In early november, we had trhee visitors from Switzerland: Seraina, Christian and Sabi. As we had never been to the Inle-Lake, we decided to join their Myanmar travels for a three-day trekking from Kalaw to Inle Lake. When we arrived in Kalaw we were surprised by the rainy weather, which had soaked the region for a lot longer than the usual rainy season. Despite the occasional shower we were all very motivated to do this and we enjoyed the walk through the beautiful and mystical shan mountains. We had booked a three-day trekk with overnight stops at local villages. On the third day, we would arrive at the famous Inle Lake and conclude our trip with a boat ride across the lake. However we never made it this far. Due to the rainy weather, the paths / trails / roads had turned into more or less impassable fields of mud. The otherwise not too strenuous trekk thus turned into a staying-on-your-feet-challenge and a few members of our group inevitably covered themselves in mud.
Kalaw market
Our visitors from CH: Seri (Seraina), Sabi (Sabrina), Strehl (Christian)
happy trekking
first challenging sections of mud
our tour guide Mo Mo
beautiful shan hills
walking on railway tracks
dramatic sceneries
chilli fields
at the lunch stop on day 2
About 20 minutes after our lunch stop on the second day, the unexpected happened. One of our fellow trekkers, Rebecca Thackwray from England slipped out on her left foot and tried to stay upright on her right leg, but her right leg slipped too and got stuck in the mud, while the rest of her body kept turning. Walking a good 50m behind "Becky", we heard someone screaming bloody murder. She had broken both her bones in her lower right leg pretty much in the middle of nowhere...
We got her onto a bull-cart that was passing by coincidence and took her to the next village. From there we found a truck that took us to the next hospital in Taunggyi, a 4h drive away. In Taunggyi, they did some x-rays on Becky's leg and gave her a provisional cast. After 2 days at Taunggyi hospital, including 24 hours of discussion with their british insurance, they were finally given the permission to fly to Bangkok for surgery.
Becky on the bull cart, minutes after the accident
on the back of the "ambulance" to Taunggyi hospital
at Taunggyi hospital: midnight discussion with the insurance
Becky in a hospital in Bangkok
The result
After the accident and the surgery, Becky has spent a lot of time in her bed in the Bangkok hospital and she used the time to tell her story on her own travel blog. If you want to know more about what it must have felt kile breaking you leg in a place where you can't just call the helicopter and everything is fine, check out her blog:
So that was that with our first visit to the Inle Lake, we did not get to see it. But we returned a good month and a half later, not going on a trekking though ;-).
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