References

28 July 2004

Dear Murray

You asked if I would provide some feedback regarding our trip to Myanmar recently for use as a reference. I hope the comments below reflect what a great sailing holiday we had.

In June 2004 my girlfriend & I traveled from New Zealand to Bangkok, then to Ranong in Southern Thailand and then across the river to Kawthoung in Myanmar.

There is one flight a day in the afternoon from Bangkok to Ranong in Thailand. Ranong is a small town by the sea, surrounded by National Parks and jungle and rivers. There are good small hotels and ATM machines, email and all things a traveler would need. You will need cash and goods to trade on your trip and this is your LAST chance to obtain them. The cash will need to be Chat ( Myanmar currency) or if you are lucky Thai Baht or if you are very very lucky, small denomination USD or similar. Trade goods would be sweets, biscuits, cigarettes or similar. You will be treated as honored guests as is the Myanmar custom and payment will be out of the question. To avoid an embarrassing situations you will need a stock of gifts and trade goods.

The trip across to Kawthoung is normally made in a 'Long Tail' - a wooden boat powered by a very noisy one cylinder motor. While I imagine it is generally safe (by virtue of the number of other Long Tails around) it can be a wet affair - so be prepared. We met the yacht and guide and cook, customs people and the crew & then went by ourselves for a look around Kawthoung. Provision time - & went with the crew to the market to buy all the food and ingredients that would be needed for the next couple of weeks. This is some market! - and a taste of what you have in store. Kawthoung is a very bustling place and a traveler will find plenty of things of interest if they go for a walk along the foreshore or up over the hill.

The next couple of weeks were spent moving up the archipelago through the labyrinth of islands. It is about 240 kilometers in a straight line to Mergui up the coast -further by sea. There are thousands of islands - many times more than the 800 that is often quoted. I think that anything under 10 hectares or so is counted as a rock!. Some islands are low and some are high - over 1200 meters. Some are rocky and some sandy. They are almost all covered in very thick, green forest - right down to the waters edge. In some places there might be a small village or a pearl farm or similar, but generally they are untouched. The sea is clean and beautiful and everywhere one goes there will be a small group of fisherman trying their luck. They might use lines or nets or they might have built a fish trap - some of the constructions are very elaborate and I imagine sailing at night would not be a good idea here.

The day begins with a check on the weather conditions and what everybody feels like doing - then a swim. There is a breakfast - Myanmar style or West. The Myanmar style is a mild fish curry and rice. The fish will probably have been bartered from the fishermen nearby - some days silver school fish, some days prawn and some days squid, some days a big fish. If they don't have the fish you want at night then probably they will catch them for you overnight and deliver them the next morning.

Once breakfast is over it's time to move - anchor up and away. You might have to move from one set of islands to another. That might take 3 or 4 hours. Generally it is flat calm and during June we encountered on average 20 knot winds which made for great flat water sailing with speed averaging 8knots. On arrival at the next set of islands there might be snorkeling, visiting a village or a small plantation to buy some fruit.

Trips to villages can be a very unforgettable experience - in every small village we went to they had never seen a yacht and they had never seen a Western person before - now I know what Captain Cook felt like! It involves half the village coming out to have a look at you and the yacht (a tour). Then a trip in to see the Monk and the temple and then a village tour. It can take a while. Next the village dignitaries will come out to visit ( the Chief and the Schoolteacher and the owner of the house with the generator etc) Quite an experience. Alternatively we would go ashore for a look on the coast and in the jungle or sometimes we would go miles up a jungle river until a waterfall blocked the way. Or perhaps the trip for the day might also involve moving up narrow canals between islands and very shallow water. Everybody has to keep a watch out.

At night we anchor up in one of the beautiful harbours, with beautiful beaches where nobody would go to from year to year and watch the monkeys looking for food and looking at us. Or else we might anchor up an inlet, with jungle and mangrove right up to the yacht - fishermen stop by for a smoke on their way to wherever. Or else you might anchor up against a rock wall with the fishermen and watch them get ready to go out for the night. Either way there are thousands of beautiful places to stop and explore. So we had a beautiful couple of weeks.

I have sailed most places in the world and I can say that in terms of the extent of the sailing ground and the beauty and variety and pristine nature of it, it is absolutely unequalled. The fish and food is excellent - sort of a mix between Indian and Thai food. The trip was a nice mix of scenery and interaction with the locals. I can honestly say that there was no time that I every felt even vaguely threatened or saw anything that was dishonest. While the people definitely don't have a lot materially what they have seems to be quite evenly distributed.

I would definitely and unreservedly recommend a sailing trip here.

Thanks for the unforgettable trip, Murray and all the best.

Lawrie & Trien

New Zealand