River and Lake Cruise
Its' slow but cheap for local people.
The country has plenty of river and lakes but mostly it's not efficient used. It took the British or rather Scottish during colonial times to get river travel moving.
When they came to Burma only some small sail ships were around, when they left they had a flotilla of about 600 vessels big and small on all big streams, the coast and between the islands in the Myeik Archipelago.That was the "Irrawaddy Flotilla Company".
Road Travel
A dangerous method since most are real bad.
They built a excellent highway between the old and the new capital which had the fatal effect that many cars crashed out at some curves since the people drove to fast.
There was nothing like this before so they had no experience, it took several month until this was under control. A few more destination are also better now such as to the west coast where the main beaches are for the people from the capital notably Chaungtha and Ngwe Saung (Silver Beach).
The worst is probably to the south behind Bago (Pegu) which is a real mess although it's getting better a bit, but the fact still is that the south half of the country is only accessible via a bad road. Considering what happen a few dozen kilometer on the Thai side where the four lane Highway 4 runs north south they better do something.
Heading south is better by aircraft or ship which are ocean and coastal vessels.
Domestic Travel
Make a journey by Road, Train, Air and River Cruising.
Although trips still can be difficult it is definitely improving substantially. The main obstacles are the awful conditions of the road network which has not much changed since colonial times when the British built the basics.
Actually during that time it was more easy and reliable to use the "Irrawaddy Flotilla Company" which was operated by a group of Scott's, they had the license granted from the King to operate on all rivers and they did a excellent job.
Air Travel is probably the best and there is a good network covering the whole country by several airlines, fares are usual in the hundred dollar region one way.
Road Travel needs a strong adventure spirit since the surfaces are real bad and very narrow which makes it very time consuming. For buses check with your hotel since there are several terminals in Yangon and some are overlapping.
Train Travel could be a good idea if you have long time available and don't care too much about problems.
A River and Lake Cruise could be a real highlight on a visit to Burma, various means and ship / boat sizes are available including sailing, rowing and longtail-boats.
road-travel
myanmar-train-travel
myanmar-holiday
domestic-travel
Yangon Airport
Airport Departure
Airport Arrival
Travel to Myanmar
Trips in Burma
How to travel
Custom & Immigration
Alternative Transport
Crossing Borders
Although trips still can be difficult it is definitely improving substantially. The main obstacles are the awful conditions of the road network which has not much changed since colonial times when the British built the basics.
Actually during that time it was more easy and reliable to use the "Irrawaddy Flotilla Company" which was operated by a group of Scott's, they had the license granted from the King to operate on all rivers and they did a excellent job.
Air Travel is probably the best and there is a good network covering the whole country by several airlines, fares are usual in the hundred dollar region one way.
Road Travel needs a strong adventure spirit since the surfaces are real bad and very narrow which makes it very time consuming. For buses check with your hotel since there are several terminals in Yangon and some are overlapping.
Train Travel could be a good idea if you have long time available and don't care too much about problems.
A River and Lake Cruise could be a real highlight on a visit to Burma, various means and ship / boat sizes are available including sailing, rowing and longtail-boats.
Irrawaddy Delta
Through the Wetlands.
This is a wide piece of wetland covering the whole coast from Bago to Pathein with Yangon in the center. Most foreigners arrived here since hundreds of years for trading goods, today they are mainly tourists.
The last time the area moved through the media was during the Cyclone Nargis disaster, it is also known for a rich flora and fauna.
The stream comes down from the east side of the Tibetan Himalayas, cuts right through the center and spreads out into the delta wetland to empty into the Andaman Sea. Because the country was closed for such a long time it still has a high biodiversity with several wetland ecosystems. Here is a herd of buffaloes wallowing happily in a muddy pond west of Yangon.
Around are about 40 species of fish plus countless birds, reptiles, buffaloes and other animals. One of them is probably the most famous, that’s the Irrawaddy Dolphin, a round-headed dolphin. Unfortunately it’s seen “less and less” over the years.
Everyone visiting Myanmar (Burma) should have a drive through the wetlands to Bago and / or to the beaches at the west-coast such as Chaungtha and Ngwe Saung.
Mawlamyine Thanlyin (Salween) River Port
The port is at the Gulf of Martaban.
During British and Portuguese times this was Moulmain, the Thanlwin (Salween) coming down from Tibet reaches the Andaman Sea here.
This was a turbulent time during colonial times because of constant fighting between the local rulers and the colonial powers which sided with some against the other. They were coveted partners because they had modern weapons which the locals didn't have. Also during WW2 fighting was going on here and at Thaton (a bit to the north). There is a big war memorial and cemetery there very similar to Kanchanaburi to the east in Thailand.
Some of the river vessels you see above have been the property of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company during the British colonial time.
The Thanlyin (Salween)River
The Thanlyin (Salween)River has almost 3000 km behind when emptying into the Gulf of Martaban coming all the way from China. In China known as the Nu Stream is known as the “Grand Canyon of the East,” since the raging water cuts deep into the hilly landscape creating spectacular views.
The river haven't been "raped" by the Chinese yet so badly as others such as the Mekong a remarkable biological diversity still exists. The UNESCO proclaimed the region a World Heritage Site in 2003. Two months later the Yunnan government announced to build a 13-dam cascade.
Myanmar and Thailand are also intending to build seven dams and a diversion project for the lower Thanlyin a couple of very destructive things will come in the next decades.
Since 2004, ordinary people in China, Myanmar and Thailand have voiced strong opposition to the construction.
Myanmar intends to build seven dams.
Among them is the Hatgyi Dam, the resulting reservoir would flood two wildlife sanctuaries in Karen State. Another are the Tasang Barricade and the resulting lake would flood teak forests and the Weigyi Dam would inundate the Kayah-Karen Mountain Rain-forests, some National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries and get rid with Khoe Kay, a bend of the Salween River with plenty of unique nature, all that would be gone forever. That means a few sub-intelligent humans are destroying important nature heritage which needed more than a million year to grow up just to be destroyed by some two leg monsters who have absolutely no sense of responsibility.
The Chinese are well known for excessive poaching in the northern Myanmar area which means logging, killing everything with 4 legs (they eat even chairs, why? because they have four legs) Now can people sink lower?
Pathein River Port
This is part of the Irrawaddy Delta.
Today this is a sleepy city, the last real active times was during the British colonial period when the harbor was used for their vessels on the way to India and Penang.
Driving from Yangon to the the west for Pathein (Bassein) and the coast is a interesting journey through the vast paddy-fields of the Irrawaddy Delta. Most people make this trip to spend the weekend at Chaungtha or Ngwe Saung Beach which are the best waterfronts to reach with the car from the main city.
The attack was to eliminate the stockades.
Along the Irrawaddy, the Warship H.M.S. Larne supported by transport ships Mercury, Heroine, Carron and Lotus on the 26th February, 1825.
Another river port the British built was in Moulmein (Mawlamyine), actually this was one of the few positive things they did in Burma. Do make the river navigable, introduced the train network and rebuilt Yangon. Unfortunately the local government did nothing afterwards most Myanmar is just the way as the British left after WW2, read more.
The most popular beaches of Yangon are two hours to the west from here, that is Ngwe Saung and Chaungtha Waterfront. This is a historic interesting area since many ships from the west came here first did some trading and carried the result on ox-carts to the former capital, read more.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)