Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
DRINKING
MementoResort
Main Rd 043 42441.
The breezy little café here (raised on stilts over the
beach) is a pleasant spot for a drink - and a lot cheaper than many other places along the
beach.
Daily 8am-10pm.
Yé Hlay Bar
Aureum Palace Hotel, Main Rd 043 42412.
Cute bar in an old wooden boat
right next to the sand. The drinks list features cocktails only, for a pricey K7000, although
you can get two-for-one deals during the daily 5-7pm happy hour.
Daily 2-10pm.
DIRECTORY
Banks
There are no banks or ATMs in Ngapali, although there is a currency exchange desk
at the airport. There's a KBZ bank with ATM in Thandwe on Bayintnaung Thitsar St.
Pharmacy
Main road, opposite the
Sandoway Resort
.
Swimming pools
Non-guests can use the lovely, serpentining pool at the
Aureum Palace
hotel for free if they take a meal in the hotel restaurant; alternatively, the big pool at the
Bay
View Beach Resort
costs $10/day for non-residents.
Sittwe
Capital of Rakhine State and gateway to Mrauk U, the remote town of
SITTWE
is one of
western Myanmar's most absorbing - and disquieting - destinations. Landing here (or arriv-
ing after the arduous bus journey from Magwe), you'll feel a long way from the rest of My-
anmar, and less than 100km from Bangladesh as the crow flies (not that you'd notice it). The
townoccupies asuperbnatural setting, atthepointwheretheKaladan River andotherinland
waterwaysdrainintotheBayofBengal,withviewsofendlesswateranddistanthillsinevery
direction,whilethebatteredtracesofoldcolonialarchitecture,
thanaka
-smearedRakhineand
lively market make the town one of Myanmar's more personable provincial capitals.
That,atleast,isthesurface.Lesssavouryisthetown'srecenthistoryasthemajorflashpoint
for clashes between the Rakhine and the town's
RohingyaMuslims
,
who once made up half
the town's population but have now been driven out of their homes and forced into refugee
campsinthesurroundingcountryside-ethniccleansing,byanyothername.Thecharacterof
the town has now significantly changed, and little evidence of the Rohingya's centuries-long
presence in Sittwe now survives, save for the beautiful old
Friday Mosque
, currently fenced
off and watched over by armed police. The town wears a largely peaceful air following the
upheavals of 2012-13, although an undercurrent of tension persists, with further riots erupt-
inginearly2014againstlocalWesternNGOs.Eveninperiodsofcalm,youmaybeconfron-
ted by locals spouting vicious racist nonsense concerning the brutalized Rohingya minority,
which leaves a very sour taste.
