Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Stretching for a thousand kilometres from the turbid waters of the Gulf of Mottama
to the sun-drenched islands of the Myeik Archipelago, Myanmar's panhandle is often
overlooked by visitors in the rush to head north from Yangon. However, with Tanin-
tharyi and the region's Thai border crossings now largely open to foreign visitors, this
lush and beautiful region - peppered with intriguing sights and fringed with the least
developed beaches in Southeast Asia - is poised to enter the mainstream.
Generations of devout Buddhist monarchs have left
Mon State
, the northernmost of the re-
gion, a gold-coated legacy. Not far from Yangon, the countryside around the historical Mon
capitalof
Bago
isfullofgolden
zedi
anddreamyrecliningBuddhas.Furthereast,
Kyaiktiyo
,
or the Golden Rock, is the most revered of the southeast's religious monuments, the precari-
ously balanced pagoda-crowned boulder floating high above the Eastern Yoma Mountains.
With its drawn-out coastline and sheltered natural harbours, the southeast played an import-
ant role in Indian Ocean trade for centuries, exporting pottery, teak and other exotic products
from the Burmese interior. While the port city of
Mawlamyine
came to prominence only
under nineteenth-century British rule, it's the best place to get a sense of this mercantile her-
itage, with bustling markets and peeling godowns dotting the town centre. The countryside
nearby is full of fascinating day-trips, from
Thanbyuzayat
's sombre war cemetery to
Win
Sein Taw Ya
, a crumbling 180m-long reclining Buddha.
East of Mon State,
KayinState
was the site of one of Myanmar's most violent
ethniccon-
flicts
, with decades of fighting between Kayin nationalists and government troops leaving
hundredsofpeopledeadandtensofthousandsmorelivingasrefugeesinneighbouringThai-
land before aceasefire wassigned in2012.Today,the peaceful countryside aroundstate cap-
ital
Hpa-An
belies the violence of the recent past, and the small town is a great place to stay
while exploring the dramatic mountains and Buddha-filled caves nearby.
Inthefarsouth,newlyaccessible
TanintharyiRegion
ishometoastringofdazzlingdeser-
ted beaches around
Dawei
, and
Myeik
is a fascinating hub for all sorts of tropical industries,
fromcashew-nutfactoriestomalodorousworkshopsfermentingfishfor
ngăpí
fishpaste.Off
the coast, along the difficult-to-access
Myeik Archipelago
, sea gypsies still ride the waves,
andfishermenperchonbambooplatformspluckingfishfromtherichwatersoftheAndaman
Sea.
TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS
At the time of research it was possible to travel overland as far south as Myeik. Between
MyeikandKawthaung
,foreignerswerestillrequiredtotravelbyboatorbyplane.Travel
in the
Myeik Archipelago
was strictly limited to those on organized diving trips, and the
interior
- home to several nature reserves - was, at the time of writing, still off limits.
