Hkakabo Razi

Hkakabo Razi stands at the northern tip of the country where Myanmar, India and Tibet meet, and it has been carried in atlases at 5,881 metres as the highest point in Southeast Asia since a survey in the 1920s. A 2013 expedition measured the neighbouring Gamlang Razi at a figure close enough to put the ranking in doubt, and later attempts on the summit did not settle it. The mountain sits inside a national park of subtropical to alpine forest, and reaching even its foot takes weeks of walking from Putao.

What you actually see

• The peak - a glaciated summit above 5,800 metres, visible from the Putao plain in clear weather.
• The disputed ranking - a height from a 1920s survey that later measurements have called into question.
• The national park - forest running from subtropical through temperate to alpine on a single slope.
• The approach - weeks of walking through Rawang villages and forest from the nearest road.

When to go

November to March gives the clearest views from the plain. Expedition attempts have been made in the shoulder seasons, but the approach is long in any month and the monsoon rules out roughly May to October.

Honest expectations

This is not a place most visitors go: it is an expedition objective requiring permits, weeks of walking and full logistics, and attempts on the summit have ended in failure and in fatalities. For almost everyone the realistic version is the view from the Putao plain on a clear winter morning. The height figure should be treated as unsettled.

Nearby

Putao is the staging town and the only realistic base for anything in this corner of the country.