Trip Report: Mrauk U->Sittwe->Yangon

Days 10-12: Mrauk U

•  Looked around for alternative accommodation as choosing Royal City was more out of desperation than choice.  Looked at Mrauk U Palace Resort, which had smaller aircon bungalows but with a little bargaining the manager offered $30USD per night.  Liked the location of Royal City better, so asked for the same price, which we thought the manager agreed to.  Should mention that the manager at Royal City is the only employee there who speaks English.  And his English isn’t the best.  Upon checking out either he didn’t remember agreeing to the lower price or there was a miscommunication.  Eventually agreed on $35USD/night.  While there are lights 24 hrs a day, air conditioning was spotty.  From what I understand, the guesthouse generator is not strong enough to run the a/c, and they have to wait for the government generator to turn on, or something like that.  However, the bungalow was well designed and kept relatively cool despite the spotty a/c.  We actually started being strategic with cooling the room when the a/c worked, and being very careful to not let the cool air out of the room!  Should add that we only saw one other guest at the guesthouse.  And while in Mrauk U saw very few foreign tourists (less than 10), and more Myanmar tourists (but still not many).
• Booked a Chin village tour through the guesthouse.  Cost 70000kyats, which included motorickshaw transfer to a different jetty (~1hr away), boat ride, guide, and bagged lunch.  Tour left at 0800 and came back around 1515.  Our guide was actually a nurse who worked in both Yangon and Singapore and was a tour guide on his visits home.  I didn’t ask about his wages, but I wonder if being a tour guide is more lucrative than nursing.  I enjoyed the boat ride up the river.  It took approx 2 hrs boat ride to get to the first village, where we met a 71 year old Chin lady who looked like she was in pretty good shape.  Drank tea and chatted with her as our guide translated.  Went to another village where we met another Chin lady, who looked unwell.  Turns out last year she was hospitalized in Sittwe for tuberculosis treatment for 4 weeks.  Also visited the village school which had a map of the world on the wall.  We asked our guide to translate some of the labels in the Canadian north.  Turns out both Iceland and Greenland are located in Northern Canada :D
• Tried to wander around and look at temples on foot.  Didn’t work out due to the heat and the lack of signage.  Decided to book a motorickshaw to tour the site.  Cost 20000kyats for the day.  We split our day into 2 parts, from 0700-1015, and 1400-1730, due to the heat.  It’s easy to see the entire site in 1 day if you are tough, or if the weather is more moderate.  It was in the mid to high 30s while we were there, and with the humidity the ‘feels like’ temperature was above 40 :S
• If you are really adventurous, there are so many ruins you can see!  Many areas are overgrown, but if you had a machete you could easily do it.  For example, there are a couple of libraries that remain in MraukU.  There’s the most well known one that is easy to get to and being preserved in a building.  However, our driver brought us to a lesser known one that we had to bushwack to get to.  We actually got too intimidated as we were unprepared, and weren’t able to go right up to it.
• Not too many restaurants on the main street of Mrauk U.  Went to Pyae Wah twice and Khang Thant multiple times.  At Pyae Wah 2 butterfish curries, 1 rice, and 1 orange soda cost 3000kyats.  At Khang Thant, they only serve curry set meals, which includes veggies, curry, rice, and 2 soups.  Cost is 2000 kyats per person.  
• There are stairs leading to a small monastery located right behind the Royal City bungalows.  It has 1 big monk, 1 medium monk, and 3 little monks (for lack of better terms).  It’s a nice place to watch the sunset, and probably a good place to watch the sunrise too as the eastern views are unobstructed.  Warning there is a pack of 3 growling dogs (which I am terrified of).  One of the kid monks chased them away with a stick though!  
• Other stuff: bought 6 small guavas for 400 kyats, and a bunch of bananas for 400 kyats.  
• Booked tickets on the Shwe Pi Tan fast boat through our guesthouse at 20000kyats each

Day 13: MraukU to Sittwe

• Took the Shwe Pyi Tan fast boat down the river in the morning.  The boat is aircon and has tinted, sealed windows.  Very thankful that we took the private boat up the river as it allowed us to have better views of the river.  That being said, Shwe Pyi Tan is FAST.  Took only 2.5hrs to get to Sittwe.
• We didn’t prebook accomdation in Sittwe.  Figured it wouldn’t be too busy.  Took a motorickshaw from the jetty to Noble hotel to check if they had a room.  They had 1 aircon room going for $50USD.  Decided that was too pricey so walked down the main road to the first guesthouse we saw, which was Shwe Myint Mho.  They had fan rooms for $25USD/25000kyats per night, and aircon rooms for $40USD/40000kyats per night.  We decided the fan room looked airy enough, and since it was only a single night stay, went with it.  In hindsight, should’ve just paid the extra money for the aircon room, if only for the dehumidifying effects of aircon!!!  Also in hindsight, could’ve totally taken the fast boat and flown out of Sittwe on the same day.  However we were concerned about missing our flight, so opted for the safe route and spent the night in Sittwe.  That and every boat we had been on so far had suffered from some minor type of engine failure lol.  I’ll write a separate review for Sittwe as I took a lot of notes since there wasn’t much to do there. [find the guide to Sittwe on this blog by clicking on the Sittwe tag]
• Lunch and dinner at Dagon Beer Station (the only English words on their awning).  Not too many restaurants in Sittwe.  Chicken fried noodles = 1200 kyats, chicken curry, 2500 kyats, rice 300 kyats, rice and noodle dish 1500 kyats, fried water cress 800 kyats
• Wandered around town and bought various knickknacks.  Did some souvenir shopping as wasn’t much else to do.   Bought 2 nicer quality longyis for 7000kyats each.  Bunch of bananas = 300kyats, pomelo=500kyats, 3 cucumbers=500kyats

Day 14: Sittwe to Yangon 

•  Flight didn’t leave til afternoon, so we went to the fish market in the morning.  Quite interesting seeing the various types of seafood 
• Spent the morning hanging out at River Valley Seafood Restaurant as it was too hot to walk anywhere.  Ate seafood fried vermicelli=2500 kyats and shared a can of Sunkist=1000kyats.  Sat at their outdoor tables and watched the world go by.
• Had 2^nd breakfast/lunch at Mya Tea Garden.  Sweet tea= 300kyats each, plate of egg rolls and samosas = 300kyats, plate of sweet rice with coconut=300kyats.  Sat some more in the shade and people watched.
• Motorickshaw to airport was 3000kyats
• Flew Air KBZ to Yangon.  Again, flight was punctual and went smoothly.
• Back in Yangon, paid 8000kyats at the taxi stand for a taxi to Agga Guesthouse, which we had previously booked online
• Walked to Shwedagon Pagoda, approx 30minute walk.  Don’t recommend doing it in the dark as the sidewalks are quite sketchy with random openings into the sewer.  Thankfully had a flashlight.
• Desk at bottom of Shwedagon entrance was insisting that shoes be carried in bags.  Then insisted on a ‘donation’.  So bring your own bags to avoid this!
• Entry fee: 8000kyats per person.  Make sure your knees are covered and your shoulders are covered.  I don’t know what my travel buddy was thinking, but she was wearing Bermuda shorts and had to rent a longyi to cover up.  (there may have been an I TOLD YOU SO from me in there :p )  Longyi rentals are free, just require a deposit.  
• Prebooked taxi from Agga to the airport for the next morning for 8000kyats.

Trip Report: Inle->Yangon->Mrauk U

Day 8: Nightbus to Yangon

• Spent the day wandering around Nyaungshwe on bikes and lounging around the guesthouse.  
• Took the JJ bus to Yangon, which we had booked while in Bagan.  Costs 18500kyats per person.  Noticed that the price was higher if we had booked from Inle, ?20000kyats.  However, we learned that if you booked from Inle, you got free pick up from your guesthouse.  Since we booked from Bagan, we paid 500kyats each for transfer to the bus, which ended up being cheaper anyhow!  The JJ bus has wider seats which recline quite nicely.  Price includes a dinner of fried rice or fried noodle.  Made 2 stops and can’t remember how long the journey took.  

Day 9: Yangon to Mrauk U

• Arrived in Yangon in the morning.  Bought a bag of sweet buns for 600 kyats and 1L water 300 kyats from a vendor at the bus station.  Took a taxi to the airport for 3000kyats.  Had to bargain hard for this one.  Had previously read that this was the going rate though. 
•  Spent a couple of hours waiting in the airport using their free wifi.  Since we had our packs we didn’t want to do a quick excursion into Yangon.  The free wifi at the airport is pretty good.  Got to plan out the rest of the trip!
• Had lunch past security in the domestic airport.  Fried flat noodles 2500 kyats and 3 egg omelette 2500 kyats.  
• Flew Air KBZ to Sittwe, which we booked while in Bagan.  As we booked the 4 flights that we would be taking all at the same time, I only have the total cost.  But breaking it down it should be around $100USD.  Flying Air KBZ was a good experience.  Flight was on time.  We were well fed too!  Flight was pretty short but we still got served snacks and drinks twice.  The Yangon to Sittwe flight flies in a loop, from Yangon to Thandwe to Sittwe to Yangon.  
• We were originally planning on staying the night in Sittwe as our flight arrived in the afternoon, past the time when the public boats leave the jetty.  A tout at the airport was quoting $160USD for a round trip private boat to MraukU staying 3 nights.  We thought that was too expensive.  While waiting for our luggage we met some expats who had a pre-arranged private boat up to Mrauk U that afternoon.  They let us join them and we ended up paying 35000kyats for the journey up to Mrauk U.
• After a crazy thunderstorm with lightning for hours, we arrived in Mrauk U after dark.  Can’t remember exactly how long the boat ride was, but it was long, maybe 5-6 hours?  We didn’t prebook accommodation in Mrauk U as we couldn’t get through on the phone.  Apparently the telephone lines from Nyaungshwe to Mrauk U don’t connect very well.  Anyhow, took a trishaw from the jetty to Kyasoe guesthouse for 2000kyats.  The room they showed us was gross!  Trishaw driver took us to Royal City Guesthouse, where we got an aircon bungalow for $40USD/40000 kyats per night. 

Guide to Sittwe - Eating

We didn’t find too many places to eat in Sittwe.  There were roadside sellers of noodles/rice.  There were also food stalls in the market.  However, we were too afraid of getting sick to try eating from them. 

Shwe Pyi Daw aka Dagon Beer Station, located on the main road

The menu says Shwe Pyi Daw, but the only English signage on the awning says Dagon Beer Station.  It’s located across from the Kiss guesthouse/internet cafe (which is listed in the Lonely Planet).  The people who run this place look like they’re ethnic Chinese, and some of their foods reflect this.  For example, they had Chinese-style roast pork hanging in a display case at the front.  The staff speak some English and they do have an English menu.  We ordered the fried noodle for 1200 kyats, which came with soup.  We ate a lot of fried noodles on the trip, and this dish was tasty, but pretty standard.  Also ordered a chicken curry for 2500 kyats (rice is an extra 300 kyats).  I would describe the chicken curry as Chinese-style versus Myanmar-style.  Very mild, and the taste was reminiscent of a curry I’d get at a Chinese restaurant.  Locals come here to drink and snack.  We didn’t observe anyone eating full meals like us, just drinking lots of beer or whisky.  

Mya Tea Garden (listed in the Lonely Planet)

Located 1 block off the main road, Mya Tea Garden has a nice leafy, shady, garden setting.  Apparently there’s an attached guest house, but we didn’t poke around enough to take a look.  Very minimal English is spoken here.  We tried to enquire about food options (ie. mohinga or noodles), but failed.  Did manage to order sweet tea, and was brought the typical snacks along with it – samosas, egg rolls, and sweet coconut rice.  The samosas and egg rolls were tasty, but the sweet coconut rice was not my cup of tea.  I think because it tasted both sweet and savoury, I couldn’t grow to like it.  The prices were standard Myanmar teahouse prices - 300 kyats for tea, 300 kyats per plate of snacks.  Of positive note, they clean their tea cups by ‘boiling’ them in a hot water bath.  I observed other teahouses just doing a cold water rinse, so this seems to be more hygienic. 

River Valley Seafood Restaurant, located on the main road

A different location of this restaurant is listed in the Lonely Planet.  However, that location is a bit of a jaunt out of town.  This location is more central.  The restaurant itself is huge; there’s tons of seating and tons of staff.  There is an attached cafe located next door, however, it looked closed while we were there.  The menu is extensive.  Prices are more expensive with a fried noodle being 2500 kyats, and a can of pop 1000 kyats.  They also have fruit juices, which we saw locals drinking, but we were too afraid of food borne illnesses to try them.  On the plus side, they have decent toilets with soap and water.

Guide to Sittwe - Sights

Sittwe is a place that travellers usually skip over or use as a transit point on their way to Mrauk U.  I’m not surprised that this is the case, as there is not much to do there.  We spent almost 24 hours in Sittwe, which was more than enough.  In that time, we went to the market twice, did souvenir shopping, walked the length of the ‘shopping district’ of main road multiple times, rested, slept, and ate.  Apart from a couple of UN vehicles, we saw only a single foreigner while we were there.  

The two main roads in Sittwe, Strand road and Main road, have surprisingly good quality pavement.  This may seem like an odd comment, but after travelling down the poor quality roads of Mrauk U, these smooth roads were a surprise.  The main ‘central business district’ of Sittwe is quite small, but there are a variety of shops to buy random stuff from.  While there were not too many actual restaurants present, there were many roadside stalls to choose from.  However, we were too afraid to try their food, although it looked quite delicious.  

Armed guards do limit the streets you can walk down.  We found if we got more than a block inland from the main road, there would be checkpoints and armed guards (military?) would turn us back.  As they spoke no English, and we did not want any trouble, we did not investigate further.  

Sights

Central Market and Fish Market

Fish for sale in the market

Boats unloading their catch at the pier

Go early, around 7 or 8am, and observe the wide variety of seafood for sale.  I lost count of the different varieties of fish for sale.  Head over to the pier and watch as fish are unloaded off the boats and auctioned off to the highest bidder.  It’s pretty bizarre – people dumping baskets of fish onto the asphalt and men with wads of kyats yelling. Also for sale was the usual fruits and vegetables.  Most sellers seemed to know English numbers, and that was enough to do business with them.  We believe that prices were fair and that we weren’t getting the ‘tourist surcharge’ added to our purchases. 

In addition to edibles, there’s also an entire section dedicated to household goods and other items.  Since we had the time, we did some browsing for souvenirs here.  Also figured that if we were going to spend money, it was a good idea to spend it in impoverished Rakhine state.  I bought a lovely Rakhine-style longyi for 7000 kyats.  

Waterfront

 So much trash in the water - locals just throw their garbage over the wall

There is a nice seawall pathway that runs parallel to Strand road, near the market.  A lovely sea breeze can be felt here, which is especially nice when the temperatures hit the mid 30s.  Some shady trees and makeshift benches can also be found, but are likely to be occupied by tired trishaw drivers and the like.  As with many less developed countries, expect to find mounds of trash strewn about.  Don’t look down from the seawall – the amount of trash in the water is astounding.  It’s even worse at low tide.  However, if you can get over the trash, it is a nice place to sit, relax, and stare out into what looks like the sea, but is really the wide mouth of the Kaladan river.  (The Bay of Bengal is actually located on the other side of the point).  

Fruit Bat Trees

 Fruit bat hanging from a wire

The fruit bat trees are a mildly interesting attraction that are worth seeing only if you’re stuck in Sittwe anyways.  During the day, the fruit bats roost in a couple of very large trees next to the main road.  I had never seen fruit bats before, and I was struck by how large they were.  Kind of like cats with wings!  Apparently you can see watch them fly off into the night at sunset, but I didn’t bother waiting for that. 

Guide to Sittwe - Accomodations

There are many guesthouses located along the main road.  If you have time, you could probably go comparison shop.  Lonely Planet only lists about 4-5 guesthouses, while in reality there are many more.  I don’t know if the others are open to foreigners, but I figure if there’s English signage there’s a possibility that they might be.  

Motel Shwe Myint Mho $25USD double/fan | $40USD double/AC, located on the main road

View from the door

Motel Shwe Myint Mho is located on the main road in Sittwe, a couple of doors down from Shwe Thazin Hotel.  It is close walking distance to the market, various shops, and various restaurants.  Let’s face it – the main area of Sittwe is quite small, and basically any guest house located on the main stretch is within walking distance to everything.  Of note, the fruit bat trees (which are mentioned in the Lonely Planet) are located right across the road.  

 View from the bathroom door

Fan rooms are on the first floor and are decidedly more grungy than the AC rooms, which are located on the second floor.  The room we had did have windows with bars across it, so we felt comfortable opening our windows for increased airflow.  Yes, there is mold on the walls and dust on the floors.  However, it was not so bad that we wouldn’t stay there.  That being said, if we were to stay here (or anywhere in Sittwe again) we would choose an AC room as it was just too darn muggy.  Our double room was among the smallest we stayed in during our trip to Myanmar.  Both beds touched the walls and there was just enough space to walk between them.  Bathroom was also small.  If you were excessively tall, you might have problems sitting on the toilet as your knees might touch the wall.  One final note, this guest house offered nice white fluffy towels – the largest towels we saw on our trip.  Strange, but very welcomed!