Day 168: Resting in Kalaw

After a ridiculously late night and not the best night's sleep the night before (plus a moderate amount of hiking and physical activity), it was time for a rest day. We'd gotten to sleep at 5am but managed to make it downstairs for a hotel breakfast around 8:45, then headed back upstairs for another nap.

Eventually surfaced refreshed and ready to go at about midday, where we headed out and had Shan noodle soups for lunch at a super-cheap place out on the highway. 600 kyat (about $0.60 AUD) per bowl, nice.

Went back to the hotel and organised a trek for tomorrow - most people hike from here to Inle Lake which is about 60 kilometres to the east. You can either do a 3D/2N option, or drive the first 20km and do a 2D/1N option; we chose the latter, and organised through our hotel.

The rest of the day was spent in the room doing various internet things, as it was going to be our last contact for a couple of days - the hike would start early in the morning, we were staying overnight in a local village, and we weren't expecting to have any mobile reception along the way (nor were we taking laptops or anything, just a small bag with clothes).

Had a beer on the hotel rooftop overlooking town at sunset, then wandered down the street to a Nepali restaurant for dinner. Nice food, though I had to endure a fat goateed American crapping on about Trump at the next table. He sounded pretty insufferable. Early night to fit in a bit more sleep before our big walk!Read more