Kayah State

Our second trip with our students was Kayah State. As we did during our first trip, we also fitted into 2 vans. The girls were sitting in the cargo area and the guys on the roof. We left early in the morning. Maybe not so early, 7:30. Because after a long discussion the day before leaving, it was decided that we would take our own lunch into lunch boxes. So a few guys got up at 4 am to prepare some curry for everyone and the preparation took them a little longer.

On the way to kayah state, I sat in the driver’s cab because I needed to correct my students’ exams. At the same time I talked a little with the driver, who informed me in his own burmeese English how many kilometers we have covered, how much remains and how far are others locations.

Our first stop was Moe bye dam. Basically, it was just an ordinary dam 😀.

Ka Yan monastery

At lunch we stopped in a friendly monastery. This was also a monastery with charity schoolI. It was a smaller monastery with 90 students. They showed us the monastery and let us eat our food in their dining room. We climb the dragon head rock with the buddha statue. And we helped to carry few buckets of cement on the top of the hill because they are building new pagoda.

Kayan Traditional Market

On the way from the monastery we stopped at the traditional kayah market. We could see traditional kayah products and their live production. Especially clothes. The most recognizable for this part of Myanmar is the long-necked Padaung women who wear stacks of bronze neck coils. I have to ask them if they are sleeping in the necklaces. Yes, they sleep in them and never take them down.

Silver Mountain dam

The next stop was the silver mountain dam. I did not understand the essence of the visit, but at least I saw 2 real elephants, which I also patted. Plus, I ended up with students at a local Khaung Yae alcohol booth. Khaung Yae The process of khaung yae making is as follows. First, the seed is cooked until it becomes thick. Then it is allowed to cool down. Once it is cool down, yeast is added to it and blends properly. Then it is put into a clay pot and sealed air tight. Fermentation Takes Place Inside The Sealed Pot. This process takes at least a month, but the longer fermentation time, the better quality of khaung. To get really good quality khaung, it needs at least six months of fermentation. The taste of this alcohol was really sweet and a little bit bitter.

Split mountain – Taung Kwal pagoda

The pagoda lies in the south of Loikaw, atop Thirri Mingala Hill, which has nine peaks on nine broken hills. It is 118 meters high. There are pagodas on the nine hillocks. From the top of the pagoda is beautiful view on Loikaw city and surrounding mountains. And we met hear almost no tourists.

Naung Yah Lake

Naung Yah Lake is a very popular spot for local people to enjoy a stroll in the morning and evening, or a picnic with family and friends. Some paddle boats are available, and some people also enjoy fishing. In the evening, local people enjoy eating on the lakeside, where there are several tasty, local restaurants. We also enjoyed eating BBQ in local stands😀.

On the way back I left my seat in the cabin to one of my students because he felt sick and I enjoyed the way back on the top of the van😎.