Coming from a conservative and risk-adverse family, it took some convincing to push my relatives to join me on a journey to Dawei. For the Thadingyut festival, the office generously allowed us to take 2 days on top of the weekend. As you surely know, journalists are always busy, and 4 days was the longest holiday I could secure since Thingyan.
After a little negotiating with my boss – it was settled! I would take my family on a journey to the southern capital of Dawei, known as “the clean city”.
Driving to Dawei from Yangon takes nearly 12 hours by road. To cut the journey in two and make it more bearable, especially on my mother, aunt and uncle (my brother can handle it), we left Yangon at 7am and made a first stop in Mawlamyein. As we arrived in the afternoon, we enjoyed a barbeque on the famous Strand Road bordering the Salween River.
Mawlamyein’s Strand Road is ideal for evening strollers. Colorful boats and seagulls flying low bring to the place a relaxing atmosphere. Along the arterial road, there are several beer stations and restaurants. In the evening, most outdoor tables are taken. Dinning here is delightful, with fresh seafood available in most restaurants. It’s a beautiful location, if only for the littering. I nonetheless enjoyed the view of the river while chewing on some tender grilled prawns.
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The road to Dawei
The following day, we left the hotel early to make our way to Dawei. Before leaving though, we enjoyed a Hpa Auk mohinga, the specialty of Hpa Auk, a village nearing Mawlamyein. The hand-pulled noodles were extremely tender and the fish soup was naturally sweet.
It then took us 4 hours to drive to Ye, Mon State, about halfway between Mawlamyein and Dawei. One of the most beautiful landscapes remains the Ma Hlwe Mountain that stretches across Ye town betwixt Mon State and the Tanintharyi region. As we drove closer to the mountain, and the closer we got to Ye, the smoother the roads became.
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With the Mountains looming in the distance, driving along the smooth-tarred roads out of the city was quite an amazing feeling. We all imagined driving in San Franscisco, on hilly roads between mountains and the sea. We drove mighty fast.
Ma Hlwe Mountain, part of Tenasserim Hills, was captivating. Unlike mountains in Shan State where trees are chopped down, Ma Hlwe Mountain still hosts a pristine canopy.
As we continued along our journey, we observed by the window the lighting up of candles on the side of the road to celebrate Thadingyut. At one point, we passed a shady bridge replacing a larger bridge which had been destroyed by the floods last August.
When in Dawei
Night fell and the towns fell asleep. There were no street lights to light the forested, curved roads. Cars became sparse. Excitement was still bubbling up inside me. Reaching Dawei around 9pm, we still had some roads ahead of us. The only hotel we could book was located on Maungmagan beach as most hotels in town were fully booked for the festival. As fate would have it, the road heading to Maungmagan beach was blocked by pilgrims on their motorcycles and cars, celebrating the festival. Women wore their most beautiful dresses as small alms bowls for the monks were laid on a table. The bowls contained flowers, candles and other offerings.
We all hoped to join the festival, famous for its boatmen pushing floating bowls down the Dawei River at dawn. However, we were all exhausted and rushed to our hotel.
The Colourful Village restaurant may be quite small but it is rather fancy. We stayed in bamboo lodges by the beach.
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Early next morning I took a stroll along the beach. It was crowded from all the tourists from upper Myanmar, unfortunately leaving trashes and empty bottles on the otherwise pristine sand.
Before noon, to avoid the heat, we visited Mhaw Yit pagoda, a 15-minute drive from Maungmagan beach. The pagoda is built on an island and boasts golden stupas. Surrounded by paradise-like nature and shrouded in quiet and piece, the pagoda watches proudly over the beach.
As it was Sunday, and as my family is religious, we visited Our Lady of Sorrow Church located on U Kyaw Yin Road. The road is named after U Kyaw Yin, also known as Mee-Bone-Pyan-U Kyaw Yin (1873-1939) who created and flew hot air balloons. The church itself was gorgeous. The teak building was built 150 years ago.
As the day passed, we eventually returned to our hotel as we had two days of road to get back to Yangon. From this trip, I will remember Dawei for its incredible nature and religious sites as well as for the hospitality of the residents.
