132BAGAN & CENTRAL MYANMAR
AROUND BAGAN
8 Information
Netizen (Shantaw St; per hr K500; h8am-
10pm) Comfortable downstairs room with fast
connections. English spoken.
Nan Chung (Zae St; h7. 3 0 a m - 6 p m) Ky a t f o r
dollar exchange at bearable rates from this
olde-worlde Chinese grocery (yellow shutters
at the corner of Kannar St).8 Getting There & Away
Air
The airport is 12km north, off the Budalin road.
Some Tuesdays the government’s Myanma
Airways (see p 21 ) stops in Monywa between
Mandalay and Homalin, but as usual the deci-
sion to fl y is only made the day before, so tickets
can’t be reserved until Monday afternoon. Boat
There is no public service downriver to Pakokku,
but daily boats link the towns and villages of the
upper Chindwin River. Foreigners need permits,
but permits for the journey to Kalewa are usu-
ally organised within a day or two (see boxed
text). Express boats to Kalewa (foreigner/local
K15,000/5000, around 13 hours) depart 4.30am
daily, operated by one of three Strand Rd compa-
nies on a rotating cycle, MGRG (%22987), Ngwe
Shwe Oo (%23051) or Shwe Nadi (%23488).
Buy tickets one day before, permit in hand. Stops
should include the attractive old settlements of
Kani, Mingin and Kan/Kyidaw. Departing Thurs-
days at 7am, the IWT (government; see p 21 ) river
ferry moves slower than political evolution. Allow
up to four days from Monywa to Kalewa in the dry
season. In the rainy season IWT boats become
more frequent and travel further north. Bus
Monywa’s bus station is just over a mile south-
east of the clock tower down Bogyoke St, hidden
behind the Great Hotel.
MANDALAY Several companies, including
Mahanwe and AGB, operate hourly buses 5am
to 4pm (K1700, 3¼ to four hours).PAKOKKU AGB buses (K1300, 4½ hours) leave
at 6.30am, 8.30am, 12.30pm and 3pm. Other
companies leave at 8am, 10.30am and 1.15pm.
Take the first bus if you want to to be sure of
a same-day ferry connection from Pakokku to
Nyaung U (last departure 1.30pm).
SHWEBO Once or twice hourly from 5am to
1pm plus at 3pm (K1100, 3½ hours). The attrac-
tive rural route passes through Kyaukka, famed
for its lacquerware cottage industry, but local
help is needed if you want to see much there. Train
MANDALAY Departs noon ($3, six hours). The
trip, in an uncomfortable three-box-car train,
takes twice as long as the bus and costs almost
twice the price.8 Getting Around
Motorbikes/trishaws/three-wheelers
to the centre from the bus station cost
K1000/1000/1500. All, along with white,
plain-clothes taxis, linger near the northern
Shwezigon Paya entrance, while outside the
Shwe Taung Tarn you might fi nd Saw Tha Hla,
a calm-driving, super-helpful guide/motorcycle
taxi driver who speaks functional English.Around Monywa
If you have only one full day, the most
popular option is to visit Hpo Win Daung
caves followed by Thanboddhay and Bodhi
Tataung. The latter is west-facing, and so is
best seen in afternoon sunlight.SOUTH OF MON Y WA
A Myint ANCIENT VILLAGE
Little visited by foreigners apart from occa-
sional Chindwin cruise groups, A Myint is a
charmingly unspoilt riverside village domi-
nated by a series of 336 higgledy piggledy
ancient stupas in varying stages of col-
lapse. All are compactly ranged around aCHINDWIN PERMITSTo travel as far north as Kalewa, the permit procedure can prove comparatively painless.
Apply Monday to Thursday before 4pm at the Monywa immigration offi ce (four miles east
of centre towards Shwebo) and the necessary letter should be ready within 24 hours. To
continue further north (eg Mawleik, Homalin or Khamti), the permits are far more compli-
cated to organise: generally they’re limited to organised groups and you’ll need to contact
Yangon agencies for help. Allow at least three weeks’ preparation. This is usually done in
tandem with an expensive cruise program. The Pandaw (www.pandaw1947.com) made one
such 10-day cruise in 2010 (s/d $4090/6300), and GMT (www.myanmartravelagent.com)
can organise tailor-made small-boat cruises. A few Yangon travel agencies can get permits
for those on semi-independent packages where you stay in local guesthouses and use
local boats, but the cost is still prohibitive at around $2000 per person.