CHIN STATE (study for Chin land 2)

Chin State is located at the western part of Myanmar bordering with India. Mountainous region, which hills are higher and slop more the Shan hills. Chin is one of the National races of Myanmar. Chin has several minorities and differs as Northern Chin and Southern Chin. Not only because of these ethnic minorities Chin hill is an interesting tourist site because of its adventurous journey and Mount Victoria, 3053 meter high at the southern part. Besides mountaineering this is the best place for hiking to nearby villages to see the village life and bird watching. There still can be seen Chin ladies with tattooed face.

Chin New Year festival is held annually in Chin State on the waxing moon of the month Kason, May. And its festival is performed a dance making farewell to the old year and welcoming New Year. And wishing everyone new life with new vitality and happiness. These are a dance called Sa Lan which is performed by beautiful maidens. It is the dance to memorize the conquest over the enemies, the killing of wild enemies and to celebrate the victory over the enemies Sa ice festival dances victory over the wild games.

How to get there:

Travel to Chin state is mainly by car on poor roads cut along the mountain sides and valleys. Very rugged nature of the landscape makes travel difficult, and land slides are not un-common. Kanpetlet (where Mt. Victoria national park is) and Mindet can be reached from the central plain region. The first route is to cross the Ayeyarwaddy River by boat and proceed to Mindet along Kanma, Pauk, Kyaukhtu road. The distance is 92 miles and it takes appr. 8 hours. The second route is Bagan, Chauk, Saw, Kanpetlet - 97 miles, a day trip.

As the roads are not all weather-roads the best time to visit Mount Victoria is November to April. Both Mindet and Kanpetlet have simple accommodation.

Mt. Victoria:
Also known as Natma-taung National Park was established in 1994. The 279 square mile wide National Park is situated in Chin State and it is spread out to Mindat Township, Kanpetlet Township, and Matupi Township.
There are different kinds of forest types such as Hill Evergreen forests, Moist Upper Mixed Deciduous forests, Pine forest and Hill Savannah. On the way to Mt. Victoria Peak, observe the natural forests trees, orchids, and especially "Rhododendron”. There are also 159 bird species including 5 indigenous, especially the unique bird (white browed nuthatch), which can be seen only in the Natmataung National Park.