Capital of Kayah State — the highest concentration of distinct Karenni indigenous cultures in Myanmar, with brass-ring neck traditions and hot springs in the hills
Loikaw is the capital of Kayah (Karenni) State in eastern Myanmar, at 880m in the hills east of Inle Lake, and was one of the few remaining places in Myanmar where the Kayan Lahwi (commonly called 'long neck women' in tourism literature) — women who wear stacked brass neck rings from childhood, elongating the appearance of the neck — could be visited in a village context rather than tourist villages. The Karenni peoples are a cluster of distinct ethnic groups (Kayan, Kekho, Geba, Yinbaw, Bre, Manumanaw) each with their own costume traditions, and Kayah State has the highest indigenous cultura…
The Karenni States were never formally incorporated into colonial Burma — they were British Protected States, maintaining nominal sovereignty under British suzerainty, which made their incorporation into the Union of Burma in 1948 a contested act (the Karenni objected and briefly declared independence before being annexed). The subsequent Karenni National Progressive Party insurgency began in 1957 and has continued with varying intensity for over 60 years — the longest continuous guerrilla conflict in the world at the time of writing. The Kayan brass ring tradition was one of the most photogr…