Thorn Tree travel forum

1

We stayed for three days, and I felt it was sufficient. The town is nice enough to walk around, but it's quite small, so that needn't take more than a day. Visiting the hilltribes can be made into as many days as you want it to be. We just went for one day and visited loads of villages. Trekking here is no longer possible (wait.... that was a year ago, so maybe now it is?). Anyhow, when we were there, you could not stay in villages overnight b/c of government restrictions, so visiting hilltribes could only be done as day trips.

2

We have been twice to Kengtung and have gone on 4 one-day treks each time we were there. As previously said, overnights in the hilltribe villages are not allowed by the government. Unfortunately, this makes trekking expensive as you need to take a taxi each day you trek to bring you to your beginning point outside of Kengtung and to bring you back. I highly recommend the treks to see hilltribe peoples and very few tourists. The scenery is spectacular and the people are extremely kind. PM me for more info on our trekking guide, if you are interested.
If you chose not to go on any day treks, you can see some hilltribe people at the local market which is very colorful.
As for the highlights – they are all listed in the LP guidebook. My opinion is that Kengtung is only a “must-see” if you want to see hilltribes in their villages and in order to do that, it involves trekking (day-treks).

3

Bernardo - a week is too long. 3 or 4 days is fine. Kyaingtong is a lot of fun, and the scenery is spectacular. Just make sure you stay at the Princess, and be SURE that you book well in advance if you are planning to visit before the end of March. The other place is NOT privately owned.

I have visited there a few times, and driven down to the Chinese border and into Yunnan province, although I understand that the Wa who are controlling this part of the country are no longer allowing this.

How did you go for 7 weeks? Last I heard they were only allowing one 2 week extension onto the visa.

4

3-4 days should suffice. It's a pretty quiet and relaxing town where renting a bike to do some exploring of the town itself comes in handy. As per cabs985 mingalaba/sabaidee! it's great for 'trekking' which entails the services of a taxi/car or motobike since foreigners aren't allowed to overnight in surrounding villages but the landscape view from some of the hilltribes up in the mountains are stunning.

The Princess is one of the nicer places in town but there are others that are OK given that accomodations in this town are pricey for what you get.

Also you can use kyats, U$, and bahts and the best place to change money is at the morning market.

5

I am wondering, is it possible to fly to Kengtung from Mandalay, spend 3-4 days there, then head to the Thai border at Tachilek and exit the country from there? Will I need to prove this upon entrance to Myanmar or will I be able to arrange my flight when I arrive in Mandalay? Does anyone know if transport from Kengtung to the border is regular and how much it costs? Thanks very very much - I'm headed to Yangon in a few days and can't wait!

6

Less than a year ago it was no problem flying either from Mandalay or Heho/Inle Lake to/from Kyaingtong or Tachileik but as of last fall, it SEEMS that exiting via Tachileik into northern Thailand can be done BUT with the added cost of a permit if memory serves from some previous postings, running close to U$30 that wan't required previously. Some of the previousl reports indicated that the permit was gotten from travel agencies in Yangon but I don't know if Mandalay or Inle Lake travel agencies can secure the same permits or whether it's possilbe from other agencies in Burma.

If you're entering from the Tachileik-Mae Sai border, I know that you've got to fill out an itinerary form but don't know if this allows for travels into central Burma and re-exiting via Tachileik or via other Myanmar airports.

7

we liked kentoung very much. if you do not want to go walking, you can also visit hilltribes on the back of a motor cycle.
very nice surroundings, relaxed and not too many tourists there.
Harry's guesthouse is a good place to stay.
Trekking is possible. We did 3 different daytrekkings.

You can fly from kentoung to mandalay.

If you come in from thailand, you might have a problem if you want to leave kentoung area. Various people there got only
limited visa. They could not travel everywhere. do not know about the other way around.