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remains flat with a few bushes, stunted trees,
cacti, goats and cattle. A signboard informs one
and all in bold painted letters that the
considerable extent of water on our right is the
Hnget Min Kone dam.
Mulberry, cotton plants and rain trees are close
by with small clumps of medium-sized trees
further in the distance. The southern Shan hills
loom through the mist ahead, about an hour out
of Meiktila. Presently the road ascends ever so
slightly and then flattens again. Htanaung and
rain trees are no longer present. Instead we see
clumps of bamboo and plum trees beside the road.
We climb once more, the gradient is not steep
but we are now definitely in the foothills with
the hillside rising just above to our right and
the ground to the left dropping some six to nine
metres. More bamboo forests appear with smaller
trees with darker green interspersed on the
hills. The road becomes even for some distance
then rises again on a steeper gradient. Our car
reaches Yinmabin where we take lunch.
The journey onward is a continuous ascent with
only a few short stretches of even road. Forests
of dry leafless, medium-sized trees and thorn
forests fill the hillsides. The vegetation is
greener, the trees larger with denser foliage as
we advance. Small hamlets in valleys and lowland
along the wayside look fresh and verdant with
banana, coconut, mango and other trees. The road takesmany hazardous twists and turns as it winds
uphill, sometimes on the left, then on the right
side of the adjoining hill, with
steep cliffs or wooded hillsides towering first
on one side of the road and then the other. Away
from the cliffs are deep valleys with dry stream
beds or with water trickling down the hills.
Misty green wooded hills at times seem to pop
out on one side with others coming into sight
ahead. Tiny settlements with cultivated patches
on flat stretches are more frequent.
 Logs
piled by the roadside indicate we are in a
logging area. In the Shan State, this is one of
the main timber production regions for
commercially valuable hardwood such as teak,
padauk (Pterocarpus macrocarpus), pyinkado (Xylia
dolabriformis), (Dipterocarpus tuberculatus),
Ingyin (Pentacme siamensis), Thitya (Shorea
oblongifolia) and pyinma (Lagerstroemia speciosa).
There are a few hairpin turns with low concrete
guard walls at the most dangerous spots. Traffic
is fairly heavy —ubiquitous Japanese pick-up
trucks with roof-top passengers, buses, trucks,
vans, saloon cars, government vehicles, coaches
and quite a number of bowsers — both on the up
and down runs. Vehicles on the downhill route
stop well in advance to allow ample time and
space for those coming up to safely negotiate
difficult passages. The same rule is applied at
bridges.
We are beyond Pyinyaung — another centre for
transhipment of timber — and are now at an
altitude of about 610 metres. The scenery is
pleasant, the surroundings are lush and green,
the air is cooler and the rays of the sun
struggling through the mists bear down more
gently. A decided contrast to that phase of our
trip below an elevation of 300 metres. A hairpin
turn and soon our truck passes Wetphyuyit,
between mileposts 61 and 62, negotiates another
uphill hairpin bend and then rolls through
Yay-ywa. Both are large villages, the latter
within eight kilometres of Kalaw. Soon we enter
Kalaw, a popular hill resort during British
days, 112 kilometres from Meiktila and 70
kilometres west of Taungyi. Located on the
western edge of the Shan Plateau at an elevation
of 1,300 metres, this small, peaceful town feels
cool and pleasant even at noon in dry season.
Small pines appear on the landscape with a few
hills not far off and we notice ducks and water
buffaloes which we havenot seen for some time.
This is a favourite tourist stop. A good
starting point for hikes to nearby Palaung
villages through pine woods, orchards and bamboo
groves. The terrain is now flat and the road
passes through beautiful country. This region
produces temperate climate fruits such as pears,
peaches and oranges in addition to rice, tea,
wheat, soya beans, groundnuts, tobacco,
potatoes, garlic, sunflower seeds and dried
green cordia leaves used as cheroot wrappers.
Some 10 kilometres on lies Aungban, a popular
stopping place. Shortly before we get there, a
road branches north from the main road in the
direction of the small town of Pindaya 41
kilometres away where the Pindaya Caves (picture
below) are located. The caves contain thousands
of Buddha images in a limestone ridge
overlooking lovely Boutaloke Lake and are a Shan
State tourist attraction. Nearby the Shan paper
is manufactured, made from mulberry bark and
mainly used to produce the pretty umbrellas.
We continue in an easterly direction from
Aungban to Heho, the nearest airport for Taungyi
and Inlay, then to Shwenyaung. Here, the eleven
kilometre road to Naungshwe and Inle turns off
to the south while the main road leads to
Taungyi. The land around is wet, flat and green
with paddy cultivation in progress. Duck, water
buffaloes and egrets abound.
The Nankand canal from Shwenyaung to Inle Lake
parallels the road on the east. Lead and
eucalyptus trees, orange blooms of gold mohur,
red clusters of flame of the forest and a
profusion of red and white bougainvillaea greet
us as we motor to the principal lake town
Naungshwe, one kilometre from the north end of
Inle. This is the jump off point for excursions
around the famed lake.
   
  
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