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Myanmar.
- Probably the best known Myanmar mountain
is Popa Mountain near Bagan.
But the real mountain ranges with peaks up
to 5.900 meters (Mt.
Hkakabo Razi)
are in the north, this are the offshoots of
the Tibetan Himalayas they are perfect for
adventure tours and trekking.
Myanmar
mountains of the north are very isolated
which makes travel in Burma in this area
rather difficult. The infrastructure is not
good at all and transportation is difficult
because of that almost no foreigners until
now have been there, with the exception of
some British adventurers during colonial
times, today its adventure Myanmar.
Myanmar travel to
the
mountains of the north are for the people who have
been everywhere, seen everything but want to have a
controlled risk about new frontiers, not ending up
with some mad people like in the many other
countries when leaving the beaten tracks, the main
town in that area is Putao, the former Fort Hertz
which was one of the remotest outposts of the
British colonial troops. Actually only some British
soldiers, adventurer and botanists went to that area
in the last century.
Putao, the main city of
north Myanmar has
an airport and daily flight connection to
Yangon, the area is slowly receiving more
and more trekking tourists, since its pristine and
genuine environment plus climber who try to conquer
the Myanmar northern mountains and Mt.
Hkakabo Razi.
Adventure Myanmar goes very good with Mt.
Hkakabo Razi (picture below), Myanmar’s and South
East Asia’s highest peak at 5,900 meters, is
located in
the northern most reaches of Kachin State.
The mountain was conquered for the first
time in 1997 by a team of Japanese and
Myanmar climbers. The closest town is Putao,
a small, quiet place, surrounded by
snow-capped mountains stretching from
Tibet in the north-west.
A snow caped mountain in Myanmar in ranges
with plenty of snow all year long, glaciers
and pristine environment, no cable cars, no
roads,
nothing gives disturbance to mother
nature. There are talks with some Thai
investors to open a ski resort for winter
fun all year round, but nothing happen yet,
its probable better when it stays like this.Higher mountain region are populated
with pine, hemlock and silver fir mixed with
some larch. From 2,700 meters to 3,700
meters almost pure conifer forests cover the
slopes. There is a abundance of hardwoods:
oak, maple, birch, walnut, chestnut as well
as rhododendron and others, but only at
regions not accessible by roads, if a region
is accessible all trees are
immediately cut be Chinese and local
poachers, they come via the Myanmar Chinese
border and Putao, the Hkakabo Razi is
the highest mountain there. Steep fields in
the valleys around are cultivated. There are
gardens of hill rice, maize and millet
within patches of colocasia,
mixed with cereal crops, cucumbers, gourds
and huge marrows. Only slopes facing
south to west can be cultivated and the
yield is rather poor. Fences have been
erected to keep deer, pigs, monkeys and
others animals out of the fields.
The Myanmar
mountains have plenty of waterfalls
and wild mountain streams some more
waterfall close to the Myanmar Thailand
border are here,
read more.
- Putao and
Myanmar Mountains
The plain of Putao, closely surrounded
on three sides by high mountains which pour their innumerable streams into
this central sump, is not a pleasant place in summer. The rainfall for six
months averages 150 in., the humidity rarely falls below 75 per cent
saturation, and the average maximum temperature for the same period is about
90 F.
Rapids and Waterfalls
- But the fine
winters and superb views of the Myanmar mountains, glazed with snow,
are some compensation for the many dis'comforts
of the rainy season. The rain-washed air is clear as crystal and the
mountains looked very close. Away to the west, the ranges which separate the
Mali Hka from the Dihang, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, rise abruptly from
the edge of the plain, so near that they mask the 12,000 foot peaks just
behind them. Here is the
Hkakabo Razi,
Myanmar's and south east Asia highest mountain.
Further north in the
Myanmar mountains, the Irrawaddy or
Ayeyarwady-Brahmaputra divide grows higher, Noi
Madive, a peak almost due north and 30
miles distant,
rising to over 15,000 feet; and another 30 miles
north of Noi Madive is the Diphuk Pass,
one of three or four passes over the
Irrawaddy-or Ayeyarwady Lohit divide in 120
miles. Ten miles north-cast of the Diphuk Pass
is the snow peak Ka Karpo Razi, 19,269 feet, the
highest mountain in Myanmar and south-east Asia;
A little south of
the Shingrup Hkyet (pass) over the main range
can be seen. In winter these mountains appear as
a wide arc of snow. But in July it gets very hot
with a terrific thunderstorms over the hills. As
rivers go in south-east Asia, and particularly
as compared with the rivers on either side of
it, namely the Brahmaputra to the west, the
Salween and Mekong to the east, the Irrawaddy is
a rather small, or at least a short river. It is
barely 1500 miles in length, whereas the
Brahmaputra is over 2500 miles, the Mekong about
the same and the Salween not less than 2000
miles.
The snow in the
Myanmar mountains and not only at the area where
Hkakabo Razi is, chills the air flowing in from
the plains and from the sea and adds still more
rain and snow. In the mountains heavy
precipitation is frequent, long before the
monsoon breaks in
central Myanmar.
Large snow patches lying unmelted throughout the
summer, while above 15,000 feet there is many
permanent snow, the last remnants of glaciers
which once covered almost the whole of the
country north of latitude 26'.
These snow patches
on Hkakabo Razi and elsewhere are no longer
considered as glaciers only because they have so
far shrunk that the weight of snow is not
sufficient to form ice. But though motionless,
they are relatively as permanent as glaciers.
There is a more curious reason for the
persistence of snow beds at low altitudes,
sometimes so low as 10,000 feet, throughout the
summer, in the Myanmar Himalayas.
The mountains north
of Putao at the headwaters of the Irrawaddy or
Ayeyarwady are exceedingly steep, alpine valleys
like the Scinghku and its tributaries
exceedingly narrow and deep. As a result, quite
early in the year, the snow begins to avalanche
Travel in Burma Putao trekking
Hkakabo Razi
Large snow patches at a
Myanmar Mountainin
Kachin state near
Putao
Picnic in the mountains
Wild mountain streams trek
from Putao
Mountain rivers near Putao
Mountain rivers hiking out of
Putao
down their sides and
pile up in immense mounds, blocking the streams,
which presently tunnel beneath the beds. Some of
these avalanche beds cover several acres, and
sunk deep in the ravines never get an hour's
sunshine. Further protection is afforded by a
layer of earth and stones, dust and vegetable
debris which rapidly accumulates over the
surface, some of it washed down the alluvial
fans, but much of it blown by the wind;
eventually it may reach a thickness of several
inches.
The peaks around Mt.
Hkakabo Razi and north of Putao are not the only
snow peaks in northern Myanmar. The whole length
of the Salween 'Irrawaddy divide for some 200
miles north of latitude 26' is sprinkled with
snow peaks. Many small glaciers amongst which
its four major streams rise. This then seems to
be the true explanation of the great summer rise
of the Irrawaddy or Ayeyarwady: heavy
precipitation in the mountains throughout the
year, together with a locking up of a vast
quantity of water during half the year, creates
wild mountain streams of the Myanmar Himalaya.
Exactly why the northern Myanmar mountain around
Hkakabo Razi and Putao gets so much rain and
snow, especially during the winter month, is not
very clear; but we must remember that this
region is not very remote from the sea. Putao is
about 600 miles away of the Bay of Bengal,
within 1000 miles of the Gulf of Thailand
and within 700 miles of the Gulf of Tong King.
If we take Putao as centre, and with a
thousand-mile radius describe an arc from the
east coast of India to the south coast of China,
it will include nearly half the Bay of Bengal
and the entire Gulf of Tong King, just touching
the Gulf of Thailand a sea area larger than the
whole of Myanmar. In no other region in the
world is perpetual turbulence and a continuous
passing of great air currents more likely than
over the network of deep sub-tropical valleys
and snow-covered peaks of the Myanmar Himalayas;
and the peculiar formation of the country itself
contributes to their birth, maintenance and
evolution.
It is possible that
owing to the continuous destruction of forest by
the hill tribes and recently by Chinese poachers
with big money to distribute, with consequent
loss of soil, quicker run off, and lack of roots
to take up water of the mountain rivers, the
Irrawaddy is gradually rising to greater flood
heights in less time than formerly.
A adventure travel tour Himalaya is probably the
best to explore this northern Myanmar mountains.
As for the snow line in the
Myanmar Himalaya
around Hkakabo Razi, the glaciers have long been
in retreat, and would appear to be still
retreating, while the 'permanent' snow beds may
be decreasing in size. If there is a general
amelioration of climate, whether due to warming
up or to a smaller precipitation, the snow line
will rise and snow melt be reduced delivering
less water to the mountain rivers, read
more.
The Hkamti
plain is dotted with a number of small
Shan villages each with its rice fields.
The largest is Putao itself, here and
there, sometimes from the midst of the
paddy fields, clusters of crumbling
pagodas rise., and there are
unpretentious monasteries in the
villages where a few yellow-robed monks
with shorn pates perform the rites of
the Buddhist religion. The sweet tones
of the gongs ring out across the plain
at all hours.
Three
distinct types of vegetation are met
with, namely, forest, occupying the
terraces and drier ground; swamp,
covering much of the plain to the north
too; The Myanmar Himalaya forest is
composed of the same trees met with at
similar altitudes -- up to 3000 feet,
more or less.
There are
stretches of magnificent forest to the
east, between Putao and the Mali Hka,
which bounds the plain on that side.
Near villages, much of it has been
reduced to a dense growth of scrub and
fern by cutting for fire'wood. Amongst a
great variety of trees are Quercus
semiserrala, Altingia excelsa,
Pterospermum (P. semisaggitalum),
Sarcinia, Magnolia, various Laurels,
figs, Elaeocarpus, Sterculia and a tree
with narrow oblong leaves over a foot in
length, probably a species of
Goniothalamus.
Wide
stretches of artificial sward occur near
Putao and else'where on the banks of the
many small streams which wriggle across
the plain. A small crimson flowered
orchid (Spiranthes) and a creeping
Lysimachia with golden-yellow flowers,
very like the British L. Nummularia or
money-wort, grow in the turf. A variety
of plants grow in the villages and in
Shan gardens, many of them
flowering
gaily in the cold weather. Very striking
then are the hedges of sunflower.
The
Myanmar people
in the valleys catch fish in thorn-lined
conical fish traps, with nets or
harpoon. They also eat barking deer,
gooral, serow, pheasants and monkeys.
When these food sources are scarce, the
valley population will eat anything from
snails and frogs, to lizards, snakes and
wasp grubs.
- Myanmar
Himalaya Trekking in the virtual shadow of Mt.
Hkakabo Razi
through cold weather, mist hangs
over the peaceful and serene
surroundings almost 6 months of
the year.
Flowing streams and rivulets,
straw-roofed houses and fences
of pebbles and creek stones
provide a pleasant, pastoral
contrast to the scenes and
sights of Yangon. Around Putao
and up in the mountains are peoples
of the Rawan, Lisu, Khamti-Shan,
Jingphaw and Kachin are
represented in the region.
Simple, direct, hard working and
hospitable, they make a living
in the lower areas by growing
paddy, fruits, roots and medical
plants. Grape fruit, American
lime, Washington navel fruit,
varieties of peaches and oranges
grow.
Ginseng and musk are plentiful.
Many species of orchid and other
exotic flora and fauna such as
musk deer, takin and flying
squirrel are native to this
region which more or less can
only be accessed via Putao.
-
Popa
Mountain is in
central Myanmar far away from
Himalayas
but
probably the most popular
Myanmar mountain. Poping out
from the plains in central
Myanmar close to Bagan. It's a
extinct volcano with a monastery
and
Buddhist
temple on top. The
area is really attractive and
already the
Bagan
travel to the area
opens real insights in Myanmar
countryside.
At
the foot of the mountain lives a
monkey colony and be very
careful when visiting this
place, the monkey like your
glasses and once they have it,
they are gone, Popa Mountain is
also called the Abode of the
Nats,
remains of animistic times.
Myanmar
Himalaya Trekking
