To meet the Kayan.

Of the condition of women through these “long necks” stretched unnaturally by copper rings or more exactly by a spiral. In reality the neck is not stretched but it is the shoulders that are compressed, certainly the result is the same. I wondered if I had to lengthen the list of curious visitors and go to meet these women Kayan.

There was also the question, well before the free elections of 2015 and the beginning of the democratic process, whether to go to Burma or refuse to endorse the junta. I had chosen to go there to see and to know, then knowing, then to be able to say. And the same goes for an infinite number of other prejudices. These famous rings as well as the rings of the ankles and the bracelets must weigh about 15 kg for a woman who carries fifteen rings. The price is also high. And despite these disadvantages it seems that tradition persists in some of these women and even some girls. Several hypotheses circulate about this tradition. The one I heard would be

To give a dragon resemblance to these women to make flee enemies or animals. Apparently this is a deliberate choice. Some girls or Kayan women I met in these villages did not wear rings. To meet these Kayan women from Loikaw in Shan State, you need a guide who speaks the Kayan language and who knows the villages and families to meet. It also takes a driver, the road is long to reach these villages located in the mountains. Finally a detour by a small grocery store is necessary to buy some “gifts” (oil, laundry product, biscuits for children, etc.) and thus meet the hospitality of the Kayan.

We are welcomed in small houses on stilts built of bamboo for the most part with palm roofs. And the discussion begins with a glass of millet wine. It is made from millet, rice and hot water (it must be fermented for a week before it can be drunk).