Kengtung

The Tai here call themselves Khün; their speech contains many variations from the western Shan, and their script is entirely different।

A village in northern Shan State.

Most of the Khuns for example would adopt Thai names, in the wats of Kengtong one would find the monks chanting their daily prayers exactly the same way as if anywhere in Thailand. The Thais have always felt Kengtung to be a part of their old country.

han State borders China to the north, Laos to the east, and Thailand to the south. It also shares borders with five administrative divisions of Myanmar. Shan State covers 155,800 km², almost a quarter of the total area of Myanmar.

Most of the Shan State is a hilly plateau; there are higher mountains in the north and south. The gorge of the Thanlwin (Salween) River cuts across the state. The famous Inle Lake where the leg-rowing Intha people live in floating villages, in the great Nyaung Shwe 'plain', is the second largest natural expanse of water in Myanmar, shallow but 14 miles long and 7 miles wide. Pindaya Caves near Aungban are vast limestone caves which contain 6226 Buddha images.^[3]

The road to Taunggyi via Kalaw and Aungban branches off at Thazi from the main Yangon-Mandalay Road; another road via Ywa Ngan and Pindaya branches off from Kyaukse south of Mandalay. The railhead stops short of Taunggyi at Shwenyaung, again from Thazi junction, and nearby Heho has an airport.