Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
like walls; the beach
south of the village
is much more attractive, with its endless swathe of
sand, generally peaceful and pretty clean, and often deserted entirely. Best of all is the area
around
Lover's Island
(offshore roughly opposite
Shwe Hin Tha
hotel, about 4km south of
the village), which you can wade out to at low tide. There's also a bit of snorkelling around
here - you may be able to rent equipment from
Shwe Hin Tha
hotel.
Elephant camp
Off the Pathein road, around 45min east of Ngwe Saung • Daily 6am-noon • $5 • Local
tour operators
can ar-
range transport to the camp by motorbike taxi (K10,000) or car (K30,000)
East of Ngwe Saung, the small
elephant camp
near the road to Pathein is a tourist venture
rather than a proper working camp, with five (sometimes more) elephants currently in res-
idence. It's pretty low-key: you watch the elephants being washed in a stream/pond and can
feed them sugar cane (K1000 per portion). It's also possible to go for a ride on one ($10 for
around 30-45min) - although as with all elephant rides the experience is uncomfortable, un-
excitingand,mostimportantly,crueltothepooranimalsthemselves, whoareforcedtoclank
miserably about in their chains.
Thazin and Sinma
Count on around K10,000 for the trip to Thazin by motorcycle taxi, slightly more to Sinma
Local excursions offered by
Ngwe Saung's tour operators
are to a couple of local fishing vil-
lages just down the coast. The village of
THAZIN
(the first village you reach on the way to
Chaung Tha; around 30min by motorbike) offers the chance to see (depending on the time
of year) locals fishing off the beach using enormous nets worked by teams of up to thirty or
(if you visit early) the local fleet of night-fishing boats returning to shore at around 6-8am
bringing in a catch of tiger prawns, barracuda, squid, tuna and mackerel.
Slightly further away (around 45min by motorbike, with one ferry crossing en route),
SINMA
villageisanothergoodplacetoseethemorning'scatchbeinglanded,aswellasvast
quantities of fish drying on the beach.
Bird Island
Thetripscostsaround$75foraboatseating fiveormorepeoplearrangedthroughatouroperator,oryoumight
be able to negotiate a cheaper per-person rate (as little as $20) from a boatman on the beach
The ride out to
Bird Island
, about one hour offshore, makes for an interesting half- or full-
day excursion. Despite the name, the island is best for snorkelling rather than birdwatching,
withplentyofcolourfulfishandlivecoral,whiletheboatrideoutthroughthecrashingwaves
is also fun.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE: NGWE SAUNG
Ngwe Saung lies at the end of a twisty little side road from Pathein, winding its way through
jungle-covered hills as you approach the coast - signs of rampant deforestation can be seen
on the way (even more so than along the similar road to Chaung Tha).
