Guided tour: discovery along the water in Chaung Tha

For this 2nd day at Chaung Tha, Burma, we went as planned to the meeting point at 8:30 am. Our improvised guide was there and it was on his motorbike that the 3 of us went to the center of Chaung Tha to start this beautiful day of visits.

Quick stop at Chaung Tha market

It was first at the bus station that he stopped, fixing a mechanical problem on the way, then we did the rest on foot until we reached the boat not far away.

For this we passed through a bustling market this morning.

But not much time to stop because his friend is waiting for us at the river, I told myself that we could come back there (which we will do on the morning of the last day).

Walk on the river

After the market, we walked along a village street leading to the river. There we came across no tourists, these usually arrive a little later. We will know later but the hotels also offer a similar tour.

The only difference for us was that a private boat and the meal at our guide's is still an undeniable plus. Well, and then we left earlier. We will only come across other boats with tourists after visiting the 2nd village.

The first part of this day was just to enjoy the scenery passing by us. At a crossing point where we can see a quay, our guide tells us that his village is over there.

It is also in this corner that we come across a beautiful yacht anchored there... Who does it belong to?

First step, walking in the not very clean mud...

Our boat is there.

Our guide at the controls.

Beautiful boat in the middle of nowhere.

We are approaching the first village.

Stop in a first village

After a good half hour, we arrived at a first village, nestled there in the middle of the vegetation, on the edge of the river. We were greeted by a big pig who was clearly hungry. He would be fed right after.

A boy petting a dog looks down on us from his mound of earth. The locals go about their business as if nothing is happening. Our guide stays at the boat, so we go around alone.

And there is no tower, it is very small. Just a path crossing 4/5 houses and we are at the end… I admit to having at this moment a feeling of voyeurism… How do the inhabitants of this micro village take it, to see strangers arriving like that with their cameras that machine-gun (nicely all the same)

Tea tasting in the middle of nowhere

We arrive at the second village of this day of walking in the surroundings. Here again, we can't really call it a village, there are just 3 houses, clinging to the edge of this small hill bordering the river.

There, we are quickly invited to come to one of these houses. We take off our shoes and see a little old lady hastily washing plastic glasses that have already lived a long time.

I quickly understand that we are going to be offered tea.

Then the gentleman lights and blows on the nascent fire with his hollow bamboo. He then prepares tea for us.

The tea tasted similar to the ones we get in massage parlors in Thailand (a massage in Thailand is always accompanied at the end by a small glass of hot tea)

The opportunity for Jitima to make some drawings, which she then gives to the person concerned. That's when a little girl arrived (at first we weren't sure, since she has a zero ball!), and her smile quickly became contagious.

After this relaxing moment, we were picked up because the level of the river fluctuated with the tides, we were made to understand that it was time to leave because we might be running out of water...

Besides, our guide shows us a boat loaded with tourists heading in the opposite direction to ours and seems to tell us that the boat's pilot is being reckless...

Reunion with the village near the bridge

Yes, well that's a bit of a crappy title, but it's true. When I arrived in Chaung Tha I had seen this village as we were crossing this last bridge not far from the arrival and had already decided to go back there.

There it is. Not as I had planned, but we are here next to this bridge. We cross the road where there is a toll booth and head towards the village itself.

We walk, passing piglets, puppies, girls carrying water from the well on the other side of the road and towards the end, boys playing with balls, a sort of pétanque.

In full concentration!

Before leaving, we stopped for a few minutes in a small shop on the side of the road to have a drink to cool down. Next stop, lunch in the village of Mose, our guide.

Meal at our guide's house

So we returned to the quay that he had shown us in the morning, we disembarked barefoot on the muddy ground and on the first kilometer, composed of a path mainly covered in sand.

Then we enter the forest. We pass a few houses, a picturesque setting surrounded by coconut trees, then further on, a group of houses. The village. Our guide had explained to us that normally it is possible to get closer directly by boat, but that the water level being too low, we had to go around.

His house is a small local shop, where, while we were having our meal, the locals would come quietly to buy cigarettes or something to nibble on. These children, returning from school, joined us shortly after. Knowing that during the meal, the table was only for us… The kids ate separately and he and his wife waited until we had eaten to eat in turn… We would have preferred a meal together, more convivial.

On the way to the village.

We are arriving.

Our guide's house.

We are seated at the table.

It's the small corner supermarket.

Once well fed (very good meal!), this time it is on the other side that our guide takes us to take the boat and return safely to port. The water level is not yet high enough, he makes us reach the boat by walking again in the muddy ground, difficult to know what we are walking on, knowing that the mangrove roots can hurt a lot… But no worries to declare by passing well in the middle of the canal.

Once back towards Chaung Tha, it is 14:15 p.m., the walk, I forgot to specify it is a half day. We were walking back to the bus station and Mose was picking up his motorbike ready to go. He was taking us back to our hotel, after we had to exchange some kyat as we only had dollars left, paid 30 kyats for this day.

When we exchanged money at a hotel, we asked about their room rates because we had an extra night that we hadn't booked. Hill Garden Resort is very good, but since we knew we needed to take the bus, we thought that moving closer to the station would be good, plus the Shwe Ya Minn Guesthouse, the hotel in question, is $20 instead of $30 for the Hill Garden Resort.

So, two birds with one stone. Well, in the end, being close to the bus station wasn't really useful because we bought the ticket directly to return to Yangon via the guesthouse and the bus stops in front!

Back to our little corner of paradise

And what better way to end this beautiful day than to come back and admire the sunset on our beautiful deserted beach near our hotel (that's a long sentence...)

The next day was an even better day! (yes, it's possible!)

The streets of Chaung Tha are rather quiet…

What does a tourist look like: answer!

The bus station.

Next hotel.

Moo?

Another day comes to an end!

So? Are you tempted by the walk?