Kengtung, Myanmar

The City

Kengtung is the capital of Eastern Shan State, Myanmar, and the Burmese apex of the Golden Triangle. It has a population of 250,000, no stop lights, a few dozen street lights, and half of the streets are not paved.

The Way We Were

The government reports that 90% of the opium production has been eliminated in the region. There has been a big decrease in cultivation of the crop, but I am not sure that it is down that much.

Transport

Transportation is cheap but crowded.

The Head Priest

The head priest at a monastery in the hills north of Kengtung invited us into his room.

The Monks

Every Shan boy spends at least some time in a monetary as part of his education.

The Kids

The little ones are not lacking for curiosity. This little girl called all her friends to look up the lens.

Gambling

Cock fighting was outlawed three years ago, but gambling will never go away in southeast Asia.

Family Portrait

This family is part of the Aka Tribe and live in their tribe's district of Kengtung. The elder son is twenty and spoke English quite well. They invited me into their home for New Year's dinner. There was a lot of food.

My Boy

This is my guide's wife with their son.

Siblings

I found these two well scrubbed kids playing in a town near Kengtung that was a hill station during colonial days.