The Chin State: Meet The Chin People - Pyala-Travel.com - Travel Program

Day 1 Bagan - Kanpetlet

Today you leave one of the most famous places in Myanmar for one of the most isolated: Chin State. It's a long day riding in an open jeep, which is rather bumpy. These border areas with India and Bangladesh were off limits to foreigners for decades and are still only accessible with the right permits. It's an eight-hour ride on reasonable roads to the small town Kanpetlet, located in the hills of Chin. Initially you are driving through a dry landscape, but during the ride the environment gets greener and more hilly. You cross the new bridge over the Ayeyarwaddy River and head through Chauk to Kanpetlet. Along the way you will stop several times. Chin tribes are also called Zomi and live not only in Myanmar but also in the Indian state of Mizoram. This tribe is especially known for its women with tattooed faces. According to legend, the practice developed to make the Chin women less attractive to Myanmar men with whom they were very popular. An additional advantage was that the Chin men could easily identify and reclaim their wives. This legend also applies to other tribes, like the Apatani tribe in Arunachal Pradesh, India, where tattoos are also common. Chin girls were all tattooed in their adolescence, a painful process for which the thorns of the local lemon trees were used. Today, the Myanmar government has banned the tattooing of women and you will see that it is mostly the older generation with tattoos. The women you will see all have more or less the same pattern on their faces. They belong to the Moun Clan, one of the three sub-tribes in this region. Other clans are the Dai and Makan. The women around Mrauk U have tattoos that looks most like a kind of cobwebs. 

Note: Depending on the condition of the roads (especially between Kanpetlet and Mindat) the route can be different from the above list.

Day 2 Kanpetlet

Today you will visit some villages of the Chin in the vicinity. You will see there are many tombstones around the villages; the Chin bury their dead beneath piled stones which can best be compared to our megaliths, but smaller. During the local Lunn Yu festivals the inhabitants carry heavy stones from the river up to the village where there is already a grave ready to put the case after someone dies. In the morning you walk near Kanpetlet through a village of the Dai clan where the older women still have tattooed faces. Some women still wear traditional clothing. People who live here are happy to be photographed. You will stay a little longer in this village so you can get acquainted with the people with whom you come in contact. After lunch we visit another two Chin villages. In one of them the women play the nose flute, and with a little luck you can see that too. You take a flute and blow it with your nose at the temple. There are easy hikes today, but keep in mind that the height difference is around 150 m.

Day 3 Kanpetlet - Mindat

On the way to Mindat you pass more villages. Halfway there you get out of the car to continue on foot. It is a beautiful but strenuous hike of about four hours. You start with a descent down towards the river valley, about 300 meters. The descent is quite steep in places and loose stones make it slippery in spots. An hour later you are down in the valley with the sole purpose of climbing up again on the other side. The bridge over the river is sometimes washed away by the water, and in that case we have a few stones to cross the river. On the other side you first walk up a ways (approximately 50 m increase) and come to the village of Kyar Hto, one of the larger Chin villages. 

The women smoking their stiff pipes may surprise you. You may run into the shaman and you can hear about his role in the Chin community. In the middle of the village you will see a collection of carved wooden columns; these are the posts that indicate how many mithun cattle will be sacrificed during each Lunn Yu festival, which mainly take place in the spring. There are many cattle that are shot by the shaman with bow and arrow in this ritual sacrifice. Afterwards there are always lots of celebrations, eating, dancing and singing. 

After having spent some time in the village, you will walk again. After two hours of descent you will reach the main road (still a dirt road), where the jeep is waiting for you to continue on to Mindat, a small town situated on a mountain ridge. In the distance you can see the peak of Nat Ma Taung (Mt. Victoria), the highest mountain in the area. You will visit the more extravagantly dressed women of the Makan clan. Makan women also tattoo their faces and wear gigantic, colorful disc earrings.

Day 4 Mindat - Bagan

Morning brings you to a mountaintop monastery. Then you drive a different route back from Mindat to Bagan. It is a tough travel day, but you will make a few stops to stretch your legs. By the end of the day you are back in Bagan.

Day 5 departure Bagan