lonely-planet-myanmar-burma-11-edition

©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltdthe Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River on rough288 roads. The next day it’s seven more hours toKampelet at the foot of the mountain, whereyou trek up to the summit (3 miles one way).It’s possible to camp overnight on the mountainand it’s an eight-hour ride back to NyaungU from Kampelet.Longer itineraries, including visits to theregion to take part in the Chin National Daycelebrations (usually held around 20 February)and an overland journey from Mrauk U,can be also be arranged.WESTERN MYANMAR CHIN STATEKalaymyo (Kalay)kel"Dmúui¾It’s remote, and not particularly exciting,but travellers with hopes to mingle withChin folk can fly to Kalaymyo (often calledKalay) without government permission.The town – 9 miles long, rarely more thantwo blocks wide and about 62 miles fromthe Indian border – offers few sights beyonda central market and a pagoda. It’s more interestingto see its half Burmese, half Chinpopulation and its slender setting, ringed byfar-off, lush mountains.Foreigners who do make it here are typicallyChristian missionaries ministeringto the Chin (who are 95% Christian andlive in the western half of town). The Chinfolk sometimes refer to Kalaymyo as ‘Zomi’.There’s some local debate on who lived herefirst, Bamar or Chin. No women have tattooedfaces here.Across the street from the airport isTaung Za Lat Hotel (%073-21463; BogyokeRd; s/d from $15/20) the lone hotel licensed forforeigners. Be prepared for grubby roomswith balconies, fans, screened windows andsquashed ’squitoes left on the walls. Moreexpensive rooms are slightly bigger but notreally worth it.In theory, both Myanma Airways ($105)and Air Bagan ($152) offer at least a coupleof flights a week here from Yangon (2 hours),but the schedule depends on demand, so beprepared for last-minute changes and cancellations.The same applies to flights fromMandalay (from $45; one hour).© Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd. To make it easier for you to use,access to this chapter is not digitally restricted. In return, we think it’s fairto ask you to use it for personal, non-commercial purposes only. In otherwords, please don’t upload this chapter to a peer-to-peer site, massemail it to everyone you know, or resell it. See the terms and conditionson our site for a longer way of saying the above - ‘Do the right thing withour content.’