Loikaw Area Village Visits – February 2016 Report

naugastyle -
Based on my experiences in Myanmar, it seems to be quite common that a guide does not have access to a car.
As for the guides' names, the names I've noted are their Catholic-given names. Missionaries converted a great deal of this area to Catholicism. Their Myanmar names are Ka Lei Min Tel (Clement) and Htay Aung (Martino).
We were there in mid- February.
I got the impression that some of the young guys in the Min Ma Haw reception area were night staff. When we asked something, one replied rather loudly, "We don't speak English." The day staff person was exactly the opposite - very helpful, kind and always a nice smile. Sometimes we would see him in the evening, too.

Hi,

This is a great trip report!

I think I'm going to buy a guidebook, since it's my first time there. have you seen the most recent LP and RG and any other guidebooks, and could recommend 1 over another? On Amazon, someone reviewed the RG as barely updated since the 2011 version, despite a 2015 publishing date. LP has a 2014 version, but it also has some poor reviews.

I'm going to Myanmar for my first time in April. I've traveled a lot before, and my style is slow (stay 3-4 days in a place) and off the beaten track (1 hotel towns). I think a book would help for the maps and for finding hotels.

I look forward to your thoughts. Thanks!

LongestBusRide - I have only used the LP guide for all my trips to Myanmar as well as info posted here on the TT. Tripadvisor.com and booking.com are good sources for hotel reviews. Yes, the LP guide is outdated by the time they print it, but it is helpful for maps and descriptions of sights. I bought the e-book for this last trip. LP has sales every so often and that's when I made my purchase. The information on the sights remains relatively constant. It's the hotels, restaurants, and the prices that change. We, also, like to travel slowly staying 3-4 days in a place. I do recommend seeing the main highlights of Myanmar - there's a reason that they are the main highlights and they are quite worthwhile and in many cases, spectacular, to see. Yes, there may be many tourists at some of those places, but it sure isn't as touristy as, for example, the Angkor Wat temples in Cambodia (which are also worth seeing, knowing full well that you will be there with hoards of tourists).

Thank you! Also, it seems I will most likely be in Myanmar during the water festival this year. If it makes a difference as to where I spend that time, please let me know. I'd rather be in a town where it's celebrated. Because it's the hot season, I was thinking of Pyin Oo Lwin, since it's in the cooler highlands.

I enjoy photography, so if there are any smaller places you highly recommend, please also let me know. Of course, I'll visit Bagan and the other highlights, as they do look amazing!

Thanks so much again for all this information! I'm more than happy to give you information on places I've been recently, too. Mongolia, Hawaii (USA), Peru (Machu Picchu area). Just let me know if I can help.

Pyin Oo Lwin is only cool in a relative sense. I've been there in late March and it was still very warm. You will be hard-pressed to find places that don't celebrate Thingyan. Even the colder areas are not really cold enough in April that you wouldn't appreciate a good splashing.

LongestBusRide - I don't have any experience with the water festival. I suggest doing a search on the TT or posting a question if you want more information.
I'm not a "real" photographer but I'd say, it's the mid-day sun that you need to try to avoid. The people all over Myanmar are great to photograph. And, there are so many different ethnic groups.
In addition to the ethnic villages near Loikaw, I would say that trekking to the hilltribes outside of Kengtung are less touristy than the main highlights of Myanmar.
Thanks for the offer of information.
I have sent you a PM.

Great report cabs985. My partner and I were in Loikaw last January and used Clement's guide service for 3 days as well. Clement is a very nice man and he tried very hard to explain what we were seeing and to translate what the villagers said so we could understand the experience. His first price quotes for day trips were very high. When we negotiated for lower prices he readily agreed, but the final costs were still a bit high. All of this happened via email well before we arrived and Clement was very quick to respond.

We did very much enjoy being someplace that for the moment at least is still a bit off the tourist trail. On the other hand, we had 1 American and 3 Canadians ask to join our trips while we were there. To his credit, Clement always asked if it was OK if they join us and assured us that we did not have to agree to let them come. While on our visits we saw no other tourists while hiking or at the villages. We did see other tourists in the Loikaw market, at the hilltop temple and at Min Ma Haw Guesthouse. Given all this, I think Loikaw is already well on the path to being "discovered". If untouristed is your thing, visit Loikaw as soon as possible!

As cabs985 already knows, I have mixed feelings about Loikaw. Our visit to the Kayan villages was very interesting and I was pleased to find the villagers so welcoming and as interested in our lives as we were with theirs. Most everyone we met was dressed in traditional clothing and we also met the old woman who told us she was ready to die which might be a standard part of Clement's visits.

Our 2nd day was to visit Pa-O and Khi tribal villages where we saw pretty much no one in traditional dress and we were a bit disappointed. We had visited Pa-O villages on an earlier trip to Myanmar near Kakku and had a completely different experience. The 1 hour, 15 minute walk between the villages was through already harvested fields and very dry, brown vegetation and therefore not very scenic. I realize that this was due to the time of year, but it did add to our general disappointment with the day. As I mentioned, the Khi villagers were all in western dress as well and did not seem very interested in talking with us. However, they did provide us with one of the best Burmese meals we had on the entire trip.

We were not fortunate enough to see a full scale chicken-bone extraction, but we did see the aftermath of one that had happened a few days before. It was only a small ceremony to decide which tree to select for a new village pole. Clement was very good at explaining what had happened and why. His command of English is quite good, yet his pronunciation was at times difficult for us to understand, so one must be patient.

Sunset at the temple in Loikaw town is highly recommended. The temple is dramatically perched on some tall, slender karst formations like many we saw in southern Myanmar near Hpa-An and Mawlamyine. It is dramatically lit at night and can be seen all over town. If you are adventurous with food, ask Clement to take you to the Kayan restaurant. The traditional food was similar, but also quite different than standard Burmese fare and the owners were thrilled we were eating there.

We then took the bat trip from Phekon to Nyangshwe stopping in Sankar which we enjoyed quite a lot. It is, however expensive as well. Clement can arrange everything if you want to do this.

I enjoyed our visit to Loikaw and I am quite glad I saw it before it becomes part of the tourist trail. Was it awesome? I wanted it to be, but the disappointing bits were enough to sway me away. Was it worth it... Yes, definitely.

cabs - sorry, it was $35 for guide and $65 for car and driver...but still pretty good money for a Myanmar guide for a day trip.
Also...I actually saw more women in traditional dress in the couple Kayah villages we went to than in the Kayan villages (and quite a lot more in the Kayaw village).

Thrive - the 'Khi' village (not sure where Clemment gets that name) is actually a Lisu village. I went there one afternoon early on in my Loikaw visit, and we gave a lift to a few women walking home along the track....I recognised their costume - 1 or 2 had some traditional costume on then). Stayed a couple extra days at the end and went back for their new year celebration and nearly all of the women and girls were in trad costume then, only 1 or 2 of the men. I found them very friendly, both visits.

PS - I also saw a 'chicken bone extraction' ceremony....not sure if it is something they arrange before hand for tourists, or just that at this time of year they have quite a few celebrations that warrant such a ceremony (eg. lots of marriages now before planting season kicks in...)

Thank you Cabs985 for such a comprehensive report! My partner and i are traveling to loikaw mid march and hope to use clement as our guide, unfortunately we cannot afford to visit all 3 villages, we will only visit 2, i was hoping for your opinion on which 2 villages to choose..? We prefer a more low key genuine experience then the bigger tourist trap style. Thanks in advance :)

Zac

Hi,

I'm planning to go to loikaw around 20-25 March for 2-3 days, if that's when you're going maybe we can share a guide to keep the costs down a bit? Let me know if that sounds at all interesting to you :)

Sofie

re #18 -
just a note: combining with other people will not necessarily keep the cost down much, not for the original couple anyway.......more than 2 people and the guide will probably tell you that you need to hire a larger car (Clemment did that with me when another couple were keen to join with me for one day) and will ask for another $50+ US on top of original price...