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Nat Ma Taung

Beyond Rangoon: Mindat to Mt. Victoria, and a little bit of Bagan, Hpa-An & Ngapali

By Northern Adventures

Introduction

(Fri Dec 15th - Wed Dec 20TH, 2017)

A beautiful, remote and culturally rich country infamous for its military regime, Myanmar (Burma) has in recent years been making small steps towards democracy, with the first democratically elected government in 2015, after more than half a century.

Modern conveniences, such as mobile-phone coverage and internet access, are now common, however for all the recent changes, Myanmar remains at heart a rural nation of traditional values - though one may have hard time to find someone among the younger generation without a smartphone or Facebook profile.

One will still encounter men wearing the sarong-like longyi and chewing betel nut, spitting the blood-red juice onto the ground, women with faces smothered in thanakha (a natural sunblock), and cheroot-smoking grannies. Trishaws still ply city streets, while the horse or bullock and cart is common rural transport.

Myanmar’s mountainous Chin State (ချင်းပြည်နယ်) only recently opened to foreigners. With thick jungles, mountainous terrain and rudimentary infrastructure, the region is one of the world’s final frontiers.

Wild and remote, it's Myanmar's poorest and least-developed state, which is sparsely populated and lacking in infrastructure. But it makes up for that with densely forested hills and mountains that soar above 3.000m and are separated by deep valleys through which rivers flow.

Home to traditional villages inhabited by the friendly Chin people, a Tibeto-Burman group that has largely adopted Christianity, this is a perfect place to take the road less travelled.

Me and Lenka carefully planned our 3-weeks long Burmese adventure around 6-days long hiking trip in the remote Chin state, where we commenced our journey in the hilltop settlement of Mindat, and subsequently hiked for four days across ethnic minority villages using old footpaths and mule trails.

Getting There

We did quite an extensive research about travel possibilities between Mindat and Bagan, where we spent a few days exploring ancient temples and pagodas. The most straightforward option was to travel by car (taxi) from Bagan to Pakokku and then continue for six hours on a minibus to Mindat.

Day 1: From Mindat to Hpwi ywa (Phee) village

After some effort, we finally met our guide and his crew in Mindat, and having re-supplied we started our trip with a short car ride on a mountain road to Matupi; shortly after that, we found ourselves hiking on a narrow motorbike/mule trail, ascending through deep woods to a mountain ridge above the valley below Mindat.

The hiking plan for the first day was rather short given the fact we started later in the afternoon; after two hours or so, having hiked on a pleasant trail with sporadic views, we finally reached the picturesque village of Hpwi ywa where we were about to stay overnight in a homestay.

From the very beginning, we really liked the journey - the footpaths were lovely and with beautiful surroundings, and the village itself was a really picturesque place, especially in the warm evening light.

Here (and in all the other villages we visited), the word "rural" stands for its true meaning: candles instead of electricity, fire instead of a gas stove, beautiful wooden houses and friendly locals with children not really used to (white) foreigners. Later I realized that my (not overgrown) beard was something the people were astonished by the most; quite funny indeed.

Not surprisingly, the homemade food (frankly not something the locals would eat in an ordinary evening, rather meals adjusted to westerners and prepared by our cook) was delicious; fresh local produce cooked over fire... just yummy.

It was already during the first evening we realized we are going to like this trek - a unique combination of hiking in a beautiful environment and culture experience at the same time.

Day 2: From Hpwi ywa village to Am Laung

The morning was cold - and no wonder, with the elevation of almost 2.000m the temperature dropped close to the freezing point during the night.

Yet shortly the rising sun started to warm up the day, and I left the village wearing just a t-shirt (though guys forming our crew were shivering cold in their winter down jackets :-) ).

We left the village in the western direction following a narrow footpath hidden in dense woods, aiming to reach a local waterfall called Hleck Long.

Apparently, the path was built by the agency our guide was working for, and after a few days we realized this was not the only case of such a tourism-driven development; the homestays and their equipment were another example.

The waterfall itself was nice and with a few cascades, though nothing really jaw-dropping or spectacular. It was more about the walk itself which was quite rewarding given the interesting forested landscape we were crossing.

Having visited the waterfall, we continued hiking on the main track used by locals and their motorbikes, and soon entered another small village called Htae Pan.

We enjoyed our packed lunch during the way (rice, eggs, chicken, chilli - wrapped in banana leafs), and after a few hours we reached the final destination of today, the village of Am Laung (Am Long).

Since we arrived in the village quite early in the afternoon, we had enough time for exploration of its rural surroundings - wooden houses, friendly locals taking care of the harvest and their children, and views of the distant Mindat that was spectacularly located on a hill across the broad valley.

The dinner was delicious once again, and we also appreciated lower altitude leading to more pleasant temperature during the night.

Day 3: From Am Laung to village of Mdat

The morning was sunny, and after hearty breakfast we set out on the trail, descending to the bottom of the valley to cross the Chi Chung river.

Today was about to be our longest (and most beautiful) day of the journey, with several rivers to be crossed and a few nice villages to be passed through.

We walked through two villages on our way, Hlie Yaw and Makyar, with the latter being spectacularly located on a ridge with stunning views of the surrounding landscape.

Another descent to the next valley followed, and we enjoyed our lunch in a serene setting at the Chir Long river, near the interesting bamboo footbridge that somehow reminded us of Himalaya:

It was really an interesting walk in a beautiful setting and lovely weather, and though elevation gains and drops were quite substantial, we really enjoyed the hike.

Having passed through another village of Dar Doe, we crossed a river using a nearly-collapsed footbridge (apparently there is a new bridge built nearby however this older one was definitely more fun), and continued across Htay Pan settlement to our final destination, the picturesque village of Mdat (Madat).

The evening in the village was just perfect; sunny weather, friendly atmosphere, and a lot to see given the youth football tournament that was about to be held tomorrow.

Sitting at the football field, watching the game and enjoying the attention of local kids all formed a lovely and funny evening.

Day 4: From Mdat to Aye camp

The fourth day was about to be our last true hiking day in the region, with the final destination in the Aye camp, sort of a guesthouse located on the main dirty road from Mindat to Kanpatlet.

Yet again the morning was sunny and beautiful, and soon after breakfast we began hiking across a ridge to a picturesque village of Kyardo, located on a steep hillside above the M'kee Long river.

It wasn't the first time here we met an older woman with tattoo on her face - a local tradition that is slowly dying out.

The Burmese government banned the practice of face tattooing during the 1960s as part of their programme of getting rid of the old and ushering in modernisations, with missionaries in the Chin also criticizing it as barbaric. These women are the last generation to all bear facial tattoos; when they die, a chapter of Chin history will be relegated to the textbooks.

The tattoos are made using leaves, grass shoots and soot. The leaves give colour, the soot acts as a disinfectant and the grass shoots are added at the end, acting as a bandage and natural healing cover. The concoction is applied to the face using sharp cane thorns, which prick the skin to create the pattern.

Chin legend has it that when a Burmese king travelled to the region, he was so impressed by the women’s beauty that he kidnapped one to take as a bride. Because of this, Chin families began to tattoo their daughters to ensure they would not be taken away.

Other Chin tales say that the tattooing was done for beauty, and perhaps more plausibly, to differentiate the different tribes in case one was kidnapped by another.

Another explanation may have to do with religion. Since the time of British colonisation, many Chin minorities have converted to Christianity or else accepted it alongside the animist beliefs. Some Chin remember being taught by their local pastors that only those who had tattoos would be deemed fit to go to heaven.

We reached the main clay road to Mindat in Shem village, and after some hesitation we finally opted for a longer hike to Aye camp, trying to avoid hiking along this road that is frequented by motorbikes, lorries, and 4WDs.

So, instead of ascending we descended to the village of Yetthar across numerous small settlements (Mshiyaw, Vom), and then turned right on a smaller motorbike road leading to Buddhist villages of Eim Mhum and Phi Phay.

The Aye camp is frankly not much appealing (we liked our homestays we stayed in during previous days much more), though its high altitude offers nice eagle-eye views of the hilltop town of Mindat on the opposite side of the valley.

Day 5: Nat Ma Taung - Mount Victoria, and return to Mindat

Nat Ma Taung (Burmese: နတ်မတောင်; also known as Mount Victoria and Khaw-nu-soum or Khonuamthung in Chin), is the highest mountain in the Chin State of western Burma.

Surrounded at lower elevations by tropical and subtropical moist forests, Nat Ma Taung's higher elevations form a sky island, home to many temperate and alpine species typical of the Himalaya further north, as well as many endemic species.

Having hiked for four days, we opted for a simple yet a bit adventurous motorbike ride to the mountain top; two guys of our crew acted as skilful drivers and our essential task was to hold on as much as possible and not to fall down from the motorbikes :-).

The landscape on the top was beautiful, different than in surrounding areas of lower elevation; meadows, scattered trees, vast views.

Though we were the only white faces on the mountain top during our visit, the number of local tourists was unexpectedly high, with all the typical attributes one may expect: lot of smiles, loud songs, selfies and photographing, ... and to some unfortunate extent, littering.

In the afternoon, we returned to Mindat (a few-hours long motorbike ride), where we were about to spend our last night in the region.

We visited the pagoda above the town with commanding views, and with cloudy weather slowly settling in, we felt really lucky - we only had sunny days during the trip, and learnt from our guide that fogs and low clouds are not unheard of here in the region, sometimes lasting for days.

Finally and naturally, we also visited the famous old lady playing the nose flute.

It was quite an experience indeed and definitely interesting to witness, though one certainly has mixed feelings of such a type of a visit.

Practicalities

I personally invested quite a time to prepare this hiking trip properly, researching Trip Advisor and Lonely Planet forums, various travel blogs, and Rough guide and Lonely Planet guidebooks - and it really paid off since we really enjoyed the journey.

Here are my key takeaways & recommendations:

For longer hikes with overnight stays, one definitely needs a pre-arranged trip with a guide (and a crew comprised of a cook and (motorbike) porter(s)); homestays are legally not possible to be arranged outside these organized trips.
Renowned agencies based in Yangon offer tailored all-inclusive trips for 5-6 days for slightly more than $1000 per person; if you are not in a mood for such a splurge and don't require a 4WD convoy and a bunch of porters, you may go local and try to improvise a bit - as we did.
With a local Mindat-based NAING Trekking & Travel Services, we went for all-inclusive trip for $750 total (two persons); that included minibus from/to Pakokku, all the homestays, food, the crew (friendly and knowledgeable guide Billy "Othan" Aung Thang with perfect English, a cook and a porter), transport (two motorbikes though three would be better due to logistics reasons), fees and photography tips. The service was perfect and it was interesting to learn the travel/organizing scheme the agency uses to arrange homestays and improve footpaths - simply, you can see you are contributing to the area by giving something back to local communities.
Burmese kyats are a must within the Chin state; there is neither ATM nor a currency exchange in Mindat therefore one needs plenty of cash to bring with himself/herself from the lowlands.
Winter months (December to March) seem to be a convenient period for hiking in the Chin state thanks to pleasant weather and less rainfall; the altitude, however, affects the temperature which may drop to the freezing point during nights (layered clothing is thus strongly recommended).
From Bagan, early morning taxi to Pakokku is the most straightforward way of transport to catch the 8AM minibus to Mindat; we paid 35.000 kyats one way (Bagan -> Pakokku) though you may get cheaper return journey. With no time constraint, local buses/vans may be also a (cheaper) option how to get to Pakokku from Bagan, though this may require overnight stay in Pakokku.
The GPS route of our journey, excluding Mt. Victoria side-trip, may be found here.

Hpa-An & Around

Our Myanmar journey began ten days before the Chin state hiking adventure in the area of Hpa-An, a laid-back riverside capital of the Kayin State, which serves as a convenient base from which to explore the Buddhist caves, sacred mountains, and rivers and lakes of the stunning surrounding countryside.

We started our motorbike-based exploration (I used to own Honda VT 600 Shadow cruiser and like "Ride To Live, Live To Ride" feelings :-) ) visiting the extraordinary Kyauk Kalap monastery, a tall finger of sheer rock mounted by one of the most unlikely pagodas in Myanmar, standing in the middle of a small, artificial lake - a beautiful place truly, especially when all the day-trippers leave and evening solitude becomes mixed with the gentle sunset light.

Myanmar is a rural country; scenes of work in fields are common and natural; nothing that needs to be posed for a decent photograph nor any kind of a cliché.

The villagers in the pictures below worked on a rice field just at the Kyauk Kalap monastery.

Lumbini Garden mark the entrance to the strenuous hike to the top of Mount Zwegabin on the western side of the mountain, and forms a true heaven for any Buddha statue lover :-) - it's a home to over 1100 Buddha statues arranged in photogenic rows.

Mount Zwegabin itself (725m) is one of southeastern Myanmar’s highlights thanks to the stunning views back towards Hpa-An and the overall scenery. The summit takes in staggering views, a small monastery and a stupa.

We unwisely opted for an afternoon hike which was quite demanding in the brutally hot weather; being used to hiking in much cooler weather of the deep north, I was not really feeling comfortable and had to take a rest quite often, though Lenka made it to the top without bigger problems.

Views in the upper part of the hike were really stunning, and we were finally glad we decided for the hike despite all the sweating effort.

Later that day, we spent the evening close to the waterfront in Hpa-An - the golden pagoda of Shweyinhmyaw Paya is a popular hang-out (not only) during sunset time, and we really enjoyed our serene time here.

On the next day, we rode our motorbike for almost two hours to reach the Saddan Cave, an enormous and atmospheric cave with a reclined Buddha and other religious monuments.

It was a perfect motorbike ride across the rural countryside, and though rather long, it was still enjoyable thanks to the beautiful scenery we saw during the way.

This football-stadium-sized Saddan Cave is simply breathtaking, its entrance dominated by dozens of Buddha statues, a couple of pagodas and some newer clay wall carvings.

Having walked through the cave for 15 minutes through chambers as high as a cathedral, past truck-sized stalactites and, in places, walls of crystal, we crossed a footbridge inside the cave with thousands of bats clung to the cave roof.

As we emerged at the cave’s far side the wonders only increased: the burst of sunlight revealed an idyllic secret lake full of ducks and flowering lilies hidden in a bowl of craggy peaks.

There's another cave on the far side of the lake that's actually half flooded, but local fishers paddle through it for 10 minutes to yet another lake - we took the ride and admired manoeuvres of these skilled boatmen.

Back to the (evening) food - with Foursquare and Trip Advisor ratings, we would be foolish to miss the delicious local food served in the Mya Kan Thar Food Centre and the community-based Veranda - Youth Community Cafe - it was here where we first discovered the delicacy of the Burmese avocado salad; luckily for us, rising avocado prices on the world market didn't negatively influence local supply :-).

On the next day, we took a boat from Hpa-An to the seaside town of Mawlamyine. It was a 3-hour pleasant journey down the Than Lwin river with a lot to see on the river and its banks, though the weather started to deteriorate during the journey.

Bagan

What to say about this unique place? Surely it deserves multiple days for its exploration, since the best highlights of the trip here are to be discovered by yourself - naturally off-the-beaten tourist path.

Once a capital of a powerful ancient kingdom, the area known as Bagan (ပုဂံ) occupies an impressive 67 square km and includes more than two thousand Buddhist structures.

Individual temples, stupas and monasteries impress in different ways, but it’s the broader sweep that tends to stay etched in visitors’ memories: the spectacle of hot air balloons rising from behind stupas at dawn, the cool, calm relief of temple interiors in the heat of the day, or grand sunset vistas viewed from temples' terraces.

We stayed in Bagan (Nyaung U) for four days, and explored the plains thoroughly using a rented e-Bike. Multiple sunrises and sunsets, days dedicated to exploration of local footpaths and trails, searching for "our own" pagoda for the evening or beginning of the next day...

Each part of the day the temples and pagodas look in a different way, and it's the (sun)light that creates the magic here - and blesses those who are wise enough to escape the tourist crowds.

After some research, we decided to stay in Nyaung U (ေညာင္ဦး), a bustling river town with more action than is usual elsewhere in Bagan.

Nyaung U is the place where most independent travellers stay, either thanks to its restaurant scene (the closest the Bagan area gets to some evening life) or for transport links to other destinations around Myanmar.

Location-wise, the closer to the lively Thi Ri Pyitsaya 4 Street one stays, the better, since this is the area to hang out during warm evenings. Don't be afraid of noisy nightlife, though - this is still rural Burma, and at 10PM it's all dead quiet.

Those hot-air balloons flying over the landscape dotted with hundreds of temples...

We were tempted, too, however rationality wan and we rather opted to *see* the balloons rising and flying instead of splurging into an uncertain life-experience opportunity.

To be more concrete - weather-wise, from the three sunrises we managed to wake up for just one dawn was one of those picture-postcard ones, with the low-lying fog slowly disappearing under the rising sun; the other two mornings were either completely overcast and dull, or without that mist on the ground out of which temples slowly and magically appear.

This leads to another recommendation: sunsets are nice over Bagan, sure, but it's the dawn time that steals the show and may bring the most magical scenes - besides warm sunrise light, there are those colourful balloons, and there may be mysterious fog lying on the ground.

It's definitely worth the effort, pain and cold (dress properly) of getting up here (very) early!

The obvious question of anyone is: where to go for sunrise and sunset? My advice would be: try to find your own place. Dedicate the time and effort, use the rented e-Bike (watch out for its batteries!), and cross the plains using narrow footpaths to find the pagoda you would like to spend the sunrise/sunset at.

The plains are flat, very flat - which means one needs some elevation point to get a decent view. However this elevation point doesn't necessarily need to be tens of meters high; you just need to be a few meters above the ground.

Besides that, the high-profile temples are anyway either closed (for reconstruction or simply for preservation reasons) or too crowded; and, finally, it's better to see those big ancient temples from smaller pagodas than vice versa.

Well, ... I'll give a few hints of where to go :-).

For sunrise, we liked Pagoda 446 we discovered by ourselves; located close to the starting field of hot-air balloons and with fine 360-degrees views, one may get some unforgettable scenes here (weather permitting).

For sunset, Taung Guni pagoda has really nice views though it may get pretty crowded; we better liked a small unnamed(?) pagoda located (I think!) at 21°09'23.3"N 94°52'48.3"E, south of Pagoda 761 and Ta Wet Hpaya - not really sure about this one, it's already some time ago. Explore the area by yourself! :-)

Finally, back to the restaurant scene in Nyaung U - we became regulars in the centrally located Weather Spoon's Restaurant and Bar (vegetable tempura with chilly sauce and chicken sweet & sour are to die for), enjoyed the Indian food in Aroma 2 (that sauces and pickies!) as well as liked the friendly Bibo restaurant (ice cream & fresh passion fruit juice) - there are plenty of other choices, however, and the meals in the area tend to be outstanding thanks to fierce competition and a lot of demanding westerners.

Ngapali

On trips like this, the beach time should be planned for the end of an adventure - and such was our case. Instead of rushing and visiting multiple places, we wanted to spend multiple days in some quiet and nice place, contemplating and relaxing, and enjoying our Burmese time at the seaside. The decision about where to go wasn't really difficult - Ngapali.

With its pristine, palm-tree-fringed white sand, and the clear waters of the Bay of Bengal, Ngapali (ငပလီကမ္းေျခ) has a well-deserved reputation as Myanmar's premier beach getaway.

For all the premium resorts, Ngapali maintains a laid-back fishing village vibe, as evidenced by the small boats that head out nightly to catch the bounty that is served up to visitors just hours later.

The locals remain smiley, and despite the increasing number of hotels, the 20 kilometres of coast here means there's still a lot of space on the beach, especially when ones prefers smaller bays to the main sandy stretch.

Though Myanmar's most premium beach destination, Ngapali remains rural and local at heart, as is still the case of any part of Myanmar.

There are (not exaggerating) hundreds of colourful fishing boats anchored in the village of Gyeiktaw, located on the southern end of the Ngapali coastline - and walking there in the early morning (I did it being the only white face there) among hundreds of fishermen and their family members, seeing the unbelievable buzz happening in a perfectly coordinated way, is all unforgettable experience of the local life that hasn't changed much over the years.

Having our accommodation based in a small village at the northern part of Ngapali beach, we had it closer to the smaller and secluded Kipling's Bay; even there, morning rush of boats returning from the sea, tuk-tuks and small lorries waiting for daily portion of fresh fish to be transported to the market and nearby restaurants, and family members working swiftly and efficiently together on these daily fishing chores, are all something really beautiful to witness.

I recall the beach was already illuminated by the warm morning sun when the last fishermen were lazily going home, each of them carrying one or two tuna fish that were going to be served for lunch or dinner on their family table.

The morning e-Bike ride on the Gyeiktaw beach was really interesting :-) :

In Gyeiktaw (and in other coastal areas), some of the caught fish are being dried out in the sun - especially the small sardines.

It's a women and children job; tens of people operate on this long stretch of Gyeiktaw beach that is somehow transformed into an open-air fishing factory during the daytime.

View of the Gyeiktaw village from a viewpoint with the Buddha statue was amazing, though we even more liked the chance to travel outside Ngapali and find "our own" beach - something rigidly written into our itinerary.

Frankly, it took us some effort to arrange a proper Chinese motorbike (neither a scooter nor an e-Bike), however after that it was just about our endurance and orientation skills.

Luckily enough, we finally managed to get to such an isolated sandy beach - it was west of Thabyugyaing village (18°18'30.2"N 94°19'25.7"E) and not really easy to reach. Our original planned destination was another village of Maw Yon located more in the south, however we somehow missed the fork to it when riding on the main dirty road.

But back to the Kipling's Bay - we felt really lucky we chose this part of Ngapali as our last Burmese destination.

Secluded and tranquil bay with its sandy beach, with just a few beach stalls and a few visitors, this is one of those rare laid-back places when undisturbed relaxing is virtually guaranteed.

Yet again we were lucky - when choosing the accommodation.

Not bookable online via Booking.com (typical way of accommodation booking in Myanmar) and only mentioned in the (latest) Rough Guide (not in Lonely Planet), the beautifully restored and Finnish-owned Kipling's Bay Guesthouse is a true hidden gem, completely unique in Ngapali.

There are both upmarket resorts and locally-run smaller guest-houses along the coast, but this place is different: perfectly positioned, with friendly staff and Finnish owner, offering spacious rooms with beautiful interior, and possessing a garden made for relaxing - a place one really doesn't want to leave.

Let's finish with the food (again) - at the seaside and with fleets of fishing boats sailing the coastal sea during nights, supply of fresh seafood is guaranteed; one just needs to find his/her favourite place to have a dinner at.

In our case, we fell in love with the Seagull Seafood Restaurant, conveniently located right on the main stretch of the Ngapali beach - the charcoal-grilled seafood was always delicious, and instead of rice... one may had fries! :-)

Afterword

It was a beautiful journey. Three weeks spent in Myanmar were refreshing, different, unique; we felt like exploring an unknown and uncharted land.

There were areas where we may have been among the very first visitors. The local people were pointing fingers to my beard. They were also asking why we are here, not understanding what tourism means. Their children were both curious and scared at the same time.

We were slowly travelling through this undiscovered part of the Earth, silently breathing in Myanmar's contrasts and uniqueness.

A century ago, most of the Asian countries may have looked like what we saw in Myanmar last year. Nowadays, Myanmar remains unparalleled - there is no other country in the south-east Asia that possesses so many contrasts of new and old, modern and ancient, or imported and traditional; Myanmar forms an unique essence of Asian stereotypes that are real and neither posed nor a cliché.

Footnotes

All images are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without permission of the author.

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FootNotes

All images are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without permission of the author.