Tag 93: Southern Beaches, New Year's Eve, and a Border Crossing

The coastal region around Dawei is supposed to be full of hotel resorts in a few years. So far, we see so little of it that we also attract the attention of the locals everywhere we go.

We stayed for a week at the Coconut Resort in Maumagan. But in order to discover the beaches in the surrounding area, we set off on some exploration tours with the scooter. We drove on dirt tracks because there are hardly any paved roads here, for two hours to Nabule Beach in the north, past mountains of watermelons on the roadside, water buffaloes in the fields, and dusty front yards with cows standing in them. An old man carried bamboo poles on his shoulders along the road. A woman balanced a water bucket on her head.

Sale: Buy 10, get 20

Water buffaloes on the way

Cows on their way home

Friendly companions

After a while, the roads that were supposed to lead us to the beach were no longer marked on Google Maps. But with the satellite view, we could guess that where the trees were thinly lined, that must be the way. We continued, through shady jungle, over flat land, and there it was: the sea. Black, huge rocks lay in white sand and the sea shimmered turquoise into the small bay.

Nabule Beach

A few excited Burmese teenagers walked along the beach, but no one else was visible. This beach was much more beautiful than our Maumagan beach at our doorstep and seemed like the perfect photo motif for cheesy pictures. However, it will certainly take a long time before this beach is easily accessible to tourists. Fortunately, the Burmese teenagers still have it almost to themselves.

Nabule Beach

Another time, an American family invited us to drive with them to a beach in the south. Instead of avoiding boulders on the road, we could play around with the kids during the drive.

Eventually, we arrived at Paynit Beach. That was another incredibly beautiful beach. 

Paynit Beach

Urs, the 10-year-old, said that mango tastes even better in the sea than on land. That's why the six of us floated in the sea shortly afterwards and ate mango, which tasted much better here. From Urs, we also learned the English word "goggels" for diving goggles.

And suddenly it was New Year's Eve. My resolution to write a new blog entry before 2019 was quickly abandoned when our Myanmar travel friends Sanne and Markus joined us on New Year's Eve. The Coconut Guesthouse manager organized a lottery for this evening, where you could win t-shirts, flowers, cloth bags, and balloons. We both won what we had wished for (t-shirt and bag) and afterwards we also received balloons as gifts from our bungalow neighbors. That was a lucky evening.

Later, the four of us went to the sea and a Burmese man helped us light the balloons so that they would rise but not catch fire. The four of us let all four balloons rise with our wishes for 2019.

The balloon has to fill with hot air. 

Then it can fly.

And then January 2, 2019 had already arrived, and it was time to leave the country because our visa was expiring. The journey over the mountains in a truck was the bumpiest of my life, as the route was not paved but had deep furrows and stones on our way towards the Thai border. One last time, I looked out the window at the bamboo huts, the red earth everywhere, the different plants in the jungle, the betel nut trees that the pickers climbed up, the waving people and their warmth.

On the way to the Thai border 

Our driver let us out before the border and we had to walk a bit because he was not allowed to drive onto Thai territory. We received a new stamp in our passports and the Thai border official didn't want to hear anything about "Sawadikaa" but greeted us amusedly in German. On the other side of the border, many Burmese people stood who wanted to re-enter Myanmar after a working period in Thailand.

As soon as we crossed the border, the roads were cemented and the houses were made of stone rather than bamboo. Everything seemed new, in contrast to Myanmar. We took a bus to Kanchanaburi, which seemed like a different, more advanced world to me.

Because we went from one country to another so quickly, without a flight, the contrast was particularly strong. Myanmar is much poorer and it is often difficult to see this poverty. Traveling is also more exhausting than in other Asian countries due to the low standards. Nevertheless, Myanmar is the most enchanting country for me, not because of the nature and beaches, but above all because of the people.

Last evening in Maumagan