Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Tucked up at the foot of the hills that range towards the Chinese border (here closed to for-
eigners), small Kachin
KYAUK SAKHAN
(“Stone Village”) is so named after the boulders
that erupt from nearby fields. The village itself is an interesting place to poke around, and
there's a great swimming hole at the grandly named
Stone Village Resort
, twenty minutes
further down a bumpy track that runs southeast. A Kachin developer was planning to open
a hotel here until the fighting erupted in 2011 - four mouldering bungalows on the hillside
above the cool, clear river are slowly returning to the wild.
The interesting journey out here is an added incentive to visit. The road passes checkpoints
and IDP (internally displaced person) camps - another legacy of the 2011 fighting - before
the cobbled road to the village and the border forks right off the main road at Momauk, and
runs towards the hills through fields of watermelons and emerald rice paddies.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE: BHAMO
At the time of research foreigners were not allowed to travel in and out of Bhamo by bus. A
railway linking Katha, Shwegu and Bhamo is currently under construction, but is not expec-
ted to be completed any time soon.
By plane
Originally built as a Japanese Air Force base in World War II, Bhamo's airport is
3km east of town. Air Bagan, Asian Wings, Myanma Airways and Yangon Airways operate
a handful of flights each week - purchase tickets through your hotel, or through the Myanma
Airways office ( 074 50269) on Kandawgyi St.
Destinations
Mandalay (9 weekly; 45min-2hr); Myitkyina (2 weekly; 30min); Yangon (6
weekly; 2hr 30min).
By boat
As river travel upstream to Sinbo and Myitkyina is off limits, foreigners are only
permitted out of Bhamo by boat downstream. Daily fast boats to Shwegu (4hr; K6000) and
Katha (8hr; K12,000) leave at 8.30am from the riverside by the Shwe Irra ticket office on
Strand Rd; if you're travelling on downstream to Mandalay you will need to spend the night
in Katha before continuing your journey south. Slower IWT ferries depart Bhamo on Mon,
WedandFriforShwegu(5hr),Katha(9hr)andMandalay(30hr)intheory,butthescheduleis
less reliable in practice. During the dry season the IWT boats need to leave from a jetty 4km
southofBhamo,butyoucanbuyticketsfromtheIWToffice( 07450117;daily9am-5pm),
housed in a colonial building set back from Strand Rd just north of the main waterfront.
