3/4 day trip to Myanmar

[jobin]

Drive from CM to Mae Sot, leave the car. Tuk-tuk and walk over to Myawaddy. Spend one night, then bus to Mawlamyine, on the coast. Spend 1/2 days, then back on the bus to Myawaddy, and back to Mae Sot.

Buses or hotels any problem? What's doing in Mawlamyine? How long the bus ride ? Ideas on cost? Should stop o'nite in small town?

Will be alone but has never been a problem, though i am getting on in years. Will carry small backpack only.

Visa easy to get in CM; Consulate nearby. Have USA passport.

[craigt3365]

You might want to consider the evisa. I went this route and it was easy. Just a thought.

This site might have some info.

http://www.southernmyanmar.com/transportation/

You might also this site for info:

http://www.travelfish.org/country/burma_myanmar

[phuketrichard]

I am in hpa-an now, heading down river to mawl in an hour, will let u know whats there,

Btw Hpa- an is worth a visit

Plenty of hotels, check www.go- myanmar.com

I am going to stay at the sandlewood hotel in maw.

You can Not use the online visa if entering overland. Must get ur visa at the embassy/consolute,same day is like 1200 baht.

Bus is easy, hotels can always arrange.

Edited December 8, 2015 by phuketrichard

[Tomtomtom69]

I just left Mawlamyine on Dec 6 for Bangkok.

Have been to Mawlamyine (Moulmein) and Hpa-an many times.

This is how I would do a trip to Mawlamyine/Hpa-an from Mae Sot (and in fact, it's the only way I have ever done it, since my first visit to the area in 2013) I'm not counting day trips:

Forget the bus, too slow and not many departures. Generally speaking, for Hpa-an/Mawlamyine the bus is not popular unless you happened to get a seat on a Myawady-Yangon bus but you may be forced to pay the full fare to Yangon even if you get off in Hpa-an.

Minivans and private/share taxis do Hpa-an and Mawlamyine runs. I would recommend a car with driver throughout your whole stay - try to negotiate something down to around 75,000-90,000 Kyat per day.

However, share taxis charge as little as 7,500 (more commonly 10,000 Kyat) per passenger for a one way transfer to Hpa-an and about the same to Mawlamyine. Private one way transfers can be found for around 60,000 Kyat. Cars/taxis can be found on the road next to the bridge.

A car/taxi can get you to Hpa-an in about 3 hours on the new mountain bypass road, or 3.5-4 hours if heading to Mawlamyine.

You can also find taxis to ferry you across the bridge and back, no need to walk if you don't want to.

Currency exchange (only THB to MMK or vice versa, no other currencies accepted) can be found everywhere on both sides of the road near the bridge. There are also 3 ATMs in Myawady (2 KBZ and 1 Aeyrawady Bank) that will happily take foreign cards and dispense Kyat, up to a maximum of 300,000 per withdrawal plus a 5,000 Kyat withdrawal fee. KBZ Bank is the best of the bunch. In Mawlamyine, CB Bank now charges 6,500 Kyat as a surcharge I believe. In Hpa-an, there are now at least 2 ATMs, one operated by KBZ the other by Myawaddy Bank.

Although there is accommodation in Kawkareik, there's only electricity in that town for around 4 hours in the evening and nothing much to do there. I would suggest Kawkareik only as a quick rest stop to have a coffee or something, but backtracking into town after having travelled on the new road is a waste of time. Better stick to the highway restaurants and then make a beeline for Hpa-an.

Plenty of hotels bookable on Agoda.com or booking.com. I would recommend the Glory Hotel or Hotel Angel's Land (both are located on the same street and owned by the same owner) the Glory Hotel is newer but also slightly cheaper. They are both 3-star and perfectly OK (although you should avoid the "dungeon room" at Hotel Angel's Land because it's dark, musty and small), however, for something slightly more upmarket there is also the new Gabana Hotel, Hotel Zwekabin (though it's a bit out of town and the wifi in the rooms is crap) or the brand new Thiri Hpa-an hotel right next door, which is probably a better option as it even has a pool and significantly cheaper than the Zwekabin. Glory Hotel and Hotel Angel's Land have rooms starting from around USD 30-35 given it's the high season now. In the centre of town, cheaper hotels and guesthouses are available such as the Golden Sky guesthouse, which is a bit of a dump but it's OK just to sleep.

The best hotel in Hpa-an is located around 10km out of town but is quite pricey - it's called the Hpa-an lodge.

In Mawlamyine, try the Cinderella Hotel, which is where I always stay. It's easily the best hotel in town for a number of reasons, but very difficult to get a room at short notice as it's also by far the most popular hotel in town. If you're cashed up you could always try the Strand, but despite it's namesake it is not nearly as charming as the Cinderella Hotel and 2-3 times more expensive to boot.Cinderella Hotel is about 35-50 USD a night (I book on Agoda and pay in AUD), while the Strand is around USD 100.

Things to do.

Mawlamyine - churches, temples, markets and the Shampoo island. You could also visit the war cemetary and end of the death railway in nearby Thanbyuzayat, but would need a full day for that so at least 2 nights in Mawlamyine. There's also a beach (Setse beach) but it's not the nicest beach and has a lot of silt, though for a small taste of coastal Myanmar why not. Lots of Indian traders in Mawlamyine so there's also some good Indian/Indo-Burmese food to be found there.

Hpa-an - caves, Kyauk Palak (weird rock formation with Pagoda at the top in the middle of a lake), climbing up limestone outcrops such as Mount Zwekabin and another one past Ein Du that virtually no tourists know about despite being next to the main road, traditional market and old colonial architecture in town.

Edited December 8, 2015 by Tomtomtom69

[Tomtomtom69]

While you can always spend the night in Myawady, it's not really recommended and I would suggest heading straight for either Hpa-an or Mawlamyine. The bridge now operates between 5.30am and 8.30pm Thai time and if heading into Myanmar, as long as you don't arrive later than about 5pm Thai time on the Myanmar side, it shouldn't be difficult to find transport to take you straight to Hpa-an or Mawlamyine. However, if you're looking to save money and find a share taxi, try to arrive no later than around 2-3pm as otherwise it might be difficult to find other passengers to travel with you.

However, if you're stuck in Myawady, there's the Riverview Hotel right next to the bridge (you can see it easily coming from the Thai side in front of you with it's green, orange and purple color scheme), with rooms starting at around 20,000 MMK or the Myawady Hotel, where rooms start at around 20,000-22,000 MMK. The best hotel in town is Hotel Lawka, but only in the sense that it's the newest with the best breakfast. Otherwise, it's probably not at all convenient because it's far from town (about 2km from the bridge), located slightly off the main road (which would normally be considered a good thing as there's no street noise) but due to the all-night karaoke good luck trying to sleep even at 3am. I'd rather have all-night street noise.

I have never seen a single other foreigner stay at the Lawka Hotel except those people in my travelling party. In most cases, you would also find yourself to be the only guest, at least the only one who is not singing karaoke and needs a place to sleep for a few hours.

Out of the three, the Myawady Hotel is therefore probably the best and most convenient for foreign tourists. The manager, who speaks OK English can help with organizing transport to other places.

[phuketrichard]

Of all the places in burma give this one a miss, its souless,yea some pagodas and on the river but beyond that. Blahhhh. Half the town seems shutdown.

The small boat down from Hpa-an was only 2 hours and 8,000 kyat

Now need get up at 3:30 to catch the4:30 train to ye.

[phuketrichard]

Of all the places in burma give this one a miss, its souless,yea some pagodas and on the river but beyond that. Blahhhh. Half the town seems shutdown.

The small boat down from Hpa-an was only 2 hours and 8,000 kyat

Now need get up at 3:30 to catch the4:30 train to ye.

In Hpa-an stay at the galaxy hotel great lovation, nice people 20,000 kyat/ night and the rent motorcyles to see all the things i need see for 8,000 kyat.

[Tomtomtom69]

Of all the places in burma give this one a miss, its souless,yea some pagodas and on the river but beyond that. Blahhhh. Half the town seems shutdown.

The small boat down from Hpa-an was only 2 hours and 8,000 kyat

Now need get up at 3:30 to catch the4:30 train to ye.

In Hpa-an stay at the galaxy hotel great lovation, nice people 20,000 kyat/ night and the rent motorcyles to see all the things i need see for 8,000 kyat.

Which place are you referring to?

Hpa-an is a very nice town.

Myawady is the main border town for overland entry/exit between Thailand and Myanmar. It's not an exciting place, but it's important as a transport hub. Yes, unfortunately sometimes people will get stuck there but less and less given the opening of the new Thai-built, two-way bypass road.

[phuketrichard]

Loved Hpa-an :-)

Hated Mawlamye very spread out town, very hot, not friendly, nothing worth seeing and glad to get out

didn't got to Myawady