Mawlamyine flight

My guess it that the airline most likely to fly this route is Myanma Air. Pretty sure you would get tickets on short notice. (foreign price for tickets is higher, if necessary they will "bump" locals... unless the plane is full of officials offcourse)... The distance is not all that great, even if you don't fly.. not a difficult place to get to.

Thanks Mose, it is a Myanmar Air flight. Because we hope to get a hel of a lot done, I was hoping to get there as quickly as possible. Our hoped for itinerary goes Rangoon (1 night) flight MMN (2) boat Hpa-An(1) bus Kyaiktiyo(1) bus Pago(1) train Taungoo (2) train Mandalay (3) boat Bagan (2) hire vehicle Thazi (1) via Popa, train Kalaw (2) trek Inle (2) Inle (2) flight Rangoon(1).
I know there's not much rest, but there seems so much to appreciate in such a short time, and the kids get restless quickly. Anyway, there's always room for changes.

Sounds hectic.... :-)
I think the Myanmar flight may be daily... depart Yangon 06:30 arr (MNU) Maulmyine Airport 07:10.. but there cound be more flights.

Photos from Moulmein
bun cha

Thanks bun cha, have you been to Moulmein? If so ,are there any places you would recommend not in L.P.? Something that might interest my 3 boys (11,12 &15).
I hope it's not as hot as in the travelogue you posted.

Norm

Just take the train - much less polluting, and FAR more of an experience, and flying will take the best part of 4 hours anyway, faffing about at airports. Taking the train is the traditional, civilised way to get there! In an upper class seat, it's quite comfy, too, if a little grubby.

www.seat61.com/Burma.htm</a> has train times, fares and photos.

I've been to Mawlamyine a few times and have made some friends there whom I visit whenever I go to Myanmar. This website has a lot of travel information about Mawlamyine. I'm not really sure what might interest boys of that age .. maybe the beach at Setse, but that's a day trip away. Thanbyuzayat is on the way to Setse beach (about an hour and a half away from Mawlamyine) and is the end of the line for the death railway from "bridge over the river kwai" fame in Thailand. There's a little museum there but was closed when I visited. Mawlamyine off the tourist trail but the friends I have there are lovely. I usually go by over night bus; I recall there's only one flight a week from Yangon but most people travel by bus or train.

I think taking the train to Moulmein is one of my fondest memories of Myanmar. I've done it 3 times now and will do it again when I go back next year. I won't however take the upper class coach but the lower one. Reason; On my last trip they had upgraded the train, fixed the awful tracks and added air conditioning to upper class plus added a restaurant car. This eliminated the vendors getting on and off the train selling everything except their grandmothers. The a.c. didn't work 1/2 the time, but the attendant insisted on keeping the windows closed while we all sweated. So I will bring a cushion for the hard seats and enjoy the breeze from the window. Your kids will like the train as they can roam about and wave to kids along the tracks which seems to delight them when ever they see a foreigner. In Moulmein, once settled, you can take the ferry across to the big island (Ogre) and rent horse cart(s) to visit where they make rubber bands/ walking sticks/ pencils. There are guides that do the island but really you can go on your own and rent the horse cart and driver. The Zeigyi (sp) market is worth a visit and the kids will like roaming through it.

<blockquote>Quote
<hr>they had upgraded the train, fixed the awful tracks and added air conditioning to upper class plus added a restaurant car. This eliminated the vendors getting on and off the train selling everything except their grandmothers. The a.c. didn't work 1/2 the time, but the attendant insisted on keeping the windows closed while we all sweated.<hr></blockquote> We took a bus to Moulmein and train back. It was a little uncomfortable at times, but, as I've said before, Oh well. On our train journey they kept the windows down but aircon on so we couldn't feel it at all except when it rained and they closed the windows and then it was much cooler except after about 30 minutes it stopped raining and the windows were once again opened. The fans didn't work. It seemed like the train went about 20 mph the whole way. Hypnotic. Oh, how I wish I was on it right now!

It's going to take some pretty hip kids to enjoy Moulmein. Seems like you have a lot of stops. There really isn't that much to do in Burma, except for Shwedagon, Bagan, etc. For a lot of travelers here, it's more about experiencing an amazing place and people. If you've ever been to Vermont, you know that the countryside looks just like the pictures. In the same way, if you've ever been to Burma you know that the place and people are amazing in the same ways that people write about on TT and have noticed since (and probably before) Kipling: "You'll find that Burma is a place like no other place."

Re the heat: I'm 63, so less able to tolerate heat and exertion. But I'm exercising again, so hope to be stronger (or maybe just hold my own) next time around.

bun cha