Kyaing Tong (Keng Tung)
Kyaing Tong, is a town in eastern Shan State, Myanmar and it is also the principle town of Keng Tung Township. The weather in this area is particular cooler than compare to the tropical area of Myanmar which is a suitable place for those visitors who would like to enjoy plenty memorable sceneries in the chilling weather. Kyaing Tong is geographically located in an easily accessible location to the golden triangle area.
There are plenty of shifting fields and most local community maintains their unique culture where visitors can see traditionally built huts on the mountain slopes. As it is interconnected to the golden triangle, and where diverse ethnics group inhabitant, therefore; visitors can expect to see other cultures and traditions but not just only the traditions of Kyaing Tong itself are the main attraction of Kyaing Tong has to offer.
Kyaing Tong has plenty of hiking, mountain climbing trips in a trekking pilgrimage to nearby mountains to visit the villages of different Shan ethnic tribes, enjoy the breath-taking sceneries along the way while admiring the pagodas along the way.
The location is in Eastern Shan State, the “Golden Triangle”, close to the border with China, Laos and Thailand. The trip takes about four hours with stops in Mandalay, Heho and Tashilek. The local guide will meet you at the airport in Kyaing Tong. The place was off-limits to foreigners until the mid nineties and associated with opium trade, guerrilla warfare and colorful ethnic minority groups. Most of the ethnic rebel groups have later signed ceasefires with the Myanmar government, but sometimes tensions still flare up and it is not allowed for foreigners to stay overnight in the villages outside Kyaing Tong. Your hotel is located in the centre of town close to the main (morning) market. You could spend the late afternoon by the Nong Tone Lake, sipping some Chinese tea or a beer while the sun goes down, or have a tour of the main attractions. Kyaing Tong still has much of the Lanna architecture and culture that previously existed in Northern Thailand.
Different ethnic groups, Akha, Lahu, Lisu, Palaung and Ang, live isolated in their own villages, with their unique costumes, language and customs and grow highland rice and other crops by the “slash and burn” method. You will be driving on relatively poor road and will then walk through the magnificent scenery on the trail systems that lead up to the individual villages. There are not many tourists to Kyaing Tong and even fewer in the rural areas, so for some village residents, foreigners are still a rarity.
