Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
pick up gold-panners, rattan harvesters and cantilever fishermen. In the dry season, ac-
cess to Bhamo can be complicated by the boat having to weave through a maze of very
shallow sandbars.
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Sinbo
POPULATION C1700
Taking the river route between Myitkyina and Bhamo, you'll be forced to spend a night
in this delightfully car-less riverside village. Though conditions aren't luxurious, the stop
is actually a blessing in disguise - for some travellers one of the highlights of the river
trip. Founded as a teak station for the Scottish firm Steel Brothers, Sinbo is a neat grid of
unpaved streets, the mostly wood and part-timber houses set amid coconut and toddy
palms. There are no must-see sights but river views are mesmerising from the muddy
lane that climbs between the trio of old stupas and the 1919 British Officers' Bungalow
(now fenced and out of bounds for military use) at the south end of town. On arrival from
Myitkyina, boats are usually met by
Hla Tun
, the manager of the one ultra-simple
guest-
house
(bed/dinner/breakfast K3000/2000/1500)
. It has eight hardboard-separated sleeping
spaces over a party dining room featuring portraits of Buddha, Jesus and Avril Lavigne.
Delicious dinners are cooked by Hla Tun's wife on a simple wood-stove out back.
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Bhamo (Banmaw)
074 / POPULATION C25,000
For many travellers, Bhamo ('ba-more'; Banmaw), is just a staging post on the river
journey to Myitkyina or Mandalay. But if you take the time to stop for a few days, you'll
discover one of Myanmar's most relaxed and attractive towns. The central
riverfront
(Kannar Rd)
is especially lively on Friday, when villagers flood in for the market. It's lined
with several old stained-teak houses and is overhung with magnificent mature 'rain
trees', so named because their lovely pink flowers bloom in the monsoon season. At the
southern end of this riverfront are dealerships selling great stacks of clay-pots including
simple water carriers from Shwegu and giant glazed amphorae from Kyaukmyaung. Two
short blocks east then one north on Lammataw Rd brings you to the main market (Thiri
Yadana) from which Sinbyushin St leading west becomes the main road to Myitkyina
and China. It quickly passes Post Office St (for Grand Hotel, turn right after one block),
the
pre-dawn vegetable market
and Letwet Thondaya Rd (for the Friendship Hotel, turn
