Loikaw - Should You Go or Not?

“Loikaw is a kind of destination that you want to grab the next travelers you meet and tell them about it but decide not to...” My travel experience in Loikaw partially felt that way. I wish it was all that sweet and romantic. But I had mixed feelings about the place. Well, I had STRONG mixed feelings about it.

Why Loikaw?

Loikaw is the capital of Kayah State located on the east of Myanmar and is bordered by Shan State to the north, Kayin State to the south, and Thailand to the east. The town itself is a backwater with few worth-visit sights though the Taung Kwe grouped pagodas mounted atop rocky hills rising high above the ground has impressive townscape views during sunsets. Loikaw's real attractions, at least nine ethnic minority people and their colorful culture, lie in the mountains and the highlands that surround it. Spending time with distinct ethnic tribal people and observing their ways of lives in the villages which feel hundred of years behind the modernity we live in is a hard-to-beat experience. By far, three tribes have been spotlighted; the Kayan aka the long-neck, the Kayah and the Kayaw, all look splendid and photogenic in their daily-wear traditional costumes.

A Place for Budget Travellers?
As attractive as it sounds, Loikaw remains neither a non-backpacker nor a cheap destination. You can't roam freely to the villages, hang out, and expect to spend less than 30$ a day like you may do in other parts of Myanmar. Here is why:Kayah State was opened for foreign visitors in 2014. To preserve its innocence and to safeguard foreigners from an overdue insurgency in the area, the government has issued two important rules: 1) foreign visitors need permits to visit all villages around Loikaw with a guide and no overnights are allowed; 2) no motorbikes by means of transportation.A guide or a travel agency can fix a permit for you with merely a copy of your passport. Allow 3 to 4 working days to process it. Processing fees are reasonable. But you have to hire a car and pay for a guide. A car fee inclusive of petrol starts at 50,000 kyat (37$) and guide fee at 35$ a day. This is where you will frown if you are a budget traveler.

But if you're a bit sneaky, ready to jump hoops and accept mild risks, there is always a way out. I was alone, budgeted, and didn't have that much time. But I managed to visit 2 out of the 3 tribes without permits and on guides' personal motorbikes which was way cheaper than hiring a car. There are guides who insist you have to take permits and a car. But lucky us, there are ones willing to earn extra money taking you on their personal motorbikes with a risk of losing their profession licenses too. (Inbox me for their contacts.)

Did I get in trouble for breaking the rules? Yes, I did. Upon returning from a village to my guesthouse one day, the guys from government tourism office were waiting for me. The guesthouse owner had turned me in to them as he saw me leaving on a motorbike with the guide in the morning. Anyway, 'the foreigner was innocent,' and I got away with it. The hard was on the guide who got yelled at and had to bribe the officers enough to keep their mouths shut.
Lessons learned? The next morning I had my guide pick me up away from my guesthouse, out of guesthouse owner's surveillance eyes.

Fees and Logistics

Back to the tribes and the villages. The itinerary has sort of been laid out for any visitors: 3 days, 3 villages, 3 different tribes. Choose any of them or visit all.

Pan Pet Village (Kayan tribe): 1.5 hr drive one-way from Loikaw. My guesthouse organizes a full-day car trip to the village for 50,000 kyat. Technically you need a permit, obtained with an entry to Dawta Ma Gyi, 5,000 kyat. But no one seems to bother that I don't have one, even my guesthouse owner who got me busted going to another village didn't.

Dawta Ma Gyi Village (Kayah tribe): 2.5 hr motorbike drive one-way. A guide took me on his motorbike and charged 100,000 kyat. There is another Kayah village called Hta Nee La Len where a car taxi will take you for 30,000 kyat. But due to its proximity to Loikaw, there are very few women in traditional costumes.

Hte Ko Village (Kayaw tribe): 3 hr drive on motorbike one-way. I negotiated from 140,000 to 100,000 kyat. Permit costs 15$.

It wasn't clear to me wether foreigners were allowed to visit villages deeper into the jungles. I guess you can if you try harder and are willing to jump through more hoops. My guides said though, that none of the villagers from villages accessible by roads kept their traditions so well as the people in the villages above. And at the time, none of the guides would lead a trek.

The Villages and the People

Pan Pet

Perhaps the most well-known of all 3 is the Kayan or the long-necked. There are a few Kayan villages in the north of Thailand notorious for being human zoos due to the villagers' confined state as refugees. Knowing that they originally came from Myanmar, I always wanted to visit their homelands hoping to meet happier villagers. And because it was the closest to Loikaw, I made Pan Pet my first village visit.

First, the hotel owner brought me to what he called the new Pan Pet village which was merely a small souvenir market of several stalls and fooled me it was Pan Pet. It was there that I met a stall owner who spoke perfect Thai. (I'm Thai by the way.) He, a Kayan, and his wife, had lived in Thailand for 24 years. I asked him to take me to the real Pan Pet which is 30 minutes by foot and 10 minutes on bumpy dirt road by car, and be my guide for the day.

Pan Pet is actually the name of the area consisting of 5 Kayan villages. 3 are adjacent, the other 2 are aloof but all in walkable distance. Electricity arrived less than 3 years ago. Dirt paths link wooden and bamboo homes while chickens, cows, and pigs roam freely. Stalls selling handbags and scarfs line the roads and the women are at the looms. Weaving seems to be the only thing the women here do when they are not farming which only happens in the rainy reason. I always wondered why photographed long-necks are always weaving.

Pan Pet Village

A woman and her mother who is one of the oldest woman in the village

Baby girl starting to wear coils since 2 years old

Do the villagers look happier? No, when I took their photos, interviewed them, gave them a few kyat (I did everything a tourist would do.) But YES, when I put my camera away, showing them that my visiting purpose was only to hang out, and that I wasn't hunting for their portraits or expecting them to play traditional guitar and sing. I tried to make conservations, speaking in Thai to people who knew it. Many villagers had once lived and worked in Thailand. One lady who lived in Thailand for 7 years fed me lunch with the best ingredients in the kitchen and kept apologizing that she couldn't give me a better meal. Ashamed that I didn't bring any gifts, I offered her 2000 kyat but she said, “Mai pen rai (it's OK), you're my sister.” 

As sweet as the villagers and the Kayan guide who ended up charging me nothing were to me, I felt really sad seeing the women and the village exploited by tourism. There will never be a win for the women wearing neck coils. The Kayan traditionally perceive the coils as beauty. But this perception has been challenged as soon as they made contacts to the outside world. They know that to outsiders, the neck coils are 'exotic' or 'strange' rather than beautiful. Young generations have lost interest in wearing coils, especially ones willing to leave the villages to work in towns or cities. Then, modern medication has threatens the tradition as a hazard to the women's health.

The villagers have no fair gain from tourism business despite that they themselves are the resources or the attractions. They earn nothing from tourist visits apart from a few kyats selling souvenirs and having their photos taken, while tour operators and guides make tons of profit from charging us visitors. So the vicious circle begins: guide fees are expensive; money doesn't go to villagers; villagers try to make money from having their portraits taken and turning their homes into souvenir stalls; visitors don't like that the village has turned commercial. Tourism has also changed the villagers' way of life. Some no longer farm and rely on income from their souvenir stalls. I also feel the rule that visitors cannot overnight at villages only makes it worse because visitors cannot create more meaningful relationships with villagers then we have to leave. 

Dawtama Gyi

On the next day we went to Dawtama Gyi and another nearby village uphill. The ride to the village was beautiful. The Kayah women have this interesting tradition of wearing lacquered threads around their knees which is believed to be inspired by a legend where a half human half bird princess is tied by her prince husband during the day so she doesn't escape or fly back to her parents. The Kayah are Buddhists who strictly practice animalism. Once a year, they organize a ritual where a statue of a straw man riding a wooden horse is possessed by a powerful spirit. Once possessed, the statue is asked to make judge cases, cure ailments, and predict future.

Phudigree - a statue believed to be possessed by spirits
which can tell fortunes and cure ailments

The guide I was with on the day did his job as soon as we arrived at the village: going around houses, asking if there were old women in the house, and if we could photograph them. Nobody wanted their photos taken. But I managed to photograph 2 women, one of who cooked lunch for us, and compensated them with small money and detergent we brought for villagers as gifts in return to allowing us to photograph them. I was eventually got tired of this portrait hunting game. I imagined having strangers at my doorstep wanting to photograph me every day. I made me feel sick.

Brewing alcohol made out of millets

Tei Kho

Of all three, this is my favorite. Hteko is hidden on a high mountain and the ride on mountain ridges to get to the village had breath-taking views. Upon arriving, you're required to visit the village's small showroom of musical instruments and contribute some money which I hope is spared among the villagers. Somehow the villagers here seem happier and more smiley. There was an engagement party the day I was there. I and the guide were fed raw buffalo meat which I had to take as a refusal was rude. They grow tons of millets here so the millet wine was abundant. We went from one home to another, hanged out, ate, and drank. We had to leave at 3pm to get back to Loikaw before it was dark. My visit was short but of all the 3 villages, I felt the most welcomed here.