View Point near Kalaw


Kalaw is located in a high-altitude basin, so some of the best views are actually out of town from the perimeters of the mountain range. You can find several view points marked in the maps.me application, so I decided to visit some of them. They could be visited in a very long day on foot, but it is more like a multiple day hike. I was also thinking of hiring a mountain bike, but the steep ascents put me off, and instead rented a scooter. I found the correct road after a few tries, and the landscape indeed was fantastic. I found a few viewpoints marked on the map (there is often a restaurant/café there), but also a Palau village with a monastery atop a hill which wasn't marked at all. I left my bike at a café and walked most of the way to the distant monastery - I was told it would take 45 minutes but would have been a couple of hours if I didn't get a ride with a truck. On the way back I just hired a guy with a motorbike to take me back to the café. I had nice South Asian food at another restaurant, made by a local Nepalese man, and finally drank a coffee at the most fancy of the establishments called View Point @ Kalaw. Interestingly these places are very popular with Burmese people, but hardly any foreigner goes there. They are very much worth a visit though, whichever way you can.













































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