Loikaw Area Village Visits – February 2016 Report

Thanks for your input!

I might go just for one day then, that'd be all I can afford.. Sounds like the Kayan villages are the ones to go for for the most memorable and "unique/authentic" experience?

To those of you who have been? What is the city itself like? Any interesting markets, temples (except the main one), etc? I.e. does it make for a nice one or two days to just walk around, watch people, try local food etc?

I really want to go, but considering going elsewhere if it gets way out of my budget...

at this stage they all offer a relatively 'authentic' and memorable experience...the Kayan villages get the most attention simply because they have the 'long-neck' women...if Clemment is starting to charge more for visiting the more distant Kayaw villages, then the Kayan or Kayah village might be your options.
Loikaw town itself - an average Myanmar town with a river thru it......the market is okay but nothing special....ie. not like markets in places like Kengtung, Taunggyi, or Lashio where you will usually see women from various tribes...
The main sight of interest is the stupas and temple on the large rocky outcrop....

rivaltribal - were you traveling alone? If so, perhaps that's why you were able to get a lower fee. Indeed, as you said, there is an extra charge with more people. A couple guides said that to me when I was emailing guides to request prices.
Zac5 and sofieks - two suggestions:
Do a separate posting on the LPTT with the specific topic of looking for people to share guided trips to Loikaw area villages.
Request the fees from Martino, the guide we used on our third day, who we also thought was excellent. He took us to the Kayan villages (there are several villages close together that you can walk to). I don't know if he has experience taking people to the Kayah or Kayaw villages. The email address above did not come out correctly in my original posting. His correct email address is:
(removed). If you want to use my name as a recommendation for him, send me a PM and I'll respond.
If you need to pick one village to see, I would choose either the Kayan or Kayaw. As rivaltribal says, most people want to see the longneck women and that would be in the Kayan villages. I very much liked visiting those villages but the village I liked the most was the Kayaw. Take a look at the website I listed from the Thai travel agency and you will see photos of the various ethnic groups and that may help you decide which group you would like to see.
I agree with rivaltribal as to the description of the town of Loikaw.

Me too. Town not that interesting, market very small, but the temple is very photogenic with good views.

I too want to know if rivaltribal was traveling alone or with one other person. It seems like with just five people--driver, guide, rivaltribal + another tourist couple--it's a little pushy to make you upgrade to a bigger car. And does that mean if you're traveling alone there's no motorbike option?

Very intersting thread!

I am happy to hear that more people than just me were happy going with Clement.

There was a quite recent thread on TT where somebody was compaining about C. and accusing him of overcharging tourists.I posted my experiences in that thread and tried to explain that is normal market economy.

If there is high demand , prices go up. Clement is fully booked every day during the tourist season , so what do you expect? Did you ever try to get hold of a ticket for a fully booked Bruce Springsteen concert??? You have to pay at least ten times the nominal ticket value......

I was travelling on my own for three days and payed 80$ a day ; but I did not go to the more distant Kayaw village because he asked for 200000 Kyat if I remember right.
If rivaltribal payed 100$ per day ( for 5 days ? )including the Kayaw village that might be some sort of a mixed calculation.
I have not heard of anybody going by motorbike but that would definitely be a very uncomfortable ride to any of the destinations where I have been .

Interresting news as well regarding the Kayan villages .
When I visited in January did they just havr built the "tourist village" which is virtually a row of souvenirshops near the main road. They had not started to collect an entrancefee at that time but my guide said that we have to stop and go around thosr shops even when I told him that Iam not interested to buy anything.
So the entrancefee is just the next step in becoming a real popular touristattraction.
I am unfortunately very sure that even the more remote villages will soon see much more tourists as information about these amazing places is spreading quick due to the internet.$

cabs....I was travelling solo...BUT...that really should not make any difference to the price asked for 2 people (which I think you were).
The price rise I was referring to was when having customers above 2, so if there is 3 customers...that is when Clemments claims you need a larger car - which supposedly costs $50US more..

Nauga - yes, I agree that trying to make you 'upgrade 'to a larger car just because there are 3 customers (5 can fit in one of the smaller cars okay - especially if only going to the Kayan villages which aren't all that far from town) is 'pushy'...but what I, or you, think about that means little....if that is what they ask then that is what you will have to pay, IF you want to go ahead.

Motorbike option....?? - if you mean you travelling on the back of a motorbike with the guide...theoretically that should be an option...but again, similar to the situation in Kengtung now, when a guide makes a name for himself and gets plenty of business coming there way, why would they want to spend an uncomfortable day on a motorbike, when they can have customers fork out the $$ for a nice comfy air-con car...(similar even if you wanted to ride your own motorbike along with the guide on his..).

With the situation in Loikaw, and the rapidly increasing number of tourists going there, 'you' as a tourists have very little leverage when trying to reduce your costs...

WC - 'If rivaltribal payed 100$ per day ( for 5 days ? )including the Kayaw village that might be some sort of a mixed calculation. ' - it had nothing to do with any 'mixed calculation'. That was the daily price.
When I pre-arranged my visit with him the price he gave me was for $100 US per day...at that stage I was only staying 2 or 3 days. Was only after the arvo visit to the Lisu village and I found out about their upcoming festival that I decided to stay longer...day 4 was a 'rest' day in town, then the last day went to the Lisu village.
I overheard him talking to other prospective customers on his phone while we were out and about, and the price was $100 US.
The only reason I can see for his large price increase in Kyat (2 very recent posts state he is asking 160,000 Kyat per day - approx $125 US) is either a big change in exchange rate between US and Kyat (which I doubt) or, he wants to make more money out of his popular business.

@rivaltribal

Did you travel by a 4 WD car/truck when visiting the far away Kayaw village?

That's what the OP described and that's what I was told was causing the much higher price for that excursion.

Notice that the OP paid 200000 Kyat (~ 150$ ) .You must have been very lucky to get that trip for 100$.

fyi - I travelled to Kayaw by 4wd..
'You must have been very lucky to get that trip for 100$.' - and you must be kidding....!!!!
If you think 200,000 Kyat is a fair price for a day trip (anywhere in Myanmar)....ie. not even staying overnight.....try and understand this - I wasn't 'lucky'....the OP was ripped off (sorry cabs, but I think you were foolish to agree to pay that much)
(I have travelled in many tribal areas of Myanmar over the last 10+ years, not to mention neighbouring countries, so have quite a few trips to compare..)

Not sure why foreigners are trying to justify locals clearly charging excessive amounts for trips...that just makes it even worse for future visitors...(as bad as an earlier post on this thread who tried to compare this issue to buying a ticket to a booked-out concert...)

Clemment IS NOT the only option for Loikaw...I suggest if he starts charging higher prices then people should start contacting other guides there..

Perhaps we got ripped off. Indeed, we thought the price was very high, but we did want to go to the Kayaw village. And, we made the decision based on a comparison of rates. Here's the entire explanation:
Our K200,000 fee for the trip to the Kayaw village was decided when the exchange rate was K1400 for $1.00. The rate did go down to K1350 while we were in Myanmar and before we got to Loikaw. That would mean the K200,000 fee was in the $143 - 148 range.
When we were contacting Clement by email, there was a chance that he was not going to be available when we would be in Loikaw. At that point, I contacted three other guides and got various prices:
One guide said he charges $40 for 2 people and transportation would be $50 and this was only to the Kayan and Kayah villages.
When I explicitly asked the fee for the Kayaw village, one guide said the total cost would be $250 for 2 people and $300 for 4 people.
And, another guide provided the fee schedule below (total of $205) for a trip to the Kayaw village:
The first you need to take my guide fees for that day =35USD
The second (for the car)= 120USD
The third you need the permission to go there for (MOHT;IMM;State government and also Ethnic agreement tax)=40USD
Finally we must pay for the community of the village=10USD
I did not realize that there is a fee for the necessary permission. Of course, it's possible that the guide is merely stating that and that there is no cost. I do like to think the Myanmar people are really trustworthy and honest.
Knowing all these fees in advance, we accepted the fact that Clement's fee to the Kayaw village would be K200,000.
Perhaps if there are more guides and thus, more competition, the fees might go down somewhat.