nomadsally: 7. Burma: HSIPAW, SHAN STATE, BURMA/MYANMAR

Once a Royal City

Hsipaw

Young Nuns Praying in Hsipaw Nunery

Hsipaw is the Most Northern Site

Landing at the Lashio airport, we shared a taxi ride to Hsipaw, an agricultural town of about 30,000 people. The town is known as the taking off town for village treks. It also was once a Shan royal city and former princedom. Historians claim that a 19th-century prince Sao So Chae was knighted by Queen Victoria.

Since we had only two full days in Hsipaw, we immediately made arrangements for our village treks and regional visits for the next days. Mr. Charles Guest House, our friendly lodging, efficiently helped us arrange everything.

Dancers Outside Mr. Charles Guest House

Initially, Hsipaw disappointed us and we could not understand why travel books gave it such positive ratings. Our first walk along main street to find a something to eat required considerable mindfulness as we competed with heavily laden trucks and motorcycles flying by on the rough narrow roadway in the dark. There were so few lights in the whole town. We later found out that Hsipaw, located close to the Chinese border, is a trade gateway.

The next morning we joined fellow travelers and our guide, Mr. Bean, for a day's journey up the river by boat, a short trek to a mountain monastery, returning via a Shan village visit. En route to the monastery we passed through fields of pineapple, mango, papaya, carrots, grapefruit, orange, teak, corn, coconut, coffee, rice, plum, and beautiful banyan trees. The rich soil, temperature, and water availability allows a great variety of produce in this area.

En route to the monastery, we find a sweet 90 Year Old Woman Living Alone

We so enjoyed visiting the very isolated monastery which was charming in its simplicity. There were many young noviciates there and learned that throughout Burma, most Buddhists send their 7-8 year old boys to a monastery where they spend 7-10 days in training with senior monks. It seems to provide a unique experience and education for boys who live in these very isolated regions.

Young Monks Trekking to Their Monastery

Views of Young Monks Experiencing the Religious Life

In Prayer

After listening to the daily chanting of the noviciates, we were treated us to a cup of tea and a plate of delicious fresh pineapple. Walking around the monastery we observed the novitiates wash their clothes and dishes as well as repair their bicycles. It is a wonderful learning opportunity for these young men.

Fixing Bikes

A Shawn Village

Clean and attractive describes the small Shan village located on a tributary of the wide Ayeyarway Tributary. I kept thinking that this Shan village life is so similar to the Dai of Xishuangbanna in Yunnan Province, China, just north of Burma. Then I learned that these people are closely related and are in the same language group.

Making a Chair from Bamboo Cuttings

These villagers are most fortunate to be located on the Mandalay to Lashio train route, built during WWII, thus providing convenient transportation for regional marketing.

Hsipaw is definitely a great place to visit for many unique experiences, especially multi-day trekking to visit a unique village way of life.

TWILIGHT OVER BURMA written by the Austrian wife of the last Shan Prince of Hsipaw, who mysteriously disappeared during the military dictatorship in 1962. Good description of life in Hsipaw as well as the cruelties of the Ne Win coup.