In December 2006, the opportunity I had been waiting for finally arrived. The farthest north one can travel in Burma on a civilian airliner is Putao, in Kachin State. Putao is about 1,160 miles north of the former capital, Rangoon, and from there, the only way to continue the journey north is on foot. Of course, travelers are not permitted to wander around the area freely. I arranged a trekking tour, hiring seven members of one of northern Burma's major ethnic groups, the Rawang, as porters and U Theton of Rangoon as my guide. Incidentally, U Theton also appears in the book, "Maboroshi no Yama, Kakaboraji" (Yama to Keikoku Sha, publishers), which can be roughly translated as "Kakaborazi, Mountain of Illusions", by Takashi Ozaki.

I am not an expert in mountaineering photography. Nor, to be honest, am I particularly good at hiking. But by this time, my desire to meet a member of the Tarong race was so strong that I had decided to set off on a 36-day trek.

夜山奥のビルマ軍の兵站基地に物資を運ぶキャラバン隊。