4-Day Mawlamyine Tour

Day 1

Your tour begins in Yangon, where you’ll depart on a 6-hour drive to Mawlamyine. Once you arrive, you’ll get to see St. Matthews, the first British church in Myanmar. You’ll continue to the Seindone Monastery, where you’ll step inside to admire the elaborate red and gold designs. Take a 5-minute walk to the Kyaik Thanlan Paya, a pagoda that sits on a hill and offers an incredible view of the city, the nearby islands, and the Limestone Mountains.

Day 2

The next day starts out with an hour-long boat ride to Bilue Kyun. From there, you’ll drive one hour to get to Ywalut Village, with a stop at Chaung Sone Village to see Mon-style houses. For years, Ywalut Village served as an important village for craftsmen. You’ll stop workshops to see how locals make rubber bands, pipes, walking sticks, and bamboo hats. The tour also includes a stop at the old-fashioned rice mill. After the village tour, you’ll return to Mawlamyine for the evening.

Day 3

During the morning of day three, you’ll explore a local market. Next, you’ll drive 40 miles (65 km) to reach Thanbyuzayat and see some monuments to a tragic moment in Myanmar’s history. Thanbyuzayat was the starting point for the “Death Railway” that the Japanese occupiers built in during WWII to connect Myanmar with Thailand. Many of the prisoners of war who worked on the railroad lost their lives because of the dangerous working conditions. There is a cemetery for the allied soldiers, a railway museum, and a Japanese pagoda at the site.

After this somber portion of the tour, you’ll visit an enormous reclining Buddha figure called Win Sein Tawya. There is enough room inside of the Buddha for three floors of religious art. Then you’ll drive for an hour to get to Hpa-An, the capital of the Kayin State. Stop for refreshment at a hotel and then visit Kyaukkalat Pagoda, which connects to the mainland via a wooden bridge over a lake. Then you’ll watch a at the sunset over the surrounding rice paddies.

Day 4

After breakfast, you’ll make a stop at Hpa-An’s market to get a sense of local culture. Then you’ll begin your homeward journey, but you’ll stop to see the beautiful limestone formations of Kawt Kun Cave and Baying Nyi Naung Ku Cave on the way. Baying Nyi Naung Ku’s nearby hot springs are said to have curative properties. This attraction concludes the tour, and the next stop is Yangon.