from 'Delta trip' by zeke7 (April 2007)

Gwa-Kanthaya: next day get truck to Kanthaya, 800kyat. Interior's full of women, so men get on roof; roll around on bony ball of butt getting ripped a new one with knees tucked up to chin for 2 hours of hell. At Kanthaya, decompress at teashop, where they tell you the Maw Shwe Chai resort (listed as under construction in the 2006 Bluprint guide) up the road a ways is not open, the Kanthya Beach Hotel restaurant is very good, and the other restaurants in town are expensive.

Go to Kanthaya Beach Resort, bargain ridiculous $20 asking price down to something reasonable for a shabby, rundown bungalow with rotting floorboards leaving the beds w/head sitting lower than foot, outside bathroom wall mildewy from internal pipe leakage, beach crab crawling on bathroom floor, and bat flying around your room. Seal bat’s access hole in attic with scrap lumber from the half-demolished unit next door and chase it out of room with towel for 20 minutes.

See quite nice very long beach, watch non-stop parade of locals pass by using the path between your room and the beach, get depressed with crummy room and decide there's got to be something better. Inquire at another restaurant, discover that the Maw Shwe Chai is indeed open and the teashop guy lied because his friend works at the Kanthaya Beach Resort's restaurant, resolve to change places next day if not same afternoon. Linger, get excellent fresh grilled lobster for $2.50 at one of the 'expensive' restaurants, wonder how these 3 or 4 restaurants survive in a near-zero tourist flow village until the packed Ye Aung Lan express night bus from Ngapali to Yangon pulls up for its dinner stop.

Next day check out early, attempt to buy seat on Ye Aung Lan bus for Yangon for 2 days later, discover that only a very back row seat or a middle fold-out one up front is available; resolve to head back to Gwa by truck after visiting Maw Shwe Chai and try for a better seat on one of the two nightly Gwa-Yangon buses. Catch 1-hr truck ride up to Maw Shwe Chai (several road-construction detours around Kanthaya area), discover it to be in generally fine shape, friendly manager, well-kept, & near-deserted except for one Yangon family with car staying a couple of doors down; $10 for big bungalow room on beach, and a gorgeous curved bay out front with no one on it. Restaurant across the street, fish both nights as I opted for fish on the just one night they also had crab, 2 days of relaxing and soaking in the beauty; needed to return to Yangon.

Gwa-Yangon: Catch the morning's first truck back to Gwa, a smaller, way-more comfortable affair than the bigger guys, secure the only seat available on that evening's two buses (Saung co., also Shwe War Phoo) for 5500kyat, a rear one, but on boarding at 9pm be provided a window seat right behind the front door. Discover that was a very good thing, as ½ hr later most people are loudly throwing up from the motion and breathing dried fish fumes from the many sacks being hauled in several of the back seats and in the aisle. In the middle of the night doze off and have your day bag roll out of your lap, down your legs, out the front door and onto the road; be glad that both you and the driver's assistant sitting up front noticed, have driver stop while he jumps out to retrieve it. Pull into Yangon around 8am, passing near Hlaing Thar Yar but instead crossing the bridge and terminating at a dried fish warehouse somewhere in the northern part of the city. Bargain a reasonable taxi fare downtown (3000kyat) and call it a trip.

Tip: buy some of those small Myanmar-English dictionaries anywhere in Yangon for a song, gift folks upcountry with one when they are struggling to communicate with you. Useless for you, but great for them.

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