Phuket Thailand

After going through the Thai Immigration at Ranong we caught a tuk tuk and went straight to the bus station to catch a bus to Phuket, another six hours away.  We almost got caught out by the time change acrosss the border.  Thailand is 30 minutes ahead of Myanmar.  We were all set to have some breakfast but realised the bus was just about ready to leave.  So with tummies rumbling we settled into the comfortable bus and napped until our arrival mid-afternoon, catching up on our lost sleep from the grueling overnight minibus ride through southern Myanmar.

Traveling through Thailand we were convinced that Thailand must have bought out the world supply of black and white fabric.  King Bhumibol Adulyadej had died in October and every public building was draped in black and white fabric rosettes in respect of their beloved King.  The mourning will last for a year.   At least half of the Thais we saw were wearing black and the shops were full of black shirts for sale with ‘we love our King’ embroidered in Thai.

Drapes hung in mourning at the bus station

In our previous trips to Thailand we had avoided going to very popular Phuket as it is known for being quite a party tourist destination.  But we found a nice quiet beach not far from the airport, Nai Yang beach.  Like much of the Phuket coast, Nai Yang had been badly affected by the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004.  The wave had flooded the entire area 300 metres inland.  The Thai have rebuilt but there remain some buildings that have not been rebuilt – too many ghosts.

Hotel abandoned after the 2004 tsunami

We spent the next five days relaxing, walking the beach, taking an occasional dip in the water and exploring a bit of the island by foot and on a scooter.  It was idyllic.  

The beach at Nai Yang

Fishing boats

The boys going out for a spot of fishing

Our hotel

So restful here

We checked out the Rolly Tasker’s sail loft.  We had bought some sails from Rolly Tasker for Solar Mist and were very happy with the quality.  Rolly Tasker was an Australian sailor who won Australia’s first Olympic sailing medal at the 1956 Olympic games in Melbourne.  He started a sailmaking business initially in Western Australia.  His sail loft in Thailand is the largest sailloft in the world so we had to have a look.  We went on a day which happened to be a public holiday (Kings birthday – still being celebrated eventhough he died).  Fortunately the Kings Cup Regatta was on and the loft was still open for emergency repairs.  We had a wonderful time chatting with the manager, nosing around the chandlery and browsing the memorabilia on display.

Rolly Tasker sail loft

 Another day we drove to some marinas for future reference and explored the countryside.  After passing endless rubber plantations in Burma and Thailand we stopped at one along the road in Phuket to inspect the sap coming from the tree.  It is quite white and milky.

Collecting sap from the rubber trees

After so much travel we were happy to relax and not do too much sightseeing.  The beach and sunsets were plenty to keep us content.

Bob watching the sand crabs

End of another perfect day

The Road Less Travelled (and we know why!) Part 2

Part 2 has been a long time coming.  Sadly, my computer has been in hospital and the condition turned out to be terminal.  A new laptop has become my Christmas present to myself.

Back to Myanmar.  Dawei was the decision point for a land border crossing into Thailand.  If we could not go south by road to cross the border at Kawthong/Ranong in southern Myanmar then we would have to take the more northern crossing at Phunaron/HteeKee, east of Dawei.  The staff at our hotel assured us that the road was open to foreigners all the way to Kawthong so we bought bus tickets to the next town, Myeik, about 250 km south.

Land border crossings

We spent a long day cramped on a small minibus traveling over bumpy roads through very scenic countryside; past rubber plantations and small villages; over little streams and rickety bridges, and road works being done everywhere by ladies hauling stones in bamboo baskets, widening the roads.  The minibus picked us up at our hotel at about 9.30 am then spent the next hour going around the back blocks of Dawei picking up more passengers.  After two hours of travel we had gone only about 50 km south of Dawei.  It took another 6 hours to reach Myeik.

Myeik is the gateway to the Mergui Archipelago in the Andaman Sea.  This area is made up of over 800 islands and home to the Moken people, or Sea gypsies who live a semi-nomadic, sea-based life.  We had hoped to perhaps visit these islands, but the cost to do so was beyond our budget.  We had to content ourselves with exploring the water front and markets of the town and of course, some of the pagodas.  The waterfront was a hive of activity with boats going everywhere across quite strong currents running in the channel between the mainland and nearby islands.  At night this area becomes a place for street food and markets.

Waterfront - better at high tide when the rubbish is hidden

Taxi ride

Another pagoda

Bob checking out the Burmese anchors - just a bit of re-enforcing metal

Our dinner being prepared at the night markets

The situation in Myanmar is changing rapidly.  The southern area of the country was opened to foreigners only three years ago.  The guide books said that the road from Myeik to Kawthong was not open and one would have to take a ferry to the southernmost town.  The guide books also said that there were very few ATM’s in the country and one should have a good supply of crisp, pristine US dollars. None of this advice turned out to be true.  The road between Myeik and Kawthong is open and the ferry no longer runs between the two cities.  Also, we found that all towns have ATMs and there was no need to bring US dollars into the country.

We spent two nights at our rather ordinary hotel in Myeik.  We asked the staff to get us tickets on a ‘big bus’ to Kawthong.   All the buses were overnight and we did not fancy spending a sleepless night on a cramped minibus.  We showed the hotel staff a picture of a big bus, like we had ridden in to Bagan – quite comfortable.  They assured us that this was the type of bus they booked.  During our two days we confirmed with them several times that we had a big bus and not a minibus.  Alas on the evening of our departure only a minibus was available to us, despite our efforts to get on one of the larger, more comfortable buses.  This was obviously a bit of a con being run and left us a bit disappointed in Burma.  But to be fair this was the only time in the three weeks that such a thing happened.

So we traveled down very rough roads for 10 hours overnight to Kawthong.  We had the same driver throughout the night who was refreshed by only one stop, where he pulled over in a mosquito infested field for a 45 minute nap.  Finally in the pre-dawn light the groggy passengers stumbled out of the minibus at the ferry wharf in Kawthong.

Catering to the tourist

We shuffled between the street stalls just beginning to open for the day, desparately looking for coffee, with no success.  Finally immigration opened up, we caught a ferry with a fellow traveler from Ireland and crossed the water into Thailand.

Dawn over Thailand

Our ferry to Thailand

Immigration in Thailand

Ferries waiting for the next passengers

The Road Less Travelled (and a lot bumpier!)

After Mandalay we were going to complete the usual tourist route to Inle Lake, maybe even do a three day trek.  But after a bit of research we decided we weren’t really prepared for a trek through the tropical jungle and the lake sounded like a bit of a tourist trap.  We decided instead to go to the south of Myanmar, make our way to the very southern tip of the country and cross into Thailand by ferry at Kawthoung – Ranong.  This area had been opened up to tourist only three years ago and we thought it would be a fascinating place to explore.  We had read differing accounts whether it was even possible to do the whole length of the southern peninsula by road as some reports said the last part of the trip was still closed to tourists.  We thought we would give it a try nonetheless and play it by ear when we got to each town on the way.

So we started our long trek south first by getting an overnight sleeper train from Mandalay to Yangon.  We were beginning to wonder about the wisdom of this when we noted the ticket included 3.86 kyats (0.004 cents) for life insurance.  Life is cheap in Burma!  It turned out to be a rocky rolly noisy ride with very little sleep but pleasant company sharing the sleeping compartment with a nice young French couple just starting out on a one year travel adventure through the east.

Our train tickets with a life insurance item

Our train to Yangon

After reaching Yangon and spending a night in a hotel to try to catch up on sleep (unsuccessfully it turned out as the hotel was quite noisy), we caught a bus to Mawlamyine, formally known as Moulmein, about 300 km southeast of Yangon.  Moulmein was the first capital of British Burma and George Orwell was a colonial policeman here.  Moulmein is also mentioned in Kipling’s poem Mandalay.  The seven hour bus ride passed pleasantly enough.  We were on a full size air-conditioned bus with movies in English.  So far I have been quite pleased with the public transport in Myanmar.  It has been of a much better standard than I expected from past travels in the poorer countries in Southeast Asia.

Mawlamyine is a pretty town on the delta of the Thanlyin River but it is not really set up for tourists, which is fine of course.  Our hotel turned out to be at the southern end of town and the room looked nothing like the pictures in Booking.com.  After we arrived in late afternoon, we walked along the waterfront in search of a place for an early dinner.  The views and sunset were fantastic but the pickings for dinner were slim (lots of streetside stalls but with no one patronising them and the sanitation of fairly dubious quality) but we managed to find a nice cafe with good food.  By the time we finished dinner the town had closed down for the night (about 8.30 pm) and it took some doing to find a tuk tuk back to our hotel.

Mawlamyine waterfront at sunset

The next morning we thought we would brave renting a motorcycle again to tour the town and the nearby island.  Mawlamyine traffic seemed much more manageable and Bilugyun Island was quite quiet and rural.  We did the obligatory trip to the Pagodas on the top of the hill overlooking the town.  Someone once said that Burma must have a pagoda for every person and I believe it.  Once again the views were great.

Reclining Buddha - note the ever present money boxes

 

 

A lift for the more infirmed or lazy tourists

We then headed for the waterfront to catch a ferry to the island.  The ferry men are very resourceful getting people and cargo on and off their little wooden boats.

Getting the bike on the ferry

Going across the river

Getting the bike off on the other side

 The island was lovely – a beautiful rural setting with crops, rubber plantations and little villages.  We came across some boys getting coconuts and stopped for a chat and photos.  They were cute, cheeky boys who gave us a bunch of coconuts when we said goodbye, which we in turn gave to another boy a few kilometres down the road.

Cute and cheeky boys

Everyone  getting in the picture

 We drove to southern end of the island and caught another, larger ferry back to the town.

Getting the bike on a bigger ferry

Inside the ferry

All loaded up

Getting the bike off at low tide

The next day was a very early start for Dawei, about 350 km south of Mawlamyine.  This trip was in a cramped 18 seat minibus and the further south we went the bumpier the roads.  Conditions for travel was now becoming what I had expected/feared they would be.  

The bus station at Mawlamyine

German tourist worried about their luggage

On offer at the lunch stop - Dr Suez's green eggs?

 The scenery was lovely though and I had a good talking book to entertain me while I tried to keep my legs from becoming numb.  (The ride was much too bumpy for reading.)  After 9 hours we arrived in Dawei and were pleasantly surprised with the very nice hotel that awaited us.

Checking out the fish pond at the hotel

The next day we rented a scooter and headed for Maungmakan beach, about a 40 minute ride northwest of town.  The beach was idyllic – a long sandy beach filled with Myanmars enjoying themselves and fishing boats bringing in the catch.  The beach side was lined with simple cafes and souvenir stalls.  It was all very basic and unspoiled.  We bumped into the German couple who were on our minibus the day before and had a very nice fresh fish lunch with them.

 

Bringing in the catch

Some horseshoe crabs

Sorting the nets

The only 'water sport' on offer  - wonderful - no banana boats!

Late afternoon

Back at our hotel, the staff assured us that we could get buses all the way to Kawthoung and the Thai border crossing.  Dawei was the decision point if we couldn’t continue south.  We would have had to use the other border crossing east of Dawei. On the assurances of the hotel staff we decided to press on to the southern tip of Myanmar.  To be continued.