Myanmar Travelogues Trip to Burma

Trips to Myanmar along Mulberry, cotton plants and rain trees are close by with small clumps of medium-sized trees further in the distance. The southern Shan hills loom through the mist ahead, about an hour out of Meiktila. Presently the road ascends ever so slightly and then flattens again. Htanaung and rain trees are no longer present. Instead we see clumps of bamboo and plum trees beside the road. We climb once more, the gradient is not steep but we are now definitely in the foothills with the hillside rising just above to our right and the ground to the left dropping some six to nine meters. More bamboo forests appear with smaller trees with darker green interspersed on the hills. The road becomes even for some distance then rises again on a steeper gradient. Our car reaches Yinmabin where we take lunch.

Traveling in Burma

Pictures of a Burma trip tell more. The journey onward is a continuous ascent with only a few short stretches of even road. Forests of dry leafless, medium-sized trees and thorn forests fill the hillsides. The vegetation is greener, the trees larger with denser foliage as we advance. Small hamlets in valleys and lowland along the wayside look fresh and verdant with banana, coconut, mango and other trees. The road takes many hazardous twists and turns as it winds uphill, sometimes on the left, then on the right side of the adjoining hill, with

steep cliffs or wooded hillsides towering first on one side of the road and then the other. Away from the cliffs are deep valleys with dry stream beds or with water trickling down the hills. Misty green wooded hills at times seem to pop out on one side with others coming into sight ahead. Tiny settlements with cultivated patches on flat stretches are more frequent. Traveling in Burma bring up interesting scenes. Logs piled by the roadside indicate we are in a logging area. In the Shan State, this is one of the main timber production regions for commercially valuable hardwood such as teak, padauk (Pterocarpus macrocarpus), pyinkado (Xylia dolabriformis), (Dipterocarpus tuberculatus), Ingyin (Pentacme siamensis), Thitya (Shorea oblongifolia) and pyinma (Lagerstroemia speciosa). There are a few hairpin turns with low concrete guard walls at the most dangerous spots. Traffic is fairly heavy 'ubiquitous Japanese pick-up trucks with roof-top passengers, buses, trucks, vans, saloon cars, government vehicles, coaches ' both on the up and down runs.

Nun in the lush green forest

Vehicles on the downhill route stop well in advance to allow ample time and space for those coming up to safely negotiate difficult passages. The same rule is applied at bridges. We are beyond Pyinyaung ' another centre for transhipment of timber ' and are now at an altitude of about 610 meters. The scenery is pleasant, the surroundings are lush and green, the air is cooler and the rays of the sun struggling through the mists bear down more gently. A decided contrast to that phase of our trip below an elevation of 300 meters. A hairpin turn and soon our truck passes Wetphyuyit, between mileposts 61 and 62, negotiates another uphill hairpin bend and then rolls through Yay-ywa. Both are large villages, the latter within eight kilometers of Kalaw. Soon we enter Kalaw, a popular hill resort during British days, 112 kilometres from Meiktila and 70 kilometres west of Taunggyi. Located on the western edge of the Shan Plateau at an elevation of 1,300 metres, this small, peaceful town feels cool and pleasant even at noon in dry season.

Travel in Burma bring up panoramas of small forests with a few hills not far off and we notice ducks and water buffaloes which we have-not seen for some time. This is a favorite tourist stop. A good starting point for hikes to nearby Palaung villages through pine woods, orchards and bamboo groves. The terrain is now flat and the road passes through beautiful country. This region produces temperate climate fruits such as pears, peaches and oranges in addition to rice, tea, wheat, soya beans, groundnuts, tobacco, potatoes, garlic, sunflower seeds and dried green cordia leaves used as cheroot wrappers.

The Shan plateau is dominated by agriculture

Images pictures and traveling Some 10 kilometres on lies Aungban, a popular stopping place. Shortly before we get there, a road branches north from the main road in the direction of the small town of Pindaya 41 kilometers away where the Pindaya Caves (picture below) are located. The caves contain thousands of Buddha images in a limestone ridge overlooking lovely Boutaloke Lake and are a Shan State tourist attraction. Nearby the Shan paper is manufactured, made from mulberry bark and mainly used to produce the pretty umbrellas. We continue in an easterly direction from Aungban to Heho, the nearest airport for Taunggyi and Inlay, then to Shwenyaung. Here, the eleven kilometer road to Naungshwe and Inle turns off to the south while the main road leads to Taunggyi. The land around is wet, flat and green with paddy cultivation in progress. Duck, water buffaloes and egrets abound.

Pindaya

Trips to Myanmar Nankand canal from Shwenyaung to Inle Lake parallels the road on the east. Lead and eucalyptus trees, orange blooms of gold mohur, red clusters of flame of the forest and a profusion of red and white bougainvillaea greet us as we motor to the principal lake town Naungshwe, one kilometre from the north end of Inle. This is the jump off point for excursions around the famed lake.   all at e-books

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