Asian odyssey: Trekking in Myanmar

When we planned our trip to Myanmar we settled on a plan for an eleven day trip. After we had our plane tickets and had everything booked with our travel agent in Myanmar, we received a notice from Vietnam Airlines that they had discontinued our return flight and booked us on the same flight one day later. So we gained an unplanned day.....gosh, not to shabby of a deal! Eventually we decided on adding a day of trekking in the hill country around Kalaw in the Shan state.

So leaving Mandalay, at about 290 ft elevation, we traveled by air and car to Kalaw at about 4260 ft. Among other things it was a bit cooler there. Maybe that's why the British used it as a "hill station" during the hot season.

Besides the change in temperature, two other things we noticed were the large number of military personnel and the gorgeous fruit.

The soil, climate and hard work of the farmers accounts for the fruit. And the military apparently have a large training facility for generals in the area.

After settling into our hotel — a very adequate two-star, but quite a contrast to the four-star in Mandalay — and having lunch, we headed up the hills to explore the country and visit some villages.

Along the way we were able to observe some of the agricultural practices. Almost all of the work is done by hand. This farmer had cleared a rather steep slope, but didn't seem to be concerned about erosion into the nearby stream.

Oranges were being harvested while we were there.

Carried to a collection point.

And boxed for shipping to other parts of Myanmar.

After climbing uphill most of the afternoon we reached the village which was our turn-around point. We visited a school (more on that soon) and a local family.

The grandmother…