Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Motorised three-wheelers (called
thonbeecars
:
thoun
means 'three',
bein
means 'wheel')
carrying up to four people charge K3000 to/from the airport, K6000 to the boat jetty for
Sinbo.
Bicycles (K2000 per day) and motorbikes (K20,000 per day) can be rented at the Ori-
ent Restaurant next to the YMCA.
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Myit-Son & Jaw Bum
About 27 miles north of Myitkyina,
Myit-Son
marks the point where the Mayhka and
Malikha Rivers come together to form the Ayeyarwady. It's considered a local 'beauty
spot', though 'intriguing' describes the ravaged scene better than 'beautiful'. The conflu-
ence point is distantly overlooked by a series of rough snack- and teahouses, a big
dumpling-shaped
golden pagoda
and a traditional
Kachin longhouse
rebuilt as a 'cul-
tural emblem'. However, more interesting is the nearby purgatory of
gold-panning
out-
fits churning up the muddy stream in accompanying
Tang Phray
village, using semi-
mechanised bamboo-tower conveyor belts.
The road north of Myitkyina (bound eventually for Putao) has been partly rebuilt, but
the last 11km to Myit-Son are horrendously bumpy. You'll need a photocopy of your
passport and visa to hand to a police checkpoint en route. A motorbike/taxi from Myitky-
ina costs around K20,000/50,000 return (1½ hours each way). For a token extra fee you
can detour 1 mile off the main road at Nawng Nang village to comically named
Jaw
Bum
. Its name translates as 'praying mountain' but it's really only a fairly modest hill, a
sacred site for Kachin and Lisu Baptists. In spite of its religious connections, most visit-
ors here are amorous local couples who climb a repulsively ugly six-storey concrete
viewing tower
to observe and drop litter on a sweep of rural scenery.
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Myitkyina to Bhamo
Travelling by boat, the first day is through low-lying scenery that is not immediately
memorable but has the bonus of a forced stay in appealing Sinbo, a village that's wonder-
fully unspoilt apart from the piles of riverside rubbish that mar almost every habitable
area along the route. The Sinbo to Bhamo section, on smaller (25 plank-seat) longboats,
spends most of the route traversing the Ayeyarwady's first defile where the river cuts
through hills shaggy with forest-bamboo mix, the boat stopping at isolated sandbanks to
