Inspired by some photos, guest book entries, and the paragraph or two in my guide book, I wanted to go to Namhsan. But how to get there? There was a public bus which would take a day to go the 80 or so kilometers, but I chose to rent a motorbike.Namhsan is the biggest of one of several villages high in the hills above Hsipaw. The “Switzerland of Myanmar”, my guide book says. It took 4-5 hours to get their via the worst road ever. Namhsan has no proper guesthouses as such, instead we stayed in the home of Daw Saw Mya. It’s such a beautiful place, a lot of its attraction is its isolation.
My first night there was a full moon night. In celebration that evening there was a game of tug and war, the object being tugged was a bamboo shrine. When night came and the full moon rose, the bamboo shrine was burnt whilst people danced and made music.
A local English speaking guide, Daw Saw Myint, showed us around. We went for a days walk in the surrounding hills. The hills are littered with lots of villages and people of different ethnic groups – Lisu, Palaung (their are 12 types – White, Gold etc. etc.) As we walked we passed people tending to their tea plantations and farmers moving their cattle. We stopped at a monastery for lunch with great views in every direction. That night I dined in the village home of a Lisu family.
The people in and around Namhsan all wear the same kind of $2US shoe.
In a village one hour from Namhsan we visited a school. Teachers are paid about $6US/month. I made a donation to the school and Daw Saw Myint suggested we buy the school some books and pens in Namhsan. The village had just finished 7 days of funeral ceremonies and tomorrow was a wedding. I was invited to attend, but was leaving today.
When went to leave Namhsan, about 15km down the road we got a flat tyre. We were fortunate to crap out in a village and not on a long stretch of empty road. A local ran me back to Namhsan to buy a new tyre. They didn’t have the proper tools and when they went to install the new tyre they punctured it! Somehow the tyre got patched up enough for us to ride the bike back to within a few kilometers of Namhsan. There it blew and we wheeled the bike back into town, by this time it was dark.
So we spent another day in Namhsan, but this gave me the opportunity to visit the wedding. I arrived during formalities at the bride’s house. All were sitting on the floor, whilst the village spokesman talked and elders prepared to give the wedding their blessing. Once given, the bride’s things were gathered (including her mattress) and we processed to the groom’s house. The new bride would live in the groom’s family home until the couple found their own house. Here the reception was held, a big meal dished out to the seated attendants. Interestingly they segregated themselves into a group of men and a group of women. I witnessed the same segregation at the funeral proceedings the day before.
The next day, with a new tyre, and laden with about 2kg of tea (gifts from the locals), we set out for the second time back to Hsipaw. About 45km/2 hours out of Namhsan we ran out of petrol!! Luckily we had just reached the top of a hill and from there to the nearest town it was all downhill! Phew! I didn’t want to push that motorbike any more.
