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 Geographical features |
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| Most of Myanmar's snow-capped mountains are located within the state of Kachin, either near the borders of China or India. Gateway to the Myanmar Himalayas is Putao and travelers will prepare food, porter and other necessary things here. It takes around 2 weeks, to the last human habitation Taphungdan village at the foot of Mt.Hkakaborazi, the highest point in the southeast Asia.
And it may take 5 days from Taphungdan village to the base camp for Mt.Hkakaborazi. It may take 40 days for tourists to complete the tour to the base camp, thus let us recommend you to try the snow mountains of Mt.Pongkan on the Indian border where trekking and soft adventure tours are also available. Mountains of Pongkan start from Pongkan Pass near India and snow mountains of Arunachal Pradesh,Mishimi Hill in India.
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| People |
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Although located within the Kachin State, area around Putao has only a small population of Kachin people and there are more Kanty Shan, lawan and Risu peoples. There live many Lisu people married to Chinese. At the foot of the Mt. Hkakaborazi is the village if Taphungdan where some Tibbetan people live and they still maintain the custom of sharing a same wife among brothers. Ages ago Taron people of average 110 cm height were seen here. Unfortunately today there remains only one genuine Taron-blood man and the tribe is almost vanishing. Village of Taphungdan has no genuine Taron anymore yet there live many Tarons married to other tribes, who grows taller and show no physical sign of Tarons.
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Two Tarons
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In Putao, there lives one Tibet lady married to a Lisu man who owns a shop of medical herbs and other products at the Putao's market. Generally speaking, Rawans and Lisu do not mingle much even when they live in the same village. They tend to build their own villages of only Rawans or only Lisus.
On the Indian side of the border, Pongkan Pass lives the people of Mishimi, who used to be man-hunters. The hunter of the Rawan sometimes visit their village and sell animal producrs to them.
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| Agriculture |
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| Mainly grows rice and corn but some areas are not appropriate for rice field. Corns are used as winter preservation food as well. On trekking and mountain climbing tours, rice is purchased at Putao. Rice is also used as part of a payment for portage service as well as money on the way to Mt.Hkakaborazi, thus we will carry bags of rice al the way from Putao on our tours. |
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| Life |
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| Rawans mainly work in agriculture but some do fishing and hunting specially during the off-field season. As guns are not available, stone-made crossbows with poison on the edge are widely used to hunt animals like bears and dears. Chinese buyers will come promptly from Putao and buy animals once hunted. Rawans also gather wild herbs from mountains and bring them to Putao to sell as medicines in order to make some cash income. That is why certain areas have the name taken from wild herbs. Some Lisu people do trading of illegally hunted ivory of elephants on Chinese borders. They hunt elephants and other prohibited animals with the automated rifle guns on the vally of Hukawng near Indian borders. Why? One of the reason is said to be the difference of national laws; in China, Chinese traders will be given death sentence if caught selling tiger fur and bones, ivory and other internationally prohibited items but Myanmar nationals will be simply sent back home. In general, more Lisu people deal in border trade than Rawans and some cross the border to Chinese territory for business. Recently more and more Lisu people deal in jade produced in Putao area. Rich men driving 4-wheel-drive vehicles in Putao are often Lisu families married to the Chinese. |
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| Village |
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Ziyadum (1,100m)
5nights 6days tour from/to Putao. Ziyadum is junction for Mt.Phonekan & Mt. Phangram as mentioned the below, and the best place to see the snow capped mountain ranges from Jan to Apr. |
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| Mountains |
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| Following 3 courses are the current mountain climbing itineraries;
Mt. Phonekan (3600m height)
10nights 11days tour from/to PutaoIf you are enough fit, 8nights 9days tour is possible from/to PutaoThis is the so-called observation deck of Myanmar-Himalayas, as it is just 4 miles away from Indian border where Mishimi Hills of Arunachal Pradesh, in India, Mountains of Pongkan in Myanmar peak in the sky. On clear sunny days, snow-capped mountains of Chinese territory can also be seen. This is a heaven for people with enthusiasm in wild orchids and butterflies. Accessible by ordinary trekking.
Mt. Pangram (4,655m height)
Highest peak in the Phonkan Mountains. (4,655m height)Beautifully shaped peak. As of May 2001, no foreign tourist has conquered this mountain yet! There is a crystal-clear-water lake under the top. No other mountains have lakes on top in Myanmar-Himalayas Mountains. 2-nights-3 days tour from mountain peak away is the site of U.S. air-force flight crush during the war. 13nights 14days tour from/to Putao. Accessible by hard trekking.
Mt. Phonyin (4,560m height)
Again, no foreigners have accessed to its peak yet. 15nights16days tour from/to Putao. Accessible by very hard trekking.Above-mentioned Mt.Phonekan is for ordinary trekker. Mt. Phangram and Mt. Phonyin is experienced trekker. There are some more courses recommended for trekking tours.
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| Mt. Kakaborazi (5886m height) |
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| "razi" means mountain in Rawan language. Highest peak in Southeast Asia. Trekking tour to the village of Taphungdan at the foot of the mountain is already popular among FIT travelers from Europe & USA. Most of them are not just trekkers but with vast knowledge of wild orchid, butterflies or bird-watchers. |
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