Hsipaw & Gokteik Viaduct

Off the beaten path in northern Shan State

Hsipaw (pronounced: Si-Paw) is a sleepy town in northern Shan State — and one of the best places in Myanmar for authentic trekking off the tourist trails. While Kalaw and Inle Lake are populated by trekking groups during the high season, Hsipaw remains a hidden gem where villagers greet you with genuine amazement and heartfelt curiosity.

The area is home to various ethnic groups — Shan, Pa-O, Palaung, and Lisu — who live in the mountains around Hsipaw and have largely maintained their traditional way of life. The Palaung women wear silver necklaces and colorful costumes, the Shan farmers cultivate tea plantations, and in the villages, rice is still planted and harvested by hand.

Gokteik Viaduct — Thrill on Rails

The train journey from Hsipaw to Pyin Oo Lwin (or vice versa) crosses the Gokteik Viaduct — an over 100-year-old railway bridge over a 300 m deep gorge, considered one of the wonders of colonial-era engineering. Built in 1901 by the Pennsylvania Steel Company, it was the highest railway bridge in the world at the time.

The train creeps at a snail's pace over the viaduct — the steel structure creaks, the carriages sway, and the view down into the jungle-covered gorge is dizzying. There are no railings at the window, no seat belts, no warning signs — just the trust that a 125-year-old bridge of steel and rivets will hold what it promises. An experience that is both terrifying and grand.

Train ride Hsipaw → Pyin Oo Lwin: 7–10 hours (yes, for 200 km). About 4,000 MMK (1.20 EUR). You don't travel for speed, but for the experience: the landscape, the people on the train, the vendors at the stations, and of course the moment on the viaduct.

Trekking from Hsipaw

• 1-Day Trekking: To the Shan and Pa-O villages in the hills, through tea plantations and past waterfalls. From 15 USD/person with an English-speaking guide.
• 2-Day/1-Night: Overnight stay in a Palaung village — one of the most authentic trekking experiences in all of Southeast Asia. The Palaung women with their traditional silver necklaces, the meal by the open fire, the starry sky over the mountains.
• Shan Palace: In Hsipaw itself, a visit to the Shan Palace of the former prince (Saopha) is worthwhile. The widow of the last prince (who disappeared after the military coup in 1962 and never reappeared) sometimes personally guides through the building — a moving testimony to Shan history.