Kalaw, that was a popular hill station sits high on the western edge of the Shan Plateau. Kalaw is a hill town in the southern Shan State of Myanmar. It is located in Kalaw Township in Taunggyi. The town was popular with the British during colonial rule. The hill station is located at an elevation of 1320 m, 50 km from the Inle lake. Kalaw is famous for birding, hiking and trekking. Kalaw is pleasantly cool and a good place for birding amid gnarled pines, bamboo groves and rugged mountain scenery. There is comfortable accommodation, and you can make interesting excursions around Kalaw and treks into the surrounding mountains. The small population is a mix of Shan, Indian Muslims, Burma and Nepalis, Gurkhas retired from British military service. About 20,000 people live in and around Kalaw.

Birding, Kalaw is famous for some bird species: Burmese Yuhina, Dark-backed Sibia, Speckled Piculet, White-browed and Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-babblers, White-browed and Green Shrike-babblers, Hume's Treecreeper, Laughingthrushes, White-crowned and Black-backed Forktails, Wedge-tailed, Yellow-footed and Pin-tailed Green-pigeons, Black-throated and Green-tailed Sunbirds, some flycatchers, Blue-winded and Golden-fronted Leafbirds. Red-billed Blue Magpies, Himalayan, Rufous-winged and Long-legged Buzzards, Spectacled Barwing and many more.