Northern Myanmar

Kachin, Myanmar flora, Myanmar Himalaya, Myanmar adventure travel, adventure tour, Myanmar mountain, Myanmar Kachin, Kachin state Myanmar, Myanmar people, Irrawaddy.

- Northern Myanmar is also called Upper Myanmar, actually this is the term the British used during colonial times.

Northern Myanmar is mainly Kachin State, from Myitkyina all the way up to the icy peaks of the Myanmar Himalaya which are extending down from Tibet is a tough travel challenge unless taking the aircraft to Putao.

The plains of Hkamti Long, or Putao, closely surrounded on three sides by the high Myanmar Himalaya mountains with snow on top get lots of water from innumerable streams. It is not a very pleasant place in summer.

The rainfall in northern Myanmar over half a year averages about 400 cm, the humidity is almost always above 75 per cent saturation up to over 90 per cent, the average maximum temperature for the same period is about 30 degree centigrade, this results into a hot and sticky marsh land around Putao, the former Fort Hertz.

But the fine Myanmar winters of this northern part plus great views of the mountains, glazed with snow, are some compensation for the many problems of the rainy season.

This is Myanmar Kachin State and with the Kachin already the British had a hard time. As with other people of the mountains they are tough Myanmar people and had lots of fights and wars in the past, now no more, its more civilized and quiet now.

The pristine places of northern Myanmar are a great destination for nature lover and adventure tours. Here its real and far away from the normal. This are the mountains which supply the water for the famous Irrawaddy or Ayeyarwady river.

Northern Myanmar is also home of  Myanmar’s and South East Asia’s highest peak with 5,900 meters, the Mt. Hkakabo Razi is located in the northern most Myanmar's Kachin State.

Hkakabo Razi was conquered for the first time in 1997 by a team of Japanese and Myanmar climbers. The closest town is Putao, a small, quiet place, surrounded by snow-capped mountains stretching in from Tibet.

This part of the Himalayan mountain with plenty of snow all year long, glaciers form a pristine environment. No cable cars, no roads only some treks, nothing gives disturbance to mother nature. There are talks with some Thai investors to open a ski resort for winter fun all year round, but nothing happen yet, its probable better when it stays like this.

Northern Myanmar is aside of being a great adventure destination, a pleasant surprise for a botanist; the zoologist, entomologist and the ornithologist also score. Birds are not far away in the trees and other animals are bear, tiger, deer, wild dog, plus other creatures.

Tigers are almost gone, all killed by a Chinese poacher mafia who sell certain parts of the tiger as ingredients for the Chinese medicine, the same is also with the bears bladder..

Actually since a few years now Chinese and Koreans are rapidly depleting all forests in the Myanmar Himalayas, its the usual hit and run tactics for quick cash.

The Chinese already destroyed most of their country and the government in Beijing imposed a logging ban some time ago now they fall into to neary Myanmar and leave a trek of destruction, they just bribe their way through.

Monkeys are still plentiful and several kinds of squirrel inhabit the hill jungle, from the giant black Ratufa, as big as a cat, to the little striped Tamiops, which is smaller than our red squirrel, one sees often. It is only necessary to sit quietly for half an hour to be pretty sure of seeing one or the other, so common are they.

There are some rest houses in this northern Myanmar area in which to stay at night, they are usually comfortably furnished and dry. But their roofs were thatched with fan palm leaf and harbored much assorted live-stock, from solitary wasps and other insects, to snakes, lizards and several kinds of birds; probably also bats.

Insects still made life a burden in northern Myanmar, both by day and by night. Mosquitoes were perhaps the least venomous, but as the malaria is still a problem. Actually almost all Myanmar Himalaya adventure tours use their own tents for camping in this area to bypass this problems. But it is still advisable to take some mosquito repellants with you, mosquito nets are supplied anyway.

In this rather cool mountain climate of northern Myanmar you will cover most of your body anyway, means no much skin available for mosquito bites. 

But the great northern Myanmar views across the valleys and the mountain ranges compensates the problems. To the west are the huge mountains dividing the watershed for the Irrawaddy and Brahmaputra. Also the Chindwin river who joins the Irrawaddy or Ayeyarwady between Mandalay and Bagan has the sources in this area.

Insects, like all life, crave salt of which there is a lack in northern Myanmar; butterflies are notable salt consumers, and that is why they are to be found on the droppings of animals and where cattle gather. In spite of the heavy rain, butterflies, and in fact all insects, are far more abundant here throughout the hot, moist summer than they ever are during the winter, in spite of almost continuous sunshine.

Immediately the rain in northern Myanmar ceases out come the butterflies in countless numbers to dance and feed in the sunshine for a few hours, before seeking cover once more.

- Trekking Myanmar

Trekking Base Camp	A real northern Myanmar tour is nothing without great base camp trekking and Myanmar Himalayan trekking in general. Northern Myanmar should be on the schedule of any travel Myanmar. You can find the right Myanmar
trekking and vacation packages at Myanmar Explore.

A very diverse flora and fauna makes northern Myanmar a prime eco-tourism zone but due to the political problems almost no travelers touch down here. It looks like there were more travelers around during British colonial times than today. Which on the other side is just the right adventure travel environment everyone is searching for, very far far and away?

One of very positive subject in Myanmar aside of great nature is, there are no mad people around who try to do all kind of nonsense under the cover of religion, Myanmar is probably one of the safest tourist destination on planet earth.

Kachin Women

Myanmar is just right for traditional tourism at the beaches on the Andaman Sea, cultural tourism at Bagan, Mrauk U and other places plus great adventurous tourism, in this case northern Myanmar. If you want to experience outdoor adventure with the great Kachin people and other Myanmar's you will have a marvelous time in northern Myanmar.

There are almost no travelers around in northern Myanmar. Kachin are not so busy, they do not travel much since the whole infrastructure is real harsh. There are only few villages along the cart roads.

Occasionally a Kachin woman with fruit, vegetables, rice, chickens or eggs for sale try to make some small business along the road. During the northern Myanmar hot summer season violent thunderstorm over the hills and mountains are rather normal. Which often carry away the bamboo foot-bridges.

Here are the sources of the Irrawaddy or Ayeyarwady,  the Brahmaputra is to the west, the Salween and Mekong in the east, the Irrawaddy is a rather short river. It is barely 2500 kilometer in length, whereas the Brahmaputra is around 4000 kilometers, the Mekong about the same and the Salweenabout 3000 km..

The Irrawaddy River or Ayeyarwady is somehow the lifeline of Myanmar and all that water comes from the icy peaks and glaciers of the north of Myanmar.