Mrauk U - possible to visit?

Replies: 44 - Last Post: Dec 14, 2012 3:51 AM Last Post By: nextplease

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Dec 8, 2012 8:40 AM
Posts: 349

Cocodrilo,

I share your frustrations, I got very conflicting information about whether it was possible to get to Mrauk U not just via email from agencies but also whilst I was on the ground in Rangoon! I didn't bother in the end, went to Mandalay and experienced a 6.6 strength earthquake instead plus several strong aftershocks! If you end up in Mandalay then I recommend getting a boat out at sunset at U Bein Bridge...simply amazing and only costs 5,000 kyat for about 45 minutes!

I'm toying with the idea of heading out back to Singapore next year (family there) and might take a look at a quick trip to Mrauk U if the place can be reached without having to get permits and all that malarky.

Cocodrilo

Dec 8, 2012 1:29 PM
Posts: 6,074

Hi Meats
Wow, that earthquake would have made me homesick for Japan! (We just had a 7.3 up in Tohoku!)
Been to Mandalay/U Bein/Amarapura before and enjoyed it very much. Will be heading to Bagan again instead of Mrauk U, I spent 4 days there in 2010 and wanted a couple of extra days so this will suit my revised itinerary.
Maybe next year for Mrauk U, if & when it opens up. I know a lot of people who are either in or heading to Myanmar who are expecting to get to Mrauk U, this has been a great disappointment for many.

meats

Dec 8, 2012 1:59 PM
Posts: 349

I heard about that earthquake very briefly, albeit it was the tsunami warning that caught my attention more than the quake itself.

It was a big disappointment for me not being able to get to Mrauk U. It was then compounded by the balloon over Bagan trip being cancelled due to bad weather! Speaking to the travel agent when I got back to Rangoon apparently they cancelled 4 days in a row due to bad weather. Bagan was pretty much the only place where I saw clouds in Burma let alone rain grrr.

hoteldelta

Dec 8, 2012 10:35 PM
Posts: 131

@monty (#28): completely out of the question at the moment.

nextplease

Dec 9, 2012 12:42 AM
Posts: 119

I'm back in Sittwe. Bumped into a French tourist who insisted she phoned Royal GH yesterday and was told it was OK to come to Mrauk U... but others are saying tourists are being stopped at the jetty in Sittwe. I guess she will find out in the morning.

Royal GH wasn't listed on the Ministry's letter I saw, but they were all hotels so perhaps there was another letter for guesthouses? Or perhaps if you take a private boat and use a guesthouse it's OK? Who knows... whatever, it would seem an expensive gamble just at the moment.

FWIW the Noble Hotel also told me as I checked in that I wouldn't be able to go to MU.

Cocodrilo

Dec 9, 2012 12:46 AM
Posts: 6,074

I have heard from an agency that they are able to book flights to Sittwe but once you arrive in Sittwe & say you are heading to Mrauk U they will send you back on the next plane. Seems a terrible hassle & waste of money to me...

nextplease

Dec 10, 2012 5:41 AM
Posts: 119

While waiting for my plane this morning, I was joined by my friend the French tourist (who turned out not to be French after all). She had tried to take the public fast boat to Mrauk U at 7am but had been politely refused.

So there you have it - the only possible way at the moment would be to take a private boat, and to make sure your hotel/guesthouse can take you when you get there (otherwise you might have to spend a night in a monastery...)

montyman

Dec 10, 2012 6:12 AM
Posts: 3,438

Je ne sais quoi as we English say lol (French who turned out not to be )

shinina

Dec 10, 2012 10:48 AM
Posts: 1

All in all, one cannot get to Mrauk U...so bad. Do you know how much is a private boat???

nextplease

Dec 12, 2012 4:50 AM
Posts: 119

Boat is approx $120-150, depends on negotiation and how long the boat has to wait for you to take you back

OMOOMO

Dec 12, 2012 5:35 AM
Posts: 147

Private boat doesn't help you anymore. You need a permit.

montyman

Dec 12, 2012 8:09 AM
Posts: 3,438

Yes but its obviously a local permit, so shouldn't be too difficult

OMOOMO

Dec 13, 2012 5:47 AM
Posts: 147

What do you mean by local permit? You need a permit from the ministry and obviously the ministry isn"t issuing it. It"s not like at lake Inle, that you smoothly drive to a hotel resort to get a permit to Sankar. But if you know better you are welcome to say exactly where and how to get the permit without difficulty.

montyman

Dec 13, 2012 8:03 AM
Posts: 3,438

local permits are issued at various places within myanmar. I do not know any better OMOOMO, I a\m only trying to make suggestions as to a way out to Mrauk U as some obviously are gaining access and others hitting brickwalls, Im not sure anything runs smoothly and even when allowed local immigration officers make decisions that contradict Govt ie I was not allowed Yangon on bus to Thandwe (Ngapali lake) but they could send me via Paye yet Thandwe to Yangon is no problem, same same 2 yrs ago 1 yr after Hurricane Nargis, you could get direct bus to Chaungtha without and yet when i missed the bus and took the one via Pathein, the bus company had to rush off and get permission for me + 4 photocopies of passport, not needed on the direct bus at time

nextplease

Dec 14, 2012 3:51 AM
Posts: 119

Monty, I believe it wasn't a local permit that was required, if it had been it would have been easy because the local authorities were apparently all on side, they like having local people in paid employment. The letter was from the/a Ministry.

OMOOMO I don't know why you are so sure that a private boat wouldn't sneak thru - do you have new info?. (not that I'm recommending taking the risk...)