Kalaw & Pindaya highlights (the must-do’s)
Feeding and washing Elephant at Elephant conservation project
We will take you to the Green Hill Valley Elephant conservation camp for a rewarding day in the forest surrounding Kalaw encountering elephants, their mahouts and people living in the surrounding. A sustainable project that teaches you everything about the Myanmar elephant while helping bathing, feeding the elephants and planting trees.
The rolling country side to Pindaya
The most spectacular part of Pindaya, is not the town itself, but the rolling countryside with is changing colours depending on the season. A fantastic day trip with a leisurely bike ride to absorb the scenery, picnic lunch a walk through Danu village and tea plantation and a visit to the caves.
Aung Ban to Indein by bike
Probably the best way to arrive in Inle Lake! Mountain bikes are ready for you to start a 4-5 hour biking trip to Indein. The trip is partly off-road and technically easy with most of the roads flat or downhill. Biking through numerous Pa O villages in an area where few foreigners have been before is a great experience. Stop on the way to enjoy the fantastic views over the lake and the Shan country side. Lunch is included in a local village.
KALAW AND PINDAYA BEHIND THE SCENES FOR PEOPLE WITH MORE TIME OR CURIOSITY.
Breakfast with an elephant
Life in the Green Hill Valley elephant camp starts in the early morning and for a limited group of people we created an option to have “breakfast with the elephants”. Walk for about 1 hour through jungle and passing streams and enjoy a simple local breakfast and either wait for the elephants to arrive from the jungle. Walk with the elephants and with the elephant Oozie back to the camp and ask anything you like about the elephant or his caretaker and discover more of their colourful and exciting life.
Behind the scenes – send off an elephant for the night
At the end of every day around 15:00 the camp closes for the day as our “lead actors” will retire for the night into the jungle to find additional food and have a few hours of sleep. His Elephant Oozie will walk with him to the jungle for about an hour and you are invited to walk with the elephant and his Elephant Oozie to ask more about the elephants and the Elephant Oozie life.
Trek and discover tea experience and Danu traditional home cooked lunch
Pindaya is famous for Danu hill tribe and tea plantation and the caves. Start the tour with visiting the caves and from here you walk the trails passing the orchard of tea leaves and seasonal fruits for an hour walk to Htut Ni village where you will experience the tea leaves production and taste the traditional tea leaves salad.
Trekking, Tribes and Train – through the Shan mountains from Kalaw to Inle Lake
Start trekking for about 3 hours in the morning passing through Danu villages and learn about this tribe’s daily activities. Arrive at a small train station in the mountains and take a fantastic train ride back to the picturesque colonial Kalaw train station.
The Cave, train and car to Inle Lake
A leisurely 3 hours trekking from Kalaw passing through the pine forest, seasonal plantations and see Danu and Taung Yoe tribes in the fields. Visit Myinmahti natural cave, continue partly by train and continue by car to Inle Lake.
Through the Shan mountains and valleys by train to Inle Lake
Board the train from the picturesque colonial train station in Kalaw that brings you over the mountains and through the valleys towards Inle Lake to enjoy great views and a glimpse of local life in the Shan hills.