lonely-planet-myanmar-burma-11-edition

266NORTHERN MYANMAR THE FAR NORTHroute but as yet this is a public charter with nofi xed schedule. Yangon to Lashio costs around$135, Mandalay to Lashio $70. Air Kanbawza hasannounced plans for Lashio fl ights in future.On arrival don’t panic if your baggage doesn’tappear in the tiny terminal building while you’rebeing quizzed by immigration offi cers: in factbags are disconcertingly delivered to a shedoutside the airport compound gate.BusLong distance services use the Main Bus Station(Pyikaungsu Rd) opposite the Great City Hotel,about 1 mile north of centre. Services include:Mandalay Air-con buses depart at 8am and6pm (K5000, eight hours), travelling via PyinOo Lwin (six hours) and Kyaukme (three hours)Mu-se Regular buses (four hours) and a goodroad but foreigners are never allowed.Nay Pyi Taw Departs 6am (K9000, 14 hours).Taunggyi Departs 7am (K15,000, 15 hours).However, most long-distance bus companiesare highly reluctant to sell tickets to foreigners,citing the dangers to the driver of your presence(should he crash he faces a serious backlash).The local bus station, 300m west of DaowadengdaPagoda, is a series of shophousesdoubling as bus offi ces. The fi rst one on the rightoffers useful services to Hsipaw (K1500, twohours) at 9.30am, 11am, 12.30pm and 2.30pm.Ideally buy tickets a couple of hours ahead.TaxiShared taxis wait in front of the main bus station(mostly before 10am), charging K35,000per person to Taunggyi, between K13,000 andK15,000 per person to Mandalay (eight hours)depending on the season (assuming four in acar). There’s no discount if you get off in betweenat Hsipaw (two hours), Kyaukme (three hours) orPyin Oo Lwin (six hours). By arrangement mostwill pick up at your hotel.TrainLashio’s miniature train station is 2 miles northof the market, a K1500 pick-up ride. At 5am theone daily train departs to Mandalay (ordinary/upperclass $6/12, 16 hours) via Hsipaw ($2/4, fourhours) and Pyin Oo Lwin ($4/8, 11 hours). Ticketsales only start at 4.30am the same morning.8Getting AroundFrom the Theinni Rd–Bogyoke St junction, sharedthree-wheeler pick-up trucks (K300) shuttledown past the bus station and Mansu pagodas,terminating at a major junction (‘Lashio Gyi’) halfa mile east of the airport. Occasional shared ridesfrom there run to the hot springs. Chartered threewheelerscosts around K1500 per hop within town.Taxis from the airport ask a steep K5000.THE FAR NORTHMyanmar’s far northern range of Himalayan‘Ice Mountains’ is one of the world’sleast-known ‘last frontiers’. Hkakabo Razi(19,295ft), the nation’s loftiest summit, isover a half a mile higher than Mont Blancand had never been climbed until 1996. Perhapsthat’s not surprising given that the trekto reach its base camp took almost a month.The surrounding Hkakabo Razi NationalPark is considered a treasure trove of biodiversity.Landscapes here are similar tothose found in the Indian state of ArunachalPradesh – steep forests, ridges of peaksbursting through the snowline and deep valleyscarved by fast-flowing mountain rivers.Further south is the Hukaung Valley TigerReserve (www.panthera.org/programs/tiger/tigers-forever/Myanmar), which, at 6748 squaremiles, is larger than all of India’s tiger reservesput together.The far north has sparse populations ofKachin, Rawang, Lisu and even a handfulof Taron, the only known pygmy group inAsia. Set well back from the higher peaks,the only settlement of any size is Putao , anoddly diffuse place that has a market but noother real sense of a town centre. This wasthe site of the isolated British WWII militaryoutpost, Fort Hertz, though there’s no fortressto visit.Today the region still feels (and genuinelyis) entirely cut off from the rest of Myanmar.This may change as the airport runway getsextended and new tourism facilities are beingdeveloped. But for now, to get even thebriefest possible glimpse, you’ll have to do anorganised ‘tour’, costing from around $600per person for the shortest four-day option.That will get you to one or two photogenicsuspension footbridges and some unspoiltrural villages, though the latter aren’t markedlydifferent from similar settlements elsewherein rural north Myanmar. Unless youtrek for many days further, the Himalayanhorizon will remain fairly distant, and mightstay hidden altogether by rain clouds. So isit worth the trouble? That really depends onhow you value exclusivity. If you’re comparingtourist numbers, Putao makes Bhutanlook like a veritable Benidorm.The best time to visit is from Octoberto April, when daytime temperatures arequite pleasant and nights are cold but rarelyfreezing.