Thingyan
6
Myanmar in April is so hot that you’ll enjoy getting soaked at Thingyan ( Water Festival; p 343 ),
which marks the start of the country’s new-year celebration. The festival involves lots of
drinking, dancing, singing and theatre, with the emphasis on satire – even making (careful!) fun
of the government. Cultural taboos are temporarily lifted, so women can ‘kidnap’ young men,
blacken the men’s faces with soot or oil, bind their hands and dunk their heads in buckets of water
until they surrender and perform a hilarious monkey dance.ZAW MIN YU/LONELY PLANET IMAGES ©