile Trekking Company headquarters to meet our hiking group. We were about to embark on a three-day, two-night trekking trip between Kalaw to Inle Lake—one of the most popular tourist offerings in Myanmar. For only USD $26 per person, the package includes a local guide, seven freshly-cooked meals, homestay accommodations in villages along the route, and a boat tour of Inle Lake at the end of the trip. Eversmile even securely transported our big backpacks to our hotel near Inle Lake, allowing me and Matt to carry just a small pack with necessities for the few days. Needless to say, the trekking experience is a true steal and ended up being a highlight of our backpacking trip so far!

Terrain. Many trekkers opt for a two-day, one-night hike instead of the longer option, but since we were not in a time-crunch we figured three days was perfect and offered us the chance to see more of Myanmar. That said, we didn’t expect the trek to be quite as rigorous as it was! Day one was especially tough, as we climbed through the jungle, crossed muddy ponds while balancing on bamboo sticks, and walked uphill for several miles at a time. We took frequent water breaks in the shade to catch our breath. Throughout the trek we passed sprawling farmland where local villagers were growing chili peppers, cabbages, bananas, lady fingers, tomatoes, flowers, and more. Tall pine trees were common, though they are not native to the region and were first introduced by the British to use for building houses in the surrounding areas. Pine needles and leaves covered the ground in many parts of the journey, smelling fresh and reminding us of camping with our families as kids. We crossed mountain passages, cracked and dry desert landscapes, and railroad tracks. At one point we even jumped onto a slow-moving passing train and rode in the cramped caboose for ten minutes! An earthquake in the 1980s had caused gaping cracks and small valleys along the route, which were interesting to see. We also passed countless water buffalo and cattle, and at times took breaks next to small lakes and rivers that were glistening in the hot sun. Myanmar is currently in its dry season, so many parts of our hike were very dusty and dirt covered our exposed skin by the end. We rose each morning around 6:30am to eat breakfast and hit the trail while the air was still cool since the heat reached its peak in the afternoon. We traveled about 35 miles total by foot, moving at a fast clip and averaging 10-15 miles per day.

Trekking through an agrarian landscape on Day 1.

Balancing on bamboo logs to cross a muddy section of the route. Our guide said not to lose our balance because the mud was so deep we'd lose our shoe!

A passing train we hopped onto for ten minutes during our trek.

Caught a beautiful sunset over a valley.

Another hiker took this photo of the group from behind. Just a typical moment during the trip. Most areas along the route felt very remote!

Accommodations and Food. Part of what made the trekking experience so incredible was the two overnight homestays in villages along the route. Eversmile was founded twenty years ago, and over the two decades the company has developed relationships with villagers between Kalaw and Inle Lake and solidified spaces for trekkers to sleep and get to know the communities during the journey. It is a really wonderful way to facilitate cross-cultural exchange and help the local people earn a bit more money each month. Our guide told us that the families have used this extra cash to install solar panels for electricity and to upgrade their homes from bamboo to stone. Our hosts were extremely kind and welcoming, though none seemed to speak English so it was not possible to communicate with them. Our guide orchestrated everything. Our first night we stayed in a very small and quiet Burmese village with only about six homes, and slept in a stone house’s upstairs great room which contained thick blankets, thin floor cots, and a Buddhist shrine. Two outhouses with squat toilets were located a few meters away as well as a cistern of water with a bucket for simple bathing. The host family worked with our guide to cook up an authentic meal of peanut curry, rice, fried fish, green beans, mustard greens, and cucumber salad. Everything was delicious! While we were in the village we hiked to a sunset viewpoint at the top of a mountain overlooking a beautiful valley and drank beers and ate local snacks from a small shop. The second night we stayed in a larger town complete with a Buddhist monastery, lots of farm animals, and about 20 houses. Lots of kids were running around and dancing while adults were working tirelessly to build bamboo structures, direct oxen pulling carts, or crush peanuts in a big mortar and pestle. We again stayed in a great room in the upper level of a two-story home and this time our group was bigger (9 total). We each had a small floor cot, blankets, and a pillow, and at dinnertime we all sat at a long, low table to eat another traditional meal of many vegetarian dishes and a tangy ginger soup. It was fantastic!

That said, these homestays were not the most comfortable; outhouses were smelly and didn’t have toilet paper (we were instructed to bring our own), there was minimal electricity so everything felt very dark in the evening, and the floor cots were extremely thin. Without heating systems, the mountain village homes can get very cold at night and in the mornings which is acceptable when you’re tucked under layers of blankets but not great for the before-bed trip outside to the toilet. At one point during the second night, I heard something scurrying across the floor. The following morning, one of our trek companions said was awoken in the middle of the night by a rat walking on her head! We are unsure if this is completely true since it was pitch black in the room; perhaps it was a cat and not a rat? We’ll never know! Matt and I are flexible in these conditions, but other travelers may not be. Just thought I’d caveat my description of the trek with that note in case any readers are considering the adventure.

Our first tasty dinner at one of the homestays.

View from the balcony of one of our homestays. You can see villagers building a bamboo structure in the background.

Not a great shot of me, but a good picture of the food we ate for lunch on Day 2!

Hanging out in our second-night homestay. You can see the floor mattresses all lined up and some of the girls hanging out.

Breakfast on Day 3!

The exterior of our homestay building for Night 2.

Cultural experience. Another aspect of the trek that drew us in was the promise of greater cultural understanding. For one, our Burmese guide named Show Su was a 29-year-old fluent English speaker and happy to chat throughout the journey about her experiences in Myanmar and perspectives on the country’s political and cultural history. She was full of information about the villages, farms, and tribes we passed along the route, sharing details about diverse local customs that are so different from our own. We touched on topics including education, sexual health, incomes, marriage, pop culture, bathing habits, traditional food recipes, the Rohingya genocide, and more. As we sipped beer on a mountain top with Show Su and watched the sun set, she FaceTimed with her two-year-old baby and told us about the way she and husband lived in Kalaw while her mother took care of her baby in their village most of the time. These types of arrangements can be necessary in Myanmar and are less common in the United States, which was an interesting cultural difference to hear about. In addition to Show Su’s efforts to deepen our understanding of Myanmar’s culture, the route took us through small Burmese villages where we stopped for either tea, water, lunch, beer, snacks, or bathroom breaks. Our group would observe the daily happenings in each village and witness how people were spending their time. We joked around with kids donning soccer jerseys and watched a woman weave colorful, traditional purses and scarves, for example. The areas we trekked through did not feel the slightest bit touristy, which was really exciting to experience given that urban travel often provides a less nuanced perspective of people in a given country—especially one like Myanmar with its sizable rural population.

A woman weaves traditional bags and scarves as our guide pours us tea in a village.

Show Su wraps a traditional headscarf around Matt's head.

The final look!

Group dynamic. Not only were we exposed to Myanmar’s cultural diversity during the trek, but also we enjoyed socializing and learning from our travel companions who ventured to Myanmar from around the world! We started as a small group of four on Day 1 and then five more joined on Day 2. Our group of nine hikers represented the US, the UK, Poland, South Korea, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Everyone communicated in English colored with different accents, and the northern Europeans made Matt and I feel particular embarrassed given that they are impressively multi-lingual. All the trekkers in our group were women except for Matt so we joked that the trip was a “Girls’ Trek!” In fact, Show Su says that far more women than men sign up for the Kalaw to Inle Lake trek, which is pretty interesting and fairly surprising. The dynamic was positive and spirited during the journey, and Matt and I chatted extensively with a solo traveler from the UK who currently lives in Singapore and shares similar professional interests and political views. Many women in the group were also doing long backpacking trips through Asia and we spent a lot of time swapping tips on various places we had been. We exchanged contact information with a few of the ladies, so we’ll see if our paths cross again at any point!

The South Koreans had already left by the time we took this picture, but here is most of the group at the end of our trek! Our guide is in the light green blazer in the middle.

As we passed through a rocky mountain range at the end of the trek, Inle Lake and the surrounding villages appeared in the distance. We cheered as we climbed the last mile to a Burmese restaurant where we enjoyed our final group meal and drank refreshing sodas. I’ll write about our experience in Inle Lake in my next post. Thanks for reading! I hope this inspires someone out there to take a trek in Myanmar. You won’t regret it!