Boat travel DOWN the Irwadaddy

[phuketrichard]

I am heading over soon to take the train up to Myitkyina an than take boats back down to Mandalay.

Does anyone have ACCURATE please no, I heard ..., I think etc

if its possible at the moment.

Thanks

[Halfaboy]

I went in 2012 from Bamo to Mandalay by the MV Tagon 3 (see picture).

Maybe I can give you some more info.

Have fun....

[Halfaboy]

^{This boat is another (but not recommend) option.}

[phuketrichard]

please do;

here's what i want to TRY an do

overnight (or more) train up to Myitkyina

fast boat to Sinbo overnight

Fast boat to Bhamo overnight

Fast boat to kathu, 2 nights stop

IWT ferry from there to Mandalay; i hear it departs m, w,, fri

this gives me time on the river with stops on land for photogpraphy

How did u like the ferry? did u have a cabin?

How long did it take you? Was there food onboard or.....?

High points.

I was up in Mandalay area in July an loved it

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/746279-travel-trip;-mandalay-hspiaw-mogkok-mandalay-bagan/

http://phuket.zenfolio.com/f125862719

[Halfaboy]

Mandalay is a great place to spend a couple of days. There are lots of interesting places to visit. The problem is that you have to find it out yourself. I have been there a couple of times and had enough time to look around.

The first three times I rented a very small car to travel around. Daily rate was something like 15 US$ (for the day and including driver). This however is history. These cars do not exist anymore.

Understand that you want to go by train to Myitkyina. Make sure that you are allowed to do this. In the past this was not allowed as the train went through restricted areas.

Cannot advise on the trip by (fast) boat from Myitkyina to Bhamo as I did not do this.

My trip started in Bhamo and I did the whole trip by the vessel as pictured in my first post. For this vessel there is no particular timetable as they just sails between Mandalay and Bhamo and departure (and arrival-) times are depending on things as the height of the water in the river (the first part is at some places very shallow and you will touch bottom many times) and the speed of the current. I don’t think that will apply to a fast boat. Take earplugs with you as the sound of the engine may be very loud. Note that there is a toilet aboard but this is a ‘rather basic facility’. For bookings the receptionist form the Friendship hotel can be very helpful.

If you want I can add pictures of a fast boat and an impression (from my vessel). In total I must have some 1000 pictures.

For boats there are the following options to leave Bhamo (note that this info is from 2012):

1. Express boat to Mandalay. Duration 1 day (5.00 – 23.00 hours). Costs 65 US$.
2. Ferry (fast). Takes (depending on season) 3 days and two nights. Costs 9 US$ deck place and 54 US$ for cabin (to be shared with somebody else).
3. Ferry (slow) takes 7 days (I heard). Costs etc unknown.
4. Taking various (express-) boats and hop from one place to another. I.e. from Bhamo to Schwegu (check name) for 2 US$, duration 5 hours. Take a motel and continue later on.

My ferry was a somewhat old and rusty barge with an immersion of 2 m. It has a below deck cargo holding (also used by passengers), a lower deck (for cargo, passengers, a small shop and a restaurant), a middle deck for cargo and passengers (also providing entertainment in the form of videos and music) and a upper deck for the first class passengers and their cabins (including 2 toilets and 2 showers exclusively to be used by first class passengers). On top there is the steering house.

On the middle deck are areas for passengers which were marked by lines. Each passenger was allocated an area of around 2 m * 60 cm per person. Main group of passengers consisted of ‘poor’ Myanmar people.

There are two main 6 cylinder MWN engines for propulsion and 3 engines for power supply.

There were 400 passengers and loads of cargo which was all loaded by manpower.

Food: Believe it or not, despite the poor looking kitchen facilities aboard the food served was very tasty and not too expensive. All meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) were 500 Kyatts, which is around 40 Eurocent or something like 50 US$ cent. Despite these prices almost all passengers had their own food with them. In the evening hours when the boat stopped for the night many passengers went ashore to cook their own food for the next day. So maybe the prices were not that low for them.

My accommodation: I had booked a first class cabin for single use. There were two small beds, a sink, a tap, a mirror, life protection gear, fan and so on. The mattress however was a hard as steel, the fan was not working at night as there was no electricity and the tap did not provide any running water. Furthermore I was kept awake by loud snoring passengers from other first class cabins. Note that you have to take your own sheets with you.

Passengers of the 12 first class cabins had the exclusive right of using two dedicated toilets and two showers. All were locked and on either side of the ship in the gangway keys were hanging on a piece of wire (this to prevent the ‘ordinary’ people using our facilities).

All keys were clearly labeled (in Burmese) so for me it was not clear which keys was for which facility.

For the other 375 or so passengers (on lower decks) were two toilets and one shower available.

Going with this ferry gives you lots of opportunities to make pictures, not only from the riverside but also from other passengers. I had some small giveaway things with me and became therefore very popular with other people aboard.

Note that if you take this vessel there will be only very short stops just to let people leave the ship and to pick up new passengers.

For above text I went again through a tripreport I wrote for another (in the mean time closed) forum and all sorts of memories came up again. I made around 1000 pictures and looking again at them gives me many warm feelings.

Have a nice trip !

[phuketrichard]

thanks

the train is running an possible all the way

u can rent China copies of 125 honda dreams for $10/day in Mandalay

Have been 3 times now to Mandalay :-) 2 last year

it is a nice city and the view form Mandalay hill is amazing

[Halfaboy]

Found pictures from my 2013 visit to Myitkyina.

For your pre-fun some impressions of the airport. Took the pictures when waiting for my plane to Bhamo.

Enjoy....

[phuketrichard]

i did the trip and had a great time

overnight sleeper train up to Myitkyina

had to than fly to Bhamo as the river is closed to Westerners.

than took fast boa to Katha stayed for 2 nights

and fast boat back to Mandalay

http://www.reitman-photo.com/p299868307

am planing on heading back next month to finish the Irrawaddy river form Bagan to Yangon.

Than travel by road to Myeik and than boat to Kawthing an exit there back to Thailand,

FInding Myanmar a great place to travel!!