About an hour’s drive north of Mandalay, Kyaukmyaung is a small river port renowned for its ceramics, especially the huge, kiln­fired pots which were used to transport oil, fish paste, and other foodstuffs for export. Known as Martaban jars, these distinctive containers are characterized by their glossy brown glaze and sweeping floral designs. Hundreds of  […]

One of the more appealing stops on the Upper Ayeyarwady river journey, Katha surveys the  river from its high bank, over- shadowed by the densely  wooded hills of the Gangaw Taung to the west. This quiet, tree­lined admin is trative town is perhaps best known for being the place to which the British writer George […]

Just west of the Second Defile, Shwegu is a remote agricultural town on the Ayeyarwady’s south bank where IWT ferries make an obligatory stop. Much of the fruit and rice sold in the local market is grown on the sandy soil of the two islands visible in the river opposite. The smaller, Kyundaw, holds the […]

One of the most beautiful stretches on the Ayeyarwady River lies a couple of hours downstream from Bhamo, where the river narrows to just 330 ft (100 m) as it flows through a belt of thickly wooded mountains. Water levels along this scenic 7.5-mile (13.5-km) segment, known as the Second Defile (the First Defile lies […]

The largest town on the Ayeyarwady between Myitkyina and Mandalay, Bhamo is also the one closest to the Chinese border, 40 miles (60 km) east. Traders, merchants, emissaries,  and holy men have for hun- dreds of years traveled here  along the Daying Jiang Valley to reach the mighty river. Among the visitors in medieval times […]

One of the few standout attractions in Kachin State accessible to foreign visitors is beautiful Indawgyi Lake, a long day’s journey by rail and road west of Myitkyina. Despite being marginally larger than Inle, the lake sees hardly any tourists and supports only a scattering of poor Kachin and Shan villages along its shores –  […]

Capital of Kachin State and the main market town in the north of the country, Myitkyina has, since ancient times, been a center for trade between China and Myanmar. Lying on the west bank of the Ayeyarwady, it became the terminus of the British-built railroad line in the 1890s, and stands at the nexus of […]

The great travel experience of the north is without doubt the journey along the Ayeyarwady from Myitkyina to Mandalay. Passing remote settlements, supply jetties, and gold-panners’ encampments, the trip can take upward of a week on the old two- and three-story ferries of the Inland Water Transport (IWT) company. This route is rarely attempted by […]

From the sun-scorched plains of the Ayeyarwady Valley to the eternal snows of the eastern Himalayas, Northern Myanmar encompasses a spectacular gamut of landscapes. Red pandas and tigers roam the dense jungles along the border with India, while endangered freshwater dolphins arc through the wakes of the ferries that remain this remote region’s main form […]

Off­limits for decades due to the long­running conflict between the Burmese Tatmadaw, Shan insurgents, and local opium barons, Kengtung (also spelled Kyaingtong; pronounced cheng­dong) is the capital of the Golden Triangle region and a springboard for exploring one of the most fascinating regions in Southeast Asia. Tai minorities (mostly Tai Lü, Tai Nuea, and Tai […]