Chin Up The Lemro River

Get even further away from the crowds on a Saturday by taking a boat ride up the Lemro River from Mrauk U to the market and the Chin villages.

Looks like an artist's table of paints but it's the ubiquitous betel nut chewed by all

Maybe, I won't get those gold earrings after all!

Crunchy yellow peas to crumble into some spicy noodle soup

Prized for their beauty, Chin women were stolen from their husbands by the king. So the story goes. The men took action and decided to disfigure their women by the practice of full facial tattoos. Eventually, this act evolved to become a symbol of courage, strength and beauty. These days due to pressure from the majority Burmese to assimilate and therefore abandon their culture, as well as the stigma of wearing facial tattoos outside of their villages, modern Chin women no longer take up this practice. 

Who let the young males in the village loose with hydrogen peroxide? These were just a few of the many teenage boys with this look.

Traditional homes made from bamboo and wood collected from the mountains and sold by the Chin at the markets.

Here's where some of the tourist money ends up. Unfortunately, when they finish primary school the government's high fees are a deterrent from continuing onto high school.