Up the River to Mrauk U

Stupas on hilltops during golden hour

After Inle Lake, we headed west to Mrauk U, located in the tumultuous Rakhine State.  Mrauk U is pronounced 'mraw oo' in the Myanmar language, or 'meow oo' in Rakhine language.  It is the site of a former Rakhine kingdom, and probably the most remote location we visited in Myanmar.  According to one reference, the kingdom of Mrauk U was once known as the "Venice of the East", due to the network of moats surrounding the palace.  Nowadays what remains are the city and palace walls, temples, and stupas.  The palace itself was ruined many years ago.  

Travelling up the Kaladan River

There are 2 different ways to access Mrauk U, by flight then boat, or by 30hr bus ride.  We opted for the more comfortable flight and boat ride.  Knowing the state of Myanmar roads (especially in Mrauk U), we definitely made the right decision.  To get to Mrauk U we took the bus from Inle Lake to Yangon, flew to Sittwe, and took a boat up the Kaladan river to our destination.  The situation in Rakhine state is probably the most unstable of all the areas we went to.  In fact, as recently as September there was a curfew in Sittwe due to violence between the Buddhist majority and the Muslim minority.  In a nutshell, the government does not recognise the Muslim minority as citizens of Myanmar, and much violence and unrest has occurred.  When we were there we definitely noticed a higher level of military/policing.  The local mosque was surrounded by barbed wire and there were armed guards blocking the access road.  On other roads there were armed guards manning checkpoints, limiting where us foreigners could go.  Mrauk U was much quieter.  There were few signs of unrest, and the police presence that was found in Sittwe was not present in Mrauk U.  

The lightning storm lasted for hours!

K and I arrived in Sittwe in the afternoon.  All of the public boats depart Sittwe for Mrauk U in the morning.  There was the option of chartering a private boat, but as it was much more expensive we vetoed that idea.  So, our original plan was to spend the night in Sittwe and catch a boat in the morning for the 5-6 hour journey upstream.  However, when we arrived at the tiny Sittwe airport, we spotted two tourists and decided to inquire about their plans.  As it turned out, they were expats living in Myanmar, and were on a weekend trip with two local residents.  They had pre-arranged a private boat and were happy to have us join in.  

Stormy sunset

The boat was wooden and powered by a two-stroke diesel engine, that at one point decided to fail.  It did not appear to be very seaworthy, but thankfully the river was calm.  Apparently in the past one of these boats capsized, killing some Italian tourists.  The Kaladan river is extremely wide at it’s mouth.  Much wider than the Fraser or Columbia.  At first, the boat ride was exciting – it was pleasant to be on the water with the cool breeze.  Later, as day turned to night, we had a spectacular lightning show.  However, after the sun set the journey seemed to lag on and on.  We eventually arrived in Mrauk U well after dark.  With no map or real directions (the Lonely Planet is quite sparse for Mrauk U), we opted to take a trishaw to our accommodation for the night.