North Myanmar and Mount Hkakabo Razi

North Myanmar and Mount Hkakabo Razi

is Kachin State and Sagaing Division bordered by India and China. There are no much problems with India but plenty with China because Chinese are notorious poachers and looters and also active in various crime activities. This started to grow real big after their government stopped logging and other negative activities against nature now they do it in Myanmar.

When visiting Myanmar the north is highly recommended, there are daily flights to Putao which is the only bigger town in this region. 

North Myanmar travel

Hkakabo Razi

Road and river travel from Myitkyina all the way up to the icy peaks which are extending down from Tibet is a tough challenge. The plains of Hkamti Long, or Putao, closely surrounded on three sides by the high mountains with snow on top get lots of water from innumerable streams, a pristine destination but not a very pleasant place during summer.

Trekking in north Myanmar

At the map you also can see Hpakant or Pharkant, thats the area where most jadeite jade is mined.


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Ruby mine at Mogok

Hpakant or Pharkant jade mines

Jadeite is mined in Kachin State,

this is one of the most famous mineral the country is know for most is exported to China, rubies are mined further south east.

The rainfall 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, the last northern outpost of the British who had real difficult trips to Burma.

Marsh land around Putao

Deep valleys in Kachin State

Fine winters of the north

Kachin people

But the fine winters are inviting for trekking and adventure plus great panoramas glazed with snow. The pristine places are a great destination for nature lover who can make exceptional tours into this region. Already the British had a hard time. As with other mountain people Kachin are tough and had lots of fights and wars in the past, now it's less.

Irrawaddy tributary

Here its real and far away from the normal this region is the source of Irrawaddy or Ayeyarwady river and the Chindwin. South East Asia’s highest peak with 5,900 meters, the Mt. Hkakabo Razi is located here, this peak was conquered for the first time in 1997 by a team of Japanese and local climbers. The closest town is Putao, a small, quiet place, surrounded by snow-capped mountains stretching in from Tibet.

Plenty of snow is around all year long, glaciers form a pristine environment and 

Snow-capped mountains and glaciers

are the source of the countries water. No cable cars, no roads, only Himalaya trekking, 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.

Here is still something to discover for a "green enthusiast", botanist; zoologist, entomologist and the ornithologist also score. Exotic 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 medicine, the same is also with the bears bladder.. Actually since a few years now Chinese and Koreans are rapidly depleting the forests with the usual hit and run tactics for quick cash. Most prime forest everywhere in the country is already gone by that business. The Chinese already destroyed most of their country and the government in Beijing imposed a logging ban some years ago now they fall into to 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.

Kind of rest house

There are some rest houses to stay at night, 

they are usually comfortably furnished and dry. But their roofs are 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 make life a burden both by day and by night. Mosquitoes were perhaps the least venomous, but also malaria is still a problem. Actually almost all adventure tours use their own tents for trekking camping. Sometimes it is possible to stay in some native houses it is advisable to take some mosquito repellents with you, mosquito nets are supplied anyway.

In this rather cool climate

you will cover most of your body anyway, means no much skin available for mosquito bites. But the great views across the valleys and the ranges compensates the problems. To the west are the huge ones dividing the watershed for the Irrawaddy River and Brahmaputra. Also the Chindwin river which joins between Mandalay and Bagan has the sources in this area on the west side.

Insects, like all life, crave salt of which there is a lack here; 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.

Rare Myanmar Butterflies

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