Chindwin River trip

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phuketrichard
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Chindwin River trip

Post by phuketrichard »

Did this the first 10 day of march

Had a great trip :thumb:
Flew up to Khamti from Mandalay on the once a week prop flight, did daily trips on boats as far as Kalewa, than mini bus as the boat down to Monwya is 12+ hours an runs thru the night, mini bus was 6 to cover 180 kms.

Stayed in; Thamnthi, , Homalin, Mawliek, (met U Thint Zin,a well know Burmese man amongst those that travel up there, a great old guy that teaches the locals english, 76 years old an still going strong and full of interesting info), Monwya ( the ONLY place that had anything for tourists) with the world's tallest Buddha
The least expensive gh was in Mawliek --5,000 kyat, ( 1,230=$1) most expensive was in Mandalay but a great room for 36,000 kyat, 50% of the time, no attached bathroom an no shower but bucket wash. NO TOURISTS for 8 days!!! Most of the places only had electricity from 6-9:30 or so but it was fairly cold at night an had to sleep under a blanket.
This part of Myanmar gets less than a few hundred tourist/year

Shots of U Bein Bridge at sunset; starts at shot 98 if you don't wish to see previous shots of Mandalay,
http://phuket.zenfolio.com/p645703194

Chindwin River trip;
http://phuket.zenfolio.com/p839166104

Comparison;
the Irrawaddy is much more interesting as a river trip and Katha is a must stay
The villages along the Chindwin are really cool and not much as changed in decades plus loads of friendly people, but the river scenery is not as good, very dry and flat much of the way

If you want to really experience Myanmar and the people an not just see tourist places ( Mandalay, Bagan, Inle lake, Yangon) i recommend it!! this trip is way off the tourist trail. :-)

Planning on a motorcycle trip back up thru the Chin state in late Nov.
In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. HST
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frank lee bent
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Re: Chindwin River trip

Post by frank lee bent »

Quite a trip! Did you find the heat a bit heavy going?
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