96SOUTHEASTERN MYANMAR
MON STATE
5 Eating
Because Kinpun is the starting point for Mt
Kyaiktiyo, there are numerous Chinese and
Bamar restaurants running up and down
the town’s main street, capitalising on the
mountain’s popularity.
In addition to the food stalls at Kinpun
and all along the footpaths, there is a verita-
ble food court of restaurants at the summit,
past the shrines and plaza area and down
the steps.Mya Yeik Nyo BURMESE $
(meals from K2000) This is the pick of the
bunch, and the one that all taxi drivers will
recommend. It’s very close to where the
trucks depart for the mountain.8 Information
Kinpun is where you’ll fi nd most of the accom-
modation for foreigners – besides a few hotels
near the top of the mountain itself. It’s also the
starting point for trips up the mountain to Kyaik-
tiyo. There is no internet access.8 Getting There & Away
For individual travellers, Bago makes a better
starting point for road trips to Kyaiktiyo than
Yangon, as Bago hotel staff are adept at arrang-
ing inexpensive alternatives. A guide and driver
to Kyaiktiyo can be hired through any of the
central Bago hotels (p 89 ) for $55. Bus & Pick-Up Truck
For buses from Yangon, see p 70.
Win Express run air-con buses from Kyaikto to
Bago (three hours) and Yangon (fi ve hours) at
8.30am, 10am, 12.30pm, 2pm. Despite where
you’re getting off , you’ll have to pay the full fare
to Yangon (K7000). Tickets can be purchased in
Kinpun across from Sea Sar Guest House. The
ticket price includes truck fare to Kyaikto, where
you’ll board the bus.
Similar air-con buses also run to Mawlamy-
ine (K7000, 4½ hours) at 5am, 6am, 7.30am,
8.30am and 10.30am.
Small pick-up trucks leave from Kinpun to
Hpa-An (K5000, fi ve hours) from 6am to 1pm, or
there is a more comfortable bus (K7000) that
has a useful departure time of 1.30pm.
Pick-ups cruise the road between Kyaikto and
Kinpun every half an hour or so (K500). Train
For times and prices of trains from Yangon, see
p 71. Trains run to Yangon (ordinary $3 to $4, up-
per $6 to $9; fi ve hours; departure 10am, 1.20pm,
3.40pm) and Mawlamyine (ordinary $3, upper $6
to $7; four hours; 6.20am, 10.40am, 12.30pm).Trucks run between Kyaikto’s train station and
Kinpun every half an hour or so (K500).Mawlamyine (Moulmein)
em;'l ̈miŸ='
%057 / POP C300,000
With a ridge of stupa-capped hills on one
side, the sea on the other and a centre fi lled
with mosques and crumbling colonial-era
buildings, Mawlamyine is a unique combi-
nation of beauty and melancholy. If you've
ever wondered what life was like during
the Raj, Mawlamyine is about as close as it
comes to a living time capsule.
But it’s not all about history; the area
around Mawlamyine has enough attractions –
from beaches to caves – to keep a visitor
happy for several days.
Mawlamyine (some maps may show it as
Mawlamyaing) served as the capital of Brit-
ish Burma from 1827 to 1852, during which
time it developed as a major teak port. A
great deal of coastal shipping still goes on,
although Pathein and Yangon have super-
seded it as Myanmar’s most important ports.
The city is composed roughly of 75% Mon, or
some mixture of Mon, plus Kayin, Bamar, In-
dian, Chinese and other ethnic groups. 1 Sights & Activities
Mon Cultural Museum MUSEUM
mân'yw'ekY"mHU ̈ptiuk'
(cnr Baho Rd & Dawei Jetty Rd; admission $2;
h9.30am-4.30pm Sun-Fri) This government-
run, two-storey museum is dedicated to the
Mon history of the region. It’s on the corner
of Baho Rd (formerly Dalhousie St). The
museum’s modest collection includes stelae
with Mon inscriptions, 100-year-old wooden
sculptures depicting old age and sickness
(used as dhamma-teaching devices in mon-
asteries), ceramics, silver betel boxes, royal
funerary urns, Mon musical instruments
and wooden buddha altars.
This is all well and good, but unfortunate-
ly the collection is so poorly lit that many
of the exhibits are actually impossible to see
without a torch! Buddhist Monuments
Unknown Mawlamyine has inspired two of
history’s fi nest writers of the English lan-
guage – George Orwell and Rudyard Kipling.
Orwell lived here for some years (the famous
essay ‘Shooting an Elephant’ is about an ex-
perience he had as a police offi cer in Maw-