Susan's NGTAW Blog: Lunch with the Long Necked Ladies of Kayan and more markets (!)

Thursday, March 8, 2018

Lunch with the Long Necked Ladies of Kayan and more markets (!)

Al fresco lunch at Indein Market, welcomed by the women of the PaDuang ethnic group

March 1, Thursday Indein, Myanmar

We ate lunch around noon at the river bank near the Indein market under bamboo tents. We were welcomed by 2 women of the near by Kayan state near the Thailand border. The women of the long necks are from the Pa Daung ethnic group, and I read that a family of them stay at the Ywama village on Inle Lake. The coils are worn by many fewer women these days, as outside cultural norms encroach, but some of the younger women make better money from the tourist trade. I read that the neck isn't actually elongated, but that the collar bone and shoulders are pushed down to form the elegant long lines.

It was hard not to recognize the incongruence of having a full silver and linen service lunch with 8 courses: batter fried prawns, stir fried vegetables, vegetable soup, Chicken Kahan, Fish curry, stir fried rice, fresh fruit cocktail and coffee or tea, in the midst of people that are hoping you will part with some of your "Lucky Money" as you pass through their space. Despite the 98 degree heat, it was a relaxing, enjoyable and tasty lunch.