Bird-shaped hot air balloons are released during the Tazaungdaing Lighting Festival in Taunggyi in Myanmar's north-eastern Shan State on October 31, 2025. - AFP
TAUNGGYI, Myanmar: Goat, hippo and duck-shaped hot air balloons floated in clear blue skies over war-ravaged Myanmar this week in a rare opportunity for escapism.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the military grabbed power in a 2021 coup, sparking a civil war between the junta and allied pro-democracy rebels and ethnic minority armed groups.
