Kachin State and Myitkyina
Myitkyina is the capital of Kachin state 919 miles from Yangon and 487 miles from Mandalay and is the northern most railway terminal. Myitkyina is assessable by road, rail, river and air. Different tribes of national race live in harmony with their own cultures, customs, dialects, dances and life styles. Kachin manaw festival is one of the most attractive Harvest Festivals (Manaw Dance) among many other traditional festivals. For souvenir Kachin costumes with silver trinkets, Kachin woolen bags and Kachin swords are remarkable. Tourist destinations in Myitkyina (Kachin State) are Myit Sone (origin of Ayarwaddy River), Putao mountain range, Phar Khant, Indaw Gyi Lake, Khagaborazi National Park and many more hill sites. There are over-land trade routes to India and China along the Ledo Road Pass built during World War II.
 

Myit Sone
It is the place of confluence of Maykha and Malikha of Ayarwaddy River, 29 miles from Myitkyina. Ayarwaddy River flows down in the middle of Myanmar from North to South for about 1055 miles and merges in to the Gulf of Mottama.
Maykha begins at the foot of the highest mountain in Myanmar, the 5881 meters Khagaborazi. Myakha is also the union of the two mountain streams called the Adoon Wan and Sein Khoe Wan at Adoon Laung area and flows down for 220 miles with very rapid speed. Since, it has to pass through very rough and steep terrain with fast current that provides the speed for ongoing flow of the Ayarwaddy River.
Maylikha, a mountain stream flows down from Putao Knot 10,000 feet high and always snow bound. Maylikha makes a curve flow around the Kaung Mu Lon Pagoda built by King Ashoka in about 300 BC. Thus Maylikha River begins in Mayli Khoo Khon Naw area flowed very gently for over 150 miles till its junction with the Myakha River.
The exact place where the mighty Ayarwaddy formed is at Lattitude 25’ 42” North and Longitude 97’ 30” East at a height of about 500 feet above sea level, about 29 miles from Myitkyina. At the confluence the width of Maykha is over 300 yards and Maylikha is also about 300 yards. There is a picturesque place called Karein Naw or Karein Sarra meaning of Karein Naw name of a person and Sarra means a rest area or resort, which is a pleasant welcoming point to the capital of Kachin State.
The Ayarwaddy River or the mighty river, existing at least for 15 million years, provides wonderful scenery, many facilities and wealth through out its course into the sea. Ayarwaddy River is also known as Elephant River 1055 miles long, traverse over half of country is serving the interests of many ethnic nationals of Myanmar in many ways and is also one of the 12 biggest rivers in the world.