General Information

Choice of accommodation

Tourist hub like Kalaw, Inle Lake and Pindaya offer a range of choice of accommodation starting from simple tourist class to high end luxury lodges. Hotels and lodges come with standard facility such as private bath with hot and cold shower. With guest house mostly a separate bath rooms and toilet but hot water may be offered on request by bucket.

Overnight facility in the villages

There are more and more “Community Based Tourism” established along the main tourist route such as between Kalaw and Inle Lake or Kalaw and Pindaya, which offer tourist a quality service with hygiene food. There are also villages that offer local home stay service. Mostly with the CBT western toilet facilities are installed. Some treks involve tent accommodation. With a local home stay we choose a suitable home in a village. Night will then be spent in candle light and wood fire. Toilets will be clean but mostly local squat type. Limited amount of hot water will be supplied for face wash in every morning. When pitching a tent, two clients will share a tent, unless they have requested and paid for a single supplement.

Communication:

Local GSM as well as CDMA network facility exist in Kalaw and most of the trekking routes which enable you to connect to the world.

Meal:

We take care of all catering. Hot breakfast will be served in the morning, lunch usually is simple, light and serves during mid-day. Dinner will be more extensive featuring pre dinner snacks and deserts. Clients with special dietary requirements will have to advise us at the time of booking.

Guide:

Unless otherwise pre-arrangement has been made, we provide English-language guide who is able to speak the local hill tribe dialects.

Transportation:

We provide minivan, coach or 4WD wagon where applicable for transfers to and from town and trail head as applicable.

Weather:

Average year temperature will be around 20 degree Celsius. Main tourist season is between November and February with pleasant temperatures, clear skies, warm days and cool evenings. Hot season is between March and May and weather gets warmer and occasional showers might occur. Rainy season or monsoon season is between end of May and October and one can expect almost daily showers but is much lesser compare to other coastal parts of Myanmar. What makes Kalaw weather unique is you have no short of sunshine even during middle of the monsoon which reasoning the blossom of multicolored wild flowers.

Domestic flight:

Several domestic airlines serve schedule flight between Yangon and Heho (nearest airfield to visit Kalaw). Flight may go via some other destination such as Mandalay and Bagan which enable you to connect to Kalaw easily from anywhere in the country. There are also flights available to Thandwe (Ngapali beach) for those who seek to relax at beat at the end of their holiday.

Personal Care:

The same precautions as anywhere else. Drink bottled, boiled or treated water, avoid eating raw vegetables, and eat fruits that you can peel or cut yourself. It’s important to use insect repellent to keep mosquitoes away. Use sunscreen literally when exposed to the intense, tropical sun.

Physical fitness:

Most of the trekking programs in Shan Highlands are classified as “Easy” with only a short element of trekking on good paths and predominantly at low altitudes; “Moderate” involve relatively short days combination of lowland trekking with some up and down.

Health Care:

An international standard facility does not exist in Kalaw or entire Shan region.

Electricity:

Dependable electricity supply is available in Kalaw with the current 220 V / 50 Hz. Sockets have three and two round/flat pins. If you are traveling with any electrical appliances, a set of adapter plugs will be essential. You need battery-operated appliances with several extra batteries. You can recharge your batteries while you are in Kalaw however limited or no electricity is available once you leave Kalaw.

Tipping:

Tipping is common to guides, cooks and porters on the tours. For the hotel staff there is a tipping box installed in the lobby which the moneys collect will be evenly distribute amongst hotel staff including those who make your stay pleasant behind the curtain.

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