Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Northern Myanmar Highlights
Walk to unspoilt Shan and Palaung villages from Hsipaw ( Click here ), a laid-back
plateau town with royal connections
Spend lazy days drifting down the mighty Ayeyarwady River starting from pretty
Bhamo ( Click here ) and taking in little-visited towns on the way
Enjoy the cool air and colonial architecture of Pyin Oo Lwin ( Click here ) , the Brit-
ish summer capital of Myanmar
Explore George Orwell connections in sleepy Katha ( Click here )
Head to the remote hills of northern Shan State and visit the tea-growing, ridge-
top town of Namhsan ( Click here )
Brave the rough road to serene Indawgyi Lake and mystical Shwe Myitsu Pa-
goda ( Click here )
Ride a bouncing train across the mighty Gokteik Viaduct ( Click here ), Myanmar's
longest railway bridge
People
The north is sparsely populated and ethnically complex, with many minority groups
dominating a series of pro- and anti-government local administrations and regional
armed militias.
Northeast of Mandalay you'll find many Shan people (as in eastern Myanmar), di-
vided into five sub-groups all prefixed 'Tai', along with the Wa and the Palaung, who re-
gard themselves semi-religiously as the guardians of Burmese tea production. Lashio and
several other border areas have large Chinese populations, who speak Mandarin as well
as the Yunnan dialects spoken across the frontier.
In Kachin State, north of Mandalay, 'minorities' (notably Kachin and Shan) form an
overall majority. As an ethnic term, Kachin is generally synonymous with speakers of the
Jingpaw (Jingpo) language. But by Myanmar's official definition it also covers at least
five other groups, including Rawang and Lisu. The Lisu language is written in a sci-fi
capitalised Latin script with many inverted letters and 'vowel-free' words (hello is 'hw
hw'). Over the past century, many Kachin and a majority of Lisu have converted to
Christianity, their former animist beliefs now largely reduced to colourful folklore as
seen in two great festivals at Myitkyina.
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