Hidden places in the Shan state of Burma

Burma is one of the monsoon countries in Southeast Asia. But not only does it have the hot tropical climate and during the monsoons (mainly in the coastal regions) extremely humid in the center and south of the country. It also has a very mild climate in the mountainous regions of northern and eastern Burma, even at the peak of the hot season, very pleasant temperatures. It was, among others, this that made these regions so interesting to the British when Burma was a British colony. They established three hill stations namely Pyin Oo Lwin, Taunggyi and Kalaw in the Shan Hills mountains situated in eastern Burma. These hill stations were highly sought after as a summer retreat by the British and other foreigners.

Apart from its famous ‘hill stations’ Pyin Oo Lwin and Taunggyi, Kalaw is relatively unknown and hidden in the solitude of the southern Shan Plateau mountain ranges.

Another very interesting place to visit is Kakku with the famous Kakku Pagoda Complex. Last time I was in Pyin Oo Lwin and Taunggyi, this time I will visit Kakku and Kalaw. Tomorrow I am going to explore Kakku and the day after tomorrow Kalaw. Please come with me. I guarantee you will not regret it.

kaku

At the end of a bus ride of just over 2 hours from Taunggyi on a winding road (half of the road tarmacked and the rest red dirt) through a scenically beautiful mountain landscape and farmland of the Pa-O tribe, we arrived at Kakku (Kekku).

After the end of the British colonial period, despite the rapid increase in the number of foreign visitors, still largely unknown, no westerner saw the marvelous Kakku pagoda complex before 1996, some 6 years after I visited Burma/Myanmar for first time. Until then this area was closed to foreigners. If you go by bus from Yangon through Taungoo, the capital of the former “Kingdom of Taungoo”, to Taunggyi, the capital of Shan State, Kakku is halfway between Taungoo and Taunggyi.

Kakku is located 35 miles/19 kilometers south of Taunggyi and can rightly be called a hidden treasure. It is embedded in an area inhabited by people from the Pa-o tribe. We see many of them dressed in their distinctive dark blue native dress with colorful towels wrapped around their heads.

With the exception of a short period of time before and during the Tabaung Full Moon in March, when thousands of Pa-O people come here to celebrate the pagoda festival, this is a very quiet and peaceful area without much to hear more beyond the occasional ones the talk of the Pa-O people, the whisper of the wind in the thick foliage of the great trees, the song of the birds, etc.

According to a census taken in 1928/29, a total of 2,548 pagodas (Pa-O legend says there were actually about 7,000 pagodas, well I didn’t count them) built in Shan ‘Yun’ architecture and Bagan architecture. and spread over an area of ​​about 1 square kilometer, the Kakku pagoda complex is a truly impressive sight. Marveling at the stucco-decorated pagodas depicting celestial beings mixed with floral designs and exploring this area densely dotted with them makes the second half of the day go by in what seems like the blink of an eye.

As far as I know, these pagodas were built sometime in the 16th century, but I’m not sure; they could be even higher. The fact that these pagodas, apart from the ravages that they suffered over time (natural wear and human negligence), do not show any severe destruction, allows us to conclude that this area was lucky not to have been hit by earthquakes as happened in other regions of the world. country like Bagan.

OK, we’re pretty tired and it’s late. We will now return to Nyaung Shwe, the ‘Gateway to Inle Lake’, where we will spend the afternoon and overnight. Tomorrow morning we will go by bus to Kalaw.

Kaław

Kalaw is about 31 miles/about 50 kilometers from Nyaungshwe where we spent the night before and about 44 miles/about 70 kilometers west of Taunggyi. We arrived in this small and quiet town in the morning after driving about 3 hours through pine covered mountains. During the journey, we pass through the settlements of Danu and Pa-O, as well as dry-cultivated mountain rice fields. Kalaw is like Taunggyi and Maymyo/Pyin Oo Lwin, an old British hill station that was a popular place to shelter from the scorching sun in the hot season.

The city is situated amid pine forests and bamboo groves on the western edge of the Shan Plateau, at an altitude of about 4,300 feet/about 1,320 meters. It has, unlike Taunggyi, still some of the flavor and atmosphere of its colonial past due to the many buildings built in the Tudor style.

Like Maymyo/Pyin Oo Lwin, it is mainly inhabited by a mix of Indians, Nepalis, Burmese and Shan; many of them speak English. The area around Kalaw is inhabited by people from the ‘Palaung tribe’, some 60,000 of whom are said to live here. The Palaung are like the Mon in southern Burma, members of the Mon-Khmer speaking family and can be seen not only in nearby Palaung villages but also at the Kalaw five-day market where they, along with the people of Pa-O, they sell their products. Palaung women stand out for their very attractive and colorful native dresses.

Kalaw has three modestly interesting religious buildings: the ‘Thein Tong Pagoda’ on the hill on the way from Taunggyi to Thazin, the ‘Lady Yan Thi Pagoda’ clad in golden mosaics, the Hnee Pagoda, the Shwe Oo Min Cave Pagoda and the remains of ‘Su Taung Pyae Temple’. There are also some very beautiful gardens here.

The small town with its small population is a quiet and peaceful place; pleasant to live in, but generally less interesting to the visitor, especially the foreign visitor, than its surroundings with the nearby Palaung villages ‘Shwe Min Phone’, ‘Ta Yaw’ and ‘Pein Ne Pin’.

We have visited the village of Shwe Min Phone where we were welcomed with open arms by the exceptionally friendly people of Palaung and had a very interesting time with them. The last night of our trip we stay here in Kalaw from where we will leave tomorrow morning for Heho airport to return to Yangon.

I hope you enjoyed the trip and that you have decided that Inlay Lake and its surroundings will be your vacation destination next year because there is so much to see here.