Page 111 - The Rough Guide to Myanmar (Burma)

Ngwe SauNg The DelTa anD wesTern MyanMar 109
CHAUNG THA ACTIVITIES AND EXCURSIONS
There’s a small selection of tours and activities to keep you occupied in Chaung Tha, including
various thrills-and-spills-style watersports, aimed mainly at visiting Burmese. More interesting
are local river and sea boat trips, perhaps in combination with a spot of snorkelling at the
small coral reef just offshore.
TOUR OPERATORS
Mr George Main Rd near Shwe Hin Tha hotel, hours of cooking and eating. Open daily from 7am–10pm. 2
towards the northwest end of the beach T09 4973 Shwe Ya Minn Hotel Main Rd T042 42126. Runs a
4562, Emrgeorgeprince292@gmail.com. Chaung wide range of boat trips featuring fishing, snorkelling
Tha’s long-serving Mr Fixit. Services include bus ticket and river, mangrove and village tours. Half-day tours
sales, bike (K3000/day) and motorbike (K10,000/day) cost K25,000–30,000 for a boat seating up to 5 people.
rental; snorkelling equipment rental (K3000/day) and a Water Sport Entertainment c/o the Lai Lai,
small book exchange. Also arranges tours and activities Golden Beach and New Chaung Tha hotels. Provides
including snorkelling from the shore (K1500pp), splashtastic entertainment to Chaung Tha’s Burmese
mangrove, river and fishing-village boat trips (K30,000 visitors, including jet skiing, banana boating and
for up to 5 people); all-day sea-fishing trips (K150,000 for various other activities involving being dunked in the
up to 5 people); and cooking classes (K15,000/person), waves on various kinds of inflatables – it’s wildly
starting with a 7am visit to a market followed by four popular with locals.

Chaung Tha quiet, beach nearby, and bikes are available for extra) are small and simple but perfectly comfortable,
K2000/day. $15 with decent mosquito nets, and there’s also
Shwe Ya Minn Main Rd T042 42126. Chaung a good breakfast included in the price. The professional
Tha’s only real budget guesthouse for foreign visitors, staff can arrange a wide range of boat trips and
which fortunately is pretty good. Rooms (a/c K10,000 excursions. K35,000
eaTInG
As you’d expect, Chaung Tha majors in seafood, with a string of restaurants down the road with identical signs
and near identical menus (although hardly any of them ever have prices on – check before you order).
Food isn’t particularly cheap (it’s around K5000–7000 for a whole fish), but ingredients are fresh and portions
consistently huge.
★ Pasta Fresca 30 Khine Shwe War St; turn inland off serving up well-prepared fish, prawns, crab, squid, octopus,
Main Rd down the track past the Alliance Resort and oysters and abalone, plus a few meat dishes. Daily
follow the signs T09 422 445 138. A very unexpected find 10am–11pm.
in determinedly local Chaung Tha, this little garden restaurant Shwe Ya Minn Shwe Ya Minn Hotel, Main Rd T042
is run by a charming Italian mother-and-son team with 42126. Chaung Tha’s best-looking restaurant, with smooth
excellent, authentic pizza and home-made pasta at bargain service, cheap beer and well-prepared versions of all the
prices (most mains K5500). Daily noon–2pm & 7–10pm. usual seafood dishes, plus one of the village’s biggest
Shwe Pyae Aung Main Rd T09 4972 1897. One of the selections of meat and veg curries, noodles and so on
string of identikit seafood restaurants along the main road, (mains K4000–5000). Daily 7am–11pm.
DIreCTOry
Banks There are a couple of ATMs outside some of the bigger hotels.

Ngwe Saung

NGWE SAUNG (“Silver Beach”; pronounced, approximately, “Nway Song”) sees far more
foreign visitors than nearby Chaung Tha, and for good reason. The fine swathe of wide,
golden sand here stretches north and south of the small village for kilometre after
kilometre. The beach is backed by a series of mainly upmarket resorts (plus a couple of

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