Kalaw

Founded as a hill station by British civil servants keen to escape the heat of the flat, dusty plains, Kalaw is a high, leafy green town with crisp cool air and surrounded by beautiful hills, which offer some wonderful trekking.

• Meet the gentle giants at Green Hill Valley Elephant Camp
• Explore the former British Hill station of Kalaw
• Photograph the spectacular landscapes
• Chat with locals from the ethnic minority groups

The town’s market is well worth visiting and there are some lovely stupas to visit, although the finest in the area is the Shwe Oo Min Cave Pagoda at Pindaya.

However the principal reason to visit Kalaw is as the base from which to enjoy a wide variety of very scenic treks ranging from short day walks to a four day hike to Inle Lake. These walks take you into a world of pine forests and pagodas as well as pretty villages and fields full of potatoes, beans and other vegetables being cultivated assisted only by ox and buffalo. The area is also home to not only many Nepali Gurkhas, who came here during the British period, but also to a number of interesting hill tribes such as the Pa-O, Palaung and Danu communities.