The Mogok Valley is said to be the producer of the world’s finest rubies. Seems like an ideal spot for RubyConf. I mean why not choose a spot that’s far from all of us?

Everybody is familiar with the curious phenomenon that a single slope of a hill will produce a wine of a delicate and rare bouquet, which no other vineyard in the same neighborhood or in any other region can equal. And again, that a particular valley in Cuba will grow a tobacco of choice aroma which can be equaled in no other spot. So is it in the mineral world with the best rubies. These have always been found in the Mogok Valley, in Upper Burma, a valley which is perhaps two miles long and of an average breadth of about half a mile. From this small tract have been produced all the best stones of the finest colour, and in former times one of the recognized titles of the Kings of Burma was that of ‘Lord of the Rubies.’

Francis Stopford – London 1920
The Romance of the Jewel

A ruby discovered in Mogok Valley was appraised by comparing its color to the first two drops spilled from a freshly slain pigeon onto a highly polished silver plate. Legend has it that the first Ruby was discovered by an eagle who mistook it for a hunk of meat. This is a mistake, though. We who know, know it was a duck. (via Pigeon’s Blood—a pilgrimage to Mogok)