Page 333 - The Rough Guide to Myanmar (Burma)

Lashio NortherN MyaNMar 331
with fridges, kettles, hairdryers and a/c. The $70 family bathtubs and pleasant views. All but the cheapest have
rooms also have bathtubs. This place is centrally located fridges. K21,000
and has friendly staff, but it’s still not quite as good as the Two Elephants 36 Bogyoke Rd T082 220 4112,
Two Elephants. $50 Wtwoelephantshotel.com. Lashio’s first international-
Royal Ground 34 Theinni Rd T082 25516. Just standard hotel opened in January 2017, and it has a
downhill from the market, this place is larger than it looks panoramic roof terrace with bar (though this wasn’t
from the street and has a good collection of reasonably finished at the time of research) and modern rooms that
priced rooms, which all come with a/c and private are well decorated. Suites ($65–75) and deluxe rooms
bathrooms – some with bathtubs. $25 ($55) are particularly large, though only the former have
Sann Shwin Thukha Rd T082 25290. This extra- bathtubs – much to the chagrin of the manager. The
friendly, family-run place is one of Lashio’s cheaper prices are likely to rise, given the quality of the
options. It has three sizes of rooms with high ceilings, competition. $45
bathrooms and a/c; some of the K25,000 options have
eatING
The market area is a good place to try chewy Chinese ersi noodles, while the night market (daily 5–9pm)
along Bogyoke Rd has several stalls selling Shan noodle soup and Burmese curries as well as cheap clothes and
cosmetics.
Indian Restaurant Just south of the night market. menu on the wall. Some of the staff speak enough English
Up a short alley next to a Sikh temple (look for the for you to place an order, though you can also take your pick
“Indian Restaurant” sign) is this tiny restaurant, which from the weird and wonderful array of bubbling pots on
serves excellent Indian cuisine. Rice, dhal and a curry display. Fried rice K2000, large Myanmar Beer K2000. Daily 8
will cost K3000, accompanied by a delicious tamarind 10am–8.30pm.
pickle. Best to place your order before 7pm. Daily Sun Moon Bogyoke Rd T082 30606. With several
10am–8pm. branches around town, this bakery sells bread and cakes in
★ Shwelai Thukha Rd. This Chinese-Burmese restaurant cardboard boxes – perfect if you have a long train ride
doesn’t have an English sign, so keep your eyes peeled for ahead of you. Their K500 iced coffee is so rich and sweet it
its yellow-painted woodwork and the large red Burmese seems like melted ice cream. Daily 8am–9pm.
DIreCtory
Banks CB Bank on Theinni Rd and KBZ Bank on Bogyoke Rd Internet ST Internet (daily 8am–10pm), next to the Royal
have ATMs and currency exchange. Ground Hotel on Theinni Rd, charges K500/hr.

MUSE AND THE CHINESE BORDER
The small town of Muse (pronounced Mu-say) sits just across the shweli River from the
high-rises of Ruili on the Chinese side of the border. Until recently the border was nominally
open to foreigners, though a permit and an official guide from Lashio were required. however,
in November 2016 the Northern alliance, a grouping of four rebel armies, seized the nearby
village of Mong Koe from government forces, and the subsequent fighting escalated to the
point of air strikes and heavy artillery fire. at the time of writing, the border area was closed to
foreigners and permits were no longer being issued.
PERMITS
if the situation improves and you’re interested in crossing here, check with a Yangon- or
Kunming-based tour operator, as permits can take up to a month to process and the whole
package (including guide and transport) usually costs $200–250 for a single day from Ruili to
Lashio or vice versa.
VISAS
There is a Myanmar consulate-general in Kunming (T+86 871 6816 2804, Wmcgkunming.org),
where visas take three days to process. Chinese visas are available from the embassy in
Yangon (see p.97) and the consulate-general in Mandalay (35th st, between 65th and 66th sts;
T02 35937, Wmandalay.china-consulate.org/eng).

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