5 DAYS IN MYANMAR MEET THE SISTERS

The Rangoon Sister are Emily and Amy Chung. The sisters were born and bred in London but their family comes from Dawei on the southern coast of Myanmar in Tanintaryi Region.

They started the Rangoon Sisters Burmese Supper Club back in 2013. They have appeared in the Evening Standard, Observer Food Monthly, BBC Burmese, Olive Magazine, BBC Good Food, Esquire, The Week, Khoollect and Foodism. They are doctors working in London.

They have both volunteered with Medical Action Myanmar (MAM) – the charity that this journey supports. SAMPAN TRAVEL

Sampan Travel is a boutique tour operator creating tailor-made journeys in Myanmar. Our itineraries are broad and eclectic; our service personal and flexible. Our ethos is rooted in sustainability and the pursuit of excellence.

We were the third tour operator in Myanmar to be Travelife Certified and we have been winners at the Myanmar Responsible Tourism Awards in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Our Sustainability Policy can be read in full here: https://www.sampantravel.com/about us/responsible-travel. In 2020 our magazine won a PATA Gold Award for its success in helping travellers understand better and explore further.

Sampan Travel is a member of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), Union of Myanmar Travel Association (UMTA), and the Myanmar Tourism Marketing Association (MTM). DAY ONE Yangon The Strand

DAY TWO Yangon - Dawei THE RANGOON Hotel Dawei

SISTERS` JOURNEY DAY THREE Dawei - Maungmagan Beach IN A NUTSHELL Coconuts Guesthouse

DAY FOUR Maungmagan Beach - Kawthaung Victoria Cliff Hotel

DAY FIVE Kawthaung - The Mergui Archipelago

DAY 1 Yangon The Strand

This first morning in Myanmar you will begin your exploration of Yangon …

You will be taken to a morning market in the Indian Quarter. You will pass large and turreted mosques, and visit the Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue, the only synagogue in the country. You will be taken to Mahabandoola Park to see City Hall, the Immanuel Baptist Church, and the building that once held the department store Rowe & Co., described as the ‘Harrods of the East’.

At this point you may wish to revive yourself at a classic Burmese teashop – where all important discussion begin. Let your guide know if you prefer your tea bitter (cho kya!) or sweet (cho ze!)

Continue onwards passing down the magnificent Pansodan Street (popping into see the handicrafts at Hla-Day?) and into the office of the Yangon Heritage Trust to look at old pictures from the city’s past and optimistic ideas for its future. Walk up to the Secretariat, where the country’s independence hero, General Aung San, was assassinated. The Secretariat Building - known in Burmese as “Father’s Office” - was the administrative heart of British Burma. In crimson and dark yellow, it was the giant, jewel of the city then known as “Princess of the East.”

After the Second World War, the leaders of the Burmese Independence Army quickly began talks of secession from the British Empire with the new British Prime Minister Clement Atlee. In 1947, the Burmese leader-in-waiting General Aung San was chairing a meeting in the Secretariat with his cabinet when gunmen hired by a political rival stormed into the room and shot them all dead.

It was a moment that dramatically altered the course of Burmese history and irrevocably marked the Burmese psyche. This room became known as the “Martyrs’ room” and has remained sealed off since 1947. This evening, allow us to take you on an evening street food tour with Sa Ba Street Food Tours. Winding our way through the side alleays of Little India and Chinatown, we'll drop by some of our favourite stalls and family owned eateries. After taking you to a fascinating produce market far from the tourist route, we will introduce you to the funky yoghurt faloodah drink and see kyet noodles drizzled in a light garlic oil then loaded with 12hr braised chicken or pork, so soft you can eat the bones!

We'll finish up at a BBQ on 19th Street in Chinatown for grilled fish and beer.

The Sisters Recommend ... Make time to pick up some souvenirs at Bogyoke Market. . DAY 2 Yangon - Dawei Hotel Dawei

This morning you will be picked up and catch a midday flight to Dawei.

Upon arrival at Dawei Airport, you will be picked up and transferred to the nearby Hotel Dawei for check-in.

Enjoy the pool and hotel amenities or walk around the town and spot the old buildings.

The Sisters Recommend … Hunt down the delicious snack Ah Pone only available in the evening.

Discover More: Find about the time Sampan sat down with Sam the Man, Dawei`s first tour guide … https://www.sampantravel.com/magazine/sam- the-man/ Dawei, refferred to as 'Tavoy' by the British, is the administrative capital of Tanintharyi Region, the southernmost division of Myanmar. The Dawei port, situated in an optimum location for trade, was tugged back and forth for centuries between Siam and Burma, before the British decisively took the town as one of the first pieces of their Burma conquest in 1826. Today you will be taken to Maungmagan Beach located 12 kilometers west of DAY 3 Dawei. Dawei - Maungmagan Beach Coconuts Guesthouse Spend the day sitting in a beachfront restaurant. Have a cocktail and enjoy some delicious fresh seafood.

The Sister`s Recommend … Try the crab masala, it’s a must! In between Yaun Pin and Dawei is Maungmagan Beach. Despite the handful of hotels along the dunes, often when visiting Maungmagan you are more than likely to be in the company of a greater number of fishermen than tourists.

The beach is more Atlantic than white-sand, but has less rocks, a gentler current and less ferocious waves than the more frequented Ngwe Saung. Small children race across the sand on large bicycles, sometimes clutching a fish caught in the shallows with their bare hands. Like Chaungtha north of Ngwe Saung, Maungmagan remains more of a hangout for locals than for foreigners.

At the weekend the score of bamboo restaurants just behind the dunes burst with residents of Dawei and the nearby Maungmagan village, feasting on giant barbecued crab and listening to the gentle chords of acoustic guitar. From Maungmagan one can rent motorbikes and drive up into the mountains and through the dells towards the Myaw Yit Pagoda, passing little hamlets and children screaming ‘Mingalabar!’ in a frenzy, and past little creeks where teenage boys gather to smoke Red Ruby cigarettes.

There are also hot springs not far from the beach where one can pay 100 Kyat for a dip in the pool and 500 Kyat for a shower. Not only good health but good luck is promised. This morning you will be transferred to Dawei Airport and fly to Kawthaung. DAY 4 Maungmagan Beach - Kawthaung Upon arrival in Kawthaung, you will be picked up by representative from Victoria Cliff Hotel Victoria Cliff Hotel and transferred to your hotel.

The rest of the day you will be left at your leisure at the hotel. Before travelling to the islands of the Mergui Archipelago in the morning. DAY 5 Kawthaung - Mergui Archipelago

In the novel Biggles Delivers the Goods by the British author and RAF pilot Captain W.E Jones, the protagonist Squadron Leader James Bigglesworth flies over the Mergui Archipelago of Myanmar on his way to fight the Japanese. The passage reads,

‘To the right, the horizon was defined by a long dark stain that was the forest-clad hinterland of Lower Burma. Below the aircraft, like a string of green beads dropped carelessly on blue velvet, were the islands of the archipelago, lonely, untouched by civilisation …’

The Mergui Archipelago (Myeik Archipelago) is one of the most sumptuous segments of Southeast Asia. There are estimated to be 800 islands scattered across the 400 square kilometres of the Andaman Sea.

Enjoy your final day in Myanmar hopping between the islands, swimming in the clear water and eating freshly-caught squid.

End of Journey HOTELS THE STRAND

Early in the 20th Century the Strand Hotel Yangon was declared by John Murray in his Handbook for Travellers as ‘the finest hostelry East of Suez.’ Conceived by Aviet and Tigran Sarkies (two of the four entrepreneurial Sarkies brothers of Armenian descent behind Singapore’s Raffles and the Eastern & Oriental in Georgetown) the Strand Yangon opened in 1901.

Much of its glamour and elegance remains. The spacious thirty-two suites come with a living area, handcrafted wooden beds and high ceilings, and large windows allow natural light to flood in during the daytime. Following two phases of renovations in 2016 and 2017, the colonial hotel now boasts an outdoor swimming pool, garden, spa treatment rooms, and a gym in an adjacent annex building.

The Strand's bar (‘the Sarkies Bar’) is architecturally the finest in any Yangon hotel. It is said to have once been a hub of intrigue and skullduggery; today it is mostly a place for a quiet drink, but it can fill up with tourists, expats and locals alike, milling about the billiards table and sipping Strand Sours during Friday’s Happy Hour (at which point complimentary canapés do the rounds).

FLASH POINT: Staying up late for nightcaps at the Sarkies Bar; chatting with the barmen and playing a few rounds of billiards. HOTEL DAWEI

Hotel Dawei is large with grand rooms, centrally located near to the heart of Dawei. The hotel has many of the modern amenities that one could wish for in Myanmar, as well as an expansive pool which – at least when Sampan has visited – is often empty during the high heat of the day. The kernel of the hotel is situated around an old colonial building that has been renovated into a suite, perfect for families or groups looking to stay in lavish comfort while in Dawei.

FLASH POINT: This is the flashiest hotel in mainland Tanintharyi Region. Keep your eyes peeled for local celebrities and Yangon’s HiSo on city breaks.

COCONUTS GUESTHOUSE

Coconuts Guesthouse is scruffy but charming. Favoured by backpackers and elderly hippies, the breakfast area is strewn with cushions and years-old travel magazine which pronounce Burma as the place to visit. It has more character – or at least, a nicer character – than those hotels on the beach. If remaining at Maungmagan after sundown for drinks and sea food, Coconuts is only a 15-minute stumble back from the waterfront. VICTORIA CLIFF HOTEL

By a long stretch, this is the finest hotel in Kawthaung. The hotel has a wide selection of rooms as well as two pools. It is located slightly outside of the town, so transportation will be required to reach the Kawthaung jetty, principle sights, and downtown area.

FLASH POINT: The restaurant has brilliant views looking out to the Mergui Archipelago. THIS JOURNEY WAS IN Medical Action Myanmar (MAM) is a medical aid organization, whose mission it is to improve access to quality health care for the poorest of SUPPORT OF MEDICAL Myanmar people. We focus on the most vulnerable people in very remote areas and in urban slums, where most people cannot afford to ACTION MYANMAR (MAM) pay for adequate health care services. www.sampantravel.com