As snow-capped Mount Phonkanrazi is fascinating with natural beauties and scences, travellers at home and abroad can note down the list of mountains to be climbed in April and May despite unfavourable weathers in monsoon. Recently, an earthen axis has been constructed between PutaO and its last hilly village Ziyadang to have smooth transport for local and foreign travellers along the hilly journey to Phonkanrazi show-capped mountain in Kachin State, according to the Kachin State Directorate of Hotels and Tourism. As plans are under way to contribute a great deal to community-based tourism services in Kachin State upon completion of bridges crossing creeks, tour companies and locals will have great business opportunities thanks to the trip to Phonkanrazi mountain.
Myanmar possesses beautiful and unique snow-capped mountains among ASEAN coutries. As such, the local and foreign travellers who are keen to join the scaling the show-capped mountains in Myanmar come to Mount Phonkanrazi in the northernmost of Myanmar from March to May yearly when the snow and ice caps melt and from December to May as a mountaineering season. In early this year, a large number of local mountaineers arrived there. Up to May, as snow-capped mountaineers come to the hilly area, locals can earn incomes from the ecotourism services.
The Kachin State government initially built a 10-mile earthen road from PutaO to upper Sangong Village for ensuring socioeconomic life improvement of local ethnic people with job opportunities as the road transport between PutaO and Ziyadang Village would be better to increase more arrivals of travellers. Afterward, a plan was set to construct a road leading to Wasandang Village, 12 miles from Upper Sangong Village. So far, an earthen axis road has been completed to Ziyadam Village, nine miles from Wasandang Village. As such, travellers and locals have easy access to Ziyadang, 31 miles from PutaO, by motorbike or three-wheeled bike.
Ziyadang village is the outermost edge on the route among hilly villages from PutaO to Phonkanrazi snow-capped mountain, and it has only 18 houses. In fact, the en route to Mount Phonkanrazi starts from that village.
The travellers who arrive in PutaO by air from Yangon and Mandalay and those from Sumprabum and Myitkyina can pay visits to Ziyazang Village in a short time but such a route for travellers on foot took two days in the past. If such a route can be used in all seasons, it will much benefit tourism industry as well as education and health of locals.
“A plan is under way to upgrade Ziyadang Village as a community-based tourism village by this month. As it is a village located in the reserved forest, any hotel and motel cannot be built. But, we have a plan to raise the public awareness for giving a helping hand to travellers to stay at the houses of the village for cooking meals. We will strive for achieving success in tourism industry. Only when the village conserves environment will it achieve success in ecotourism service. We will train moutaineers and guides to carefully conserve natural environment and to provide travellers at their houses with blankets and beds in addition to healthy meals. Such a course was conducted in PutaO once but we will make field trips to the village togeher with experts in order to accelerate ecotourism services. This year, locals can earn incomes as arrivals of travellers for mountaineering increase,” said director U Khaing Oo of Kachin State Directorate of Hotels and Tourism.
As April and May is time of melting snow on the hills, beauty of snow-capped mointains can mostly be seen but rainy season is not suitable for climbing the mountains in Kachin State. Practically, travellers at home and abroad can note down the significant points of mountains in the state by setting plans to scale there in the open season, especially in April and May. Ethnic people from local villages have employments as guides along hilly roads and transporters in addition to searching herbs. Hence, local authorities decided to build an earthen road to be used in all seasons and conduct the tourism courses in villages for improvement of the tourism industry as well as ecotourism service sector.—Nyein Thu (MNA)/TTA
