Nothern Snow-Covered Town.

The snow-clad, calm and peaceful town, Putao, is situated in the northernmost part of Myanmar. It is also the place where the highest mountain of Myanmar, Khakaborazi (5881 meters), which is also the one and only Icy Mountain in South East Asia, can be seen. Due to the fact that the town is in connection with the place of “the Himalayas” and the presence of temperate climate, the ice mountain was formed in the area. In Putao there is a variation of the weather and rains. It rains especially between June and October. The temperature varies greatly and high temperature normally occurs on the rainy days of the month of July.

While insect researchers come to Putao during the wet season, bird watchers usually visit the place during the winter so that they can study winter birds closely. As for the mountain climbers, the cold December and January are the best time for them to enjoy mountain climbing.

Travel to Putao

To come to Putao one has to travel for 732 miles from Yangon to Myitkyina first by car, train or plane, and then continue the journey of 218 miles from Myitkyina to Putao only by plane. If you want to visit Putao, you need to bring with you a sleeping bag; a tent and a pair of boots are required as it can rain anytime there. Some tobacco leaves will also be needed to put inside the shoes and then wear them because it will protect you from land leeches by doing so. It should be noted that you should avoid wearing bright colored clothes and wear only clothes of pale colors not to attract the attention of forest animals such as bears. Putao, the city in the midst of snowy mountains, is famous for the presence of its medicinal plants and herbs such as Masho, Khantauk, Machit U, Shee-pa-dee, etc. The fame of the place also can be attributed rare forest animals such as musk deer, takin, Phatgyi and to the rare species orchids including the black orchids which can be found in that area. In addition, a kind of rare mushroom known as “Matsutake” comes from Putao. “Matsutake” is a kind of mushroom which grow from the lower stem of the red pine trees which can be found only top of the ice mountains of over 100,000 feet height. The red pine is a tree the wood of which is used in making coffins among the Chinese people. (It is said that the corpse placed inside that type of coffin made from the wood of the red pine – will last for twenty years without going bad.) Matsutake, the mushroom found on red pine trees is highly valued because it cannot be grown but grows only naturally. The mushroom is consumed by people as food and it costs about $500 for a dish of Matsutake in Singapore. What a strange about Matsutake; it is that they will never grow again at a place which has been exposed to cigarette smoke. Therefore in order not to harm the environment and rare species of plants and animals, visitors should avoid using mosquito repellent creams containing chemicals and insecticides in the area.

The major ethnic races living in Putao are Li Su, Khamtee Shan, Ra Wan and Jane Phaw races. Each race has own dialect and traditional clothes. However the common characteristic is that they are all simple, honest, helpful and hospitable. Therefore a visitor who comes to visit Putao can stay not only on guest houses as Khakaborazi guesthouse but in local houses that belong to the local ethnic people.

Mulasheedi Village

Mulasheedi Village where Li Su people live is about eight miles far away from Putao and can be reached by car. The meaning of Sheedi is a kind of grass used in thatching. Mulasheedi suspension bridge is one of the tourist attraction sites in Putao. Visiting Putao, one can study the culture and tradition of the Li Su race such as their habit of going to the church on Sunday and drinking traditional brew and dancing Cha-Cha dance in pairs shortly after the worship.

Namkham Village

If you travel from Hta War Yan village to Namkham village by sailing along the Malikha River, you can also see Lan Kut village on the way. What is unique in that village is that plow is done with the use of elephants. Along the Malikha River, the scence of people panning for gold is also a common sight too. Being home to Rawan people; due to its systematic and proper town-plan, the place is regarded as modeled village of the Putao district. Namkham in Rawan dialect has the meaning of “the land of gold”. However it is not only gold that is found in the area, but silver, rubies and jades are also treasures commonly found there. The scenery is quite beautiful during the month of December and January when the plants bear fruits such as Washington fruits, Grape fruits and American lime fruits and some other over hundred kinds of fruits. Namkham village is not a place where rice can be grown due to the excessive cold weather of its location which is the foot of the mountain range. However the place is rich with U Le’ trees which grow naturally in this area. The native Rawan people therefore take the kernel of the trunk of U Le’ tree and make it into powder that they eat in place of rice. The snack made by the powder of U Le’ trees is served as special food in the traditional festivals of the native people. The common foods eaten in the place are fermented bamboo-shoots, the root stock of the taro, crushed buds of the cane and the buds of cane mixed with the rootstock of the taro made into a soup. As for the accommodation, the homes of the native people will make guesthouses for visitors. Because the natives have a belief that the arrival of a visitor at their home is a sign of good luck they are excessively hospitable, and kind and helpful to visitors treating them with food and even entertaining them with their traditional dance at night.

Machanbaw Town

If you want to visit the town, Machanbaw, you can go there on foot traveling for about eight mile or take a boat or a raft along the Malikha River – Machanbaw is a place of Jane Phaw race and it’s name have derived from the term Ma Kyan Baw. The ending sound “Baw” means “joint” and it is named in that place due to the presence of confluence of Malikha River and a mountain torrent in the area. Stone sculptures and beautiful decorations with stone art can be spotted at the place of confluence. Machanbaw is also a beautiful place with a great many of coffee plantations, tea plantations. The visitors to Machanbaw can enjoy a relaxing stay in Gubar guest house. One of the prominent signs of Machanbaw is a stone dragon which is a natural reef that looks like a dragon. Although the stone dragon had some bumps on it which look like the scales of a dragon, now only few of them remain there on the reef. According to the legend it is said that a real dragon was transformed into a stone dragon there because of the curse of the widow whose son, that is about to novitiate according to Buddha’s order, was eaten by that dragon.

When one wants to return back to Putao from Machanbaw, after crossing the Malikha Bridge, one will arrive at a small village of Shan race called Naung Khaing village from where the journey of about 14 miles has to be traveled by car to reach back to Putao.

For those who would like to visit places of natural beauty and love adventure; Putao, a small town where is full of natural beauties and interesting items without the human attractions of its virgin and harming of the environment, is a unique place to visit.