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What our guest say:
Hello, everyone. Many of you have asked about our short vacation in Kalaw. We had a great time, and much of the credit goes to the hotel where we
stayed: Amara Resort. The hotel is a restored 1909 residence, built for a Shan prince and his five wives. Each wife had a separate house. The
architecture is English country style. There is a beautiful and well-maintained garden, and organic vegetables for meals are grown both here
and at a larger garden nearby. It is a little bit outside of town, about a 20-minute walk from the main market. Kalaw is about 45 minutes from the Heho
airport.
The hotel is immaculately maintained, inside and out, with wonderful fixtures, and furnished with both antiques and local carved and woven
handicrafts. We were given the best room, with a queen bed, sitting area, large and luxurious and spotless bath with real hot water and water
pressure! Windows are large, so the room was sunny and breezy. They set up the mosquito net for us for the evenings, so we could leave the windows
open. No air conditioning, but even in the hot weather last week, air conditioning was not necessary, as Kalaw is located high in the Shan hills.
Service is excellent and attentive. We were the only guests, so expected a limited restaurant menu and limited hotel services. This wasn’t the case.
The food was excellent, we got massages (Burmese), and had a wonderful morning trekking to a forest preserve, accompanied by forest rangers
employed by the resort. One of the nicest features of the resort is that treks begin at the front door. However, if you aren’t into hiking, the
eighth hole of the golf course is about 30 yards away! Kalaw is also known for its caves and monasteries, as well as ethnic villages, so lots to do.
We didn’t actually do very much. We went there to reconnect, hoping for peace, solitude, and cool weather. We found all three. We were surprised to
find that the resort wasn’t packed, given its quality. The cost is higher than the average backpacker guest house, but we found this to be excellent value.
The resort is part of a German foundation that has many aid projects, especially in the Delta. They also have a resort at Ngapali, and a river cruise from
Bagan to Bhamo, beginning in October.
If you are interested, you can ask me about booking details, or contact the Rangoon office directly. Yu Yu will be very helpful!
By Steven Davis