Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
travel by upper class (generally tickets go on sale three days in advance for upper class and a
day in advance for ordinary tickets). However, at intermediate stops between major stations
tickets may only go on sale shortly before the train arrives. Foreigners are usually dealt with
separatelyfromlocalpassengers,andyouwillfindthatstationstaffofteninviteyouintotheir
offices while they write out your ticket.
It's possible to buy tickets before you travel through a handful of Yangon
travelagents
, in-
cluding Exotic Myanmar Travels & Tours (
exoticmyanmartravel.com
)
and Myanmar Tour
East(
myanmartoureast.com
)
.Onceyou'reinthecountryyou'llneedtoheadtothestation
yourself to buy a ticket direct from the booking office.
For the latest
information
on travelling by train in Myanmar (and timetables for the most
popular services), The Man in Seat 61 (
seat61.com/Burma.htm
) is the most comprehens-
ive and reliable online resource.
By ferry
Myanmar offers some of Asia's great river journeys and travelling by boat is, in places, an
excellent alternative to buses and trains. Boats connect some of the country's major destina-
tions,mostnotablyMandalayandBagan,andcanbeagoodwaytoexperiencelocallife.The
most popular routes are concentrated on the upper reaches of the
Ayeyarwady River
, but
there are also interesting trips on the
Thanlyin
and
Chindwinrivers
, as well as from Sittwe
to Mrauk U. Several sea routes link places that are difficult to reach overland, with ferries
plying the waters of the Tanintharyi coast, and the trip from Sittwe to Taunggok.
Inland Water Transit or
IWT
(
www.iwt.gov.mm/en
), a government-run service, operates
the slow two-storey ferries that run regularly irregular services along the Ayeyarwady River
between Mandalay and Bhamo, Nyaung U (for Bagan) and Pyay. Elsewhere IWT runs a few
trips each week between Monywa and Kalewa along the Chindwin River and between Sit-
twe and Mrauk U in Rakhine State. Boats are often stacked high with cargo, leaving some
covered deck space and a few cabins for passengers, with most locals setting up camp on
deck for the duration of their voyage. Bring something comfortable to sit on and sleep under
- if you're planning to travel on deck, take a mat and a blanket. Simple meals are available
on board and vendors swarm onto the ship at each stop.
Privatelyrun“
fastboats
”-usuallylong,thinmotorboatscarryinganywherebetweenthirty
and eighty passengers - follow some of IWT's routes along the Ayeyarwady, and also cov-
er the beautiful trip down the Thanlyin from Mawlamyine to Hpa-An, the journey down the
Tanintharyi coast and the river voyage from Sittwe to Mrauk U. The comfort levels of the
boatscanvarywildly.Somevesselsofferspaciousseatsandair-conditioning,whileonothers
you'll have to make do with cramped wooden benches and a tarpaulin roof.
