Naga Festival sees few visitors this year

Published on Tuesday, 15 January 2013 19:23

Visitors attending the Naga New Year Festival

Visitors attending the annual Naga New Year Festival fell this year, an official from the Naga Tribal Committee said.
"Diamond Palace Travel will send 16 foreign tourists and 12 local visitors, while Gracious Myanmar Travel will send two visitors," said Aye Lwin, the secretary of the Naga Tribal Committee.

The two-day festival was held in the remote town of Lahe, located in northwestern area of Sagaing Region, in the Naga Self-Administered Zone.

The committee had originally picked Nanyun as the location for this year's festival, but the site was changed due to the conflict in Kachin State, which the visitors must pass through in order to reach Nanyun.

Although the location varies from year to year, the festival is usually held in Leshi and Nanyun: rarely in Lahe.

The Nagas are a group of tribes who live in northwestern hills of Myanmar and northeastern India. 

To attend the ceremony, visitors have to first fly from Yangon to Homalin via Mandalay, take a shuttle boat up the Chindwin River to Sinthae village, and travel through the mountains with light trucks to reach the Naga Hills.