85NORTH OF YANGON8AROUND YANGON8AROUND YANGONAROUND NGWE SAUNGSandalwood or from some hotels for about
K12,000 per day.
Around Ngwe Saung
ELEPHANT CAMP
Around half an hour’s drive from Ngwe
Saung is an elephant camp (admission
$5, elephant rides $5; h8am-noon). Though
the dozen elephants here are working el-
ephants, the camp itself is purely for tour-
ists and no logging actually takes place.
It’s possible to go for a half-hour elephant
ride through the forest – the romance of
which wears off in about 30 seconds. If you
thought horses attracted a lot of large bit-
ing insects, just wait until you get on the
back of an elephant!
The camp used to be government run but
is now a joint venture tied to the Treasure
Resort in Ngwe Saung, which in turn is
owned by Tay Za (p 21 ).
The camp is located approximately half-
way between Ngwe Saung and Pathein. To
get there, hop on any outbound bus, or Tom
Tom at Sandalwood can arrange a motor-
cycle taxi for about $10.
NORTH OF YANGON
Taukkyan
eq;k'äk®−
%01 / POP C5000
On the road to Bago, beyond Yangon’s air-
port at Mingaladon, you reach Taukkyan,
where you will fi nd the huge Taukk yan War
Cemetery, maintained by the Common-
wealth War Graves Commission.
It contains the graves of 6374 Allied
soldiers who died in the Burma and As-
sam campaigns of WWII. There is also a
memorial bearing the names of the almost
27,000 soldiers who died with no known
grave. Slowly, as you walk around reading
the names of those who died and the epi-
taphs commemorating them, the heat of the
sun seems to fade and the noise of the road
recedes, leaving you alone in the silence of
your own thoughts in this immensely sad
place.
You can get to Taukkyan on bus 9 (^9 ) from
Yangon or aboard any Bago-bound bus from
the Aung Mingalar Bus Terminal (p 71 ).BIRD-SPOTTINGMyanmar isn’t known for its environmental awareness and the nation’s few national
parks and protected areas are largely inaccessible to foreigners. Moeyungyi Wetlands
(miu"yân'"äkI"ernk'kâ='"), about an hour northeast of Bago and close to the village of Pyin-
bongyi, is the one real exception to this rule.
The wetlands originally started life as an artifi cial water storage reservoir in the 19th
century, but over time the reservoir naturally morphed into a 15-sq-mile lake and marsh.
Sitting on a migration route of birds fl eeing the icy Siberian winter and attracting thou-
sands of local waders, the wetlands will bring a big grin to any birder’s face. The last
census revealed some 125 diff erent species including great fl ocks of egrets, cormorants,
white stalks and large numbers of the beautiful swamp hen (purple gallinule) as well as
sarus cranes with their brilliant red heads.
Your best chance of seeing exotic birds is from December to February and during
this time a small ‘resort’ off ers excellent boat tours (up to six people) on the lake for $15
per person for about two hours. As well as the boat driver, you will be accompanied by a
guide – normally the very knowledgeable and informative Mr Aung Ko Oo. The boat will
take you whizzing over the lake to the marshy reed beds in the centre where the birds
congregate in vast numbers.
Should you want to stay, the resort off ers accommodation (%70113; per person $55)
in fl oating houseboats from November to March. The price includes three meals and a
boat ride and it’s essential that you book in advance. The rooms, though novel, are some-
what overpriced and even serious birders may prefer to make a half-day tour from Bago.
The resort is privately owned by Myanmar businesspeople, though the wetlands
themselves belong to the government (see p 21 ).