Page 142 - The Rough Guide to Myanmar (Burma)

140 SoutheaStern MyanMar
Southeastern Myanmar

Stretching for a thousand kilometres from the turbid waters of the
Gulf of Mottama to the sun-drenched islands of the Myeik Archipelago,
Myanmar’s panhandle is often overlooked by visitors in the rush to
head north from Yangon. However, with Tanintharyi and the region’s
Thai border crossings now largely open to foreign visitors, this
lush and beautiful region – peppered with intriguing sights and
fringed with the least developed beaches in Southeast Asia – is crying
out to be explored.
3 Generations of devout Buddhist monarchs have endowed Mon State with a gold-
coated legacy. Not far from Yangon, the countryside around the historical Mon
capital of Bago is full of golden zedi and dreamy reclining Buddhas. Further east,
Kyaiktiyo, or the Golden Rock, is the most revered of the southeast’s religious
monuments, the precariously balanced pagoda-crowned boulder floating high above
the Eastern Yoma Mountains.
With its drawn-out coastline and sheltered natural harbours, the southeast played an
important role in Indian Ocean trade for centuries, exporting pottery, teak and other
exotic products from the Burmese interior. While the port city of Mawlamyine came to
prominence only under nineteenth-century British rule, it’s the best place to get a sense
of this mercantile heritage, with bustling markets and peeling godowns dotting the
town centre. The countryside nearby is full of fascinating day-trips, from
Thanbyuzayat’s sombre war cemetery to Win Sein Taw Ya, an over-the-top 180m-long
reclining Buddha.
East of Mon State, Kayin State was the site of one of Myanmar’s most violent
ethnic conflicts (see p.382), with decades of fighting between Kayin nationalists and
government troops leaving hundreds of people dead and tens of thousands more living
as refugees in neighbouring Thailand before a ceasefire was signed in 2012. Today, the
peaceful countryside around state capital Hpa-An belies the violence of the recent past,
and the small town is now a great place to stay while exploring the dramatic mountains
and Buddha-filled caves nearby.
In the far south, the Tanintharyi Region only opened up around 2013 and is today
home to a string of dazzling deserted beaches around Dawei, while Myeik is a
fascinating hub for all sorts of tropical industries, from cashew-nut factories to
malodorous workshops fermenting fish for ngapi paste. Sail away from the coast, deep
into the still quite difficult to access Myeik Archipelago, and it’s likely you’ll encounter
yet more exotic sights: groups of nomadic sea gypsies riding the waves, and fishermen
perched precariously atop rickety bamboo platforms, plucking fish straight from the
bountiful waters of the Andaman Sea.

Travel restrictions p.143 The Death Railway p.167
Bago Archeological Zone ticket p.145 Dawei Special Economic Zone p.170
Moe Yun Gyi Wildlife Sanctuary p.146 Htee Kee–Phu Nam Ron border
The Thamanya sayadaw: U Winaya p.153 crossing p.172
Myawaddy–Mae Sot border crossing Touring the Myeik Archipelago p.175
p.158 The birds p.176
Mawlamyine to Hpa-An by boat p.162 Kawthaung–Ranong border crossing
Palm wine and toddy tappers p.165 p.177

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