lonely-planet-myanmar-burma-11-edition

132BAGAN & CENTRAL MYANMAR AROUND BAGAN8InformationNetizen (Shantaw St; per hr K500; h8am-10pm) Comfortable downstairs room with fastconnections. English spoken.Nan Chung (Zae St; h7.30am-6pm) Kyat fordollar exchange at bearable rates from thisolde-worlde Chinese grocery (yellow shuttersat the corner of Kannar St).8Getting There & AwayAirThe airport is 12km north, off the Budalin road.Some Tuesdays the government’s MyanmaAirways (see p 21 ) stops in Monywa betweenMandalay and Homalin, but as usual the decisionto fl y is only made the day before, so ticketscan’t be reserved until Monday afternoon.BoatThere is no public service downriver to Pakokku,but daily boats link the towns and villages of theupper Chindwin River. Foreigners need permits,but permits for the journey to Kalewa are usuallyorganised within a day or two (see boxedtext). Express boats to Kalewa (foreigner/localK15,000/5000, around 13 hours) depart 4.30amdaily, operated by one of three Strand Rd companieson a rotating cycle, MGRG (%22987), NgweShwe Oo (%23051) or Shwe Nadi (%23488).Buy tickets one day before, permit in hand. Stopsshould include the attractive old settlements ofKani, Mingin and Kan/Kyidaw. Departing Thursdaysat 7am, the IWT (government; see p 21 ) riverferry moves slower than political evolution. Allowup to four days from Monywa to Kalewa in the dryseason. In the rainy season IWT boats becomemore frequent and travel further north.BusMonywa’s bus station is just over a mile southeastof the clock tower down Bogyoke St, hiddenbehind the Great Hotel.MANDALAY Several companies, includingMahanwe and AGB, operate hourly buses 5amto 4pm (K1700, 3¼ to four hours).PAKOKKU AGB buses (K1300, 4½ hours) leaveat 6.30am, 8.30am, 12.30pm and 3pm. Othercompanies leave at 8am, 10.30am and 1.15pm.Take the first bus if you want to to be sure ofa same-day ferry connection from Pakokku toNyaung U (last departure 1.30pm).SHWEBO Once or twice hourly from 5am to1pm plus at 3pm (K1100, 3½ hours). The attractiverural route passes through Kyaukka, famedfor its lacquerware cottage industry, but localhelp is needed if you want to see much there.TrainMANDALAY Departs noon ($3, six hours). Thetrip, in an uncomfortable three-box-car train,takes twice as long as the bus and costs almosttwice the price.8Getting AroundMotorbikes/trishaws/three-wheelersto the centre from the bus station costK1000/1000/1500. All, along with white,plain-clothes taxis, linger near the northernShwezigon Paya entrance, while outside theShwe Taung Tarn you might fi nd Saw Tha Hla,a calm-driving, super-helpful guide/motorcycletaxi driver who speaks functional English.Around MonywaIf you have only one full day, the mostpopular option is to visit Hpo Win Daungcaves followed by Thanboddhay and BodhiTataung. The latter is west-facing, and so isbest seen in afternoon sunlight.SOUTH OF MONYWAA MyintANCIENT VILLAGELittle visited by foreigners apart from occasionalChindwin cruise groups, A Myint is acharmingly unspoilt riverside village dominatedby a series of 336 higgledy piggledyancient stupas in varying stages of collapse.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 office (four miles eastof centre towards Shwebo) and the necessary letter should be ready within 24 hours. Tocontinue further north (eg Mawleik, Homalin or Khamti), the permits are far more complicatedto organise: generally they’re limited to organised groups and you’ll need to contactYangon agencies for help. Allow at least three weeks’ preparation. This is usually done intandem with an expensive cruise program. The Pandaw (www.pandaw1947.com) made onesuch 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 permitsfor those on semi-independent packages where you stay in local guesthouses and uselocal boats, but the cost is still prohibitive at around $2000 per person.