The beauty of the South

Sunset at Paradise Beach, Dawei Peninsula

October is a great month for public holidays (and full moons!!!) in Myanmar and that is a great chance to do short getaways and escape from the city. Here’s a couple of trips I’ve taken recently to explore the south of Thailand and the south of Myanmar.

Southern Thailand

As travellers, we always dream of going to places where we can feel we are part of the very few privileged ones who try to avoid mass tourism destinations. It adds a thrill to the trip. It’s more difficult in some countries than others. Thailand has been one of the most popular destinations for decades so most of its many islands are well developed, with beaches dotted with resorts, boats and shops.

Antonio, Monika and Nubia

Nubia and Naima

I joined my friends Monika and Antonio and we ventured to the far south, the Trang province. It borders the three southernmost provinces close to Malaysia whose armed group has been fighting the Thai army for years. Our first flight from Yangon to Bangkok was not an easy one. Apparently it was the pilot’s first day at work and he was scared of landing so he attempted it twice and labelled the drizzle that was falling at the time as ‘bad weather conditions’. He took us to the bigger airport and waited for a couple of hours, then took us back and landed eventually. That left us with very short time to make it to the train station where we had to take a night train. We arrived barely in time to stock up supplies for the next 17 hours on that train to Kantang. You might wonder why we didn’t fly. The main reason was that travelling with two little kids aged 5 and 7, this is supposed to be an amazing adventure!!!

Luxury resort after a long train ride

Koh Muk

Our first resort in the Trang province was a well-deserved luxury spot, where I had lots of fun in the pool acting some creative stories with the girls being water princesses and me the queen of mermaids. 

Next day, we arrived in Koh Mook, where the rain welcomed us and kept us in the bar for hours playing backgammon and discussing politics. We had planned to go snorkeling for our second day in the island but we had bad weather again so we decided to take bicycles and explore the island in our raincoats. We even swam in Farang Beach in the Andaman Sea!!! The island is quite small, with about 300 families settled there and they live a simple life of fishing and farming.

Snorkelling and finding Nemo's relatives

We finally arranged the pending snorkeling activity in Koh Kradan and a quick visit to the famous Emerald Cave on our way to the next island, Koh Libong. The boat captain was the same guy who owned the Coconut Resort where we had stayed, a Thai hippie married to a French woman. He advised us on the best time to leave so that he could complete his three-stop journey and come back still at high tide.

Boat to Emerald Cave

Emerald Cave is a magical spot but can be a very scary experience, especially if done with the tide close to high. The only way to get inside is by swimming through a dark narrow tunnel following the guide who has the headlight. It took about five long minutes to get to the end of the tunnel and in spite of wearing a life jacket, I felt safer by was holding onto the rubber ring. And then your eyes meet the spectacular sight of a hidden beach with emerald colour water. A shame we couldn’t stay for long as the tide was coming up as it was so beautiful. On the way back as you reach the exit, you struggle with the force of the waves that send you up very close to the cave ceiling splashing water over you. It was frightening but really worth going. By reading the reviews, I can see how lucky we were not to experience the hordes of tourists that visit it from Koh Lanta in high season, we only met a Colombian family there.

Seaview from Koh Libong resort

Amazing beach Koh Libong

Koh Libong is the last frontier of untouched islands in Thailand, an ideal place for relaxing. The highlights of the place are stunning sunsets, some caves, waterfalls and trekking paths apart from spotting the endangered dugongs or “sea cows”. We didn’t see any though!!! We hired a tuk-tuk to go around the island and visited the Muslim fishing village of Batu Bute. 


We had to negotiate hardly with our driver who thought most paths/roads were in too bad condition due to the rain and refused to take us. Long walks were out of question because we travelled with two young girls and Antonio has reduced mobility.

It was a very enjoyable and quiet time. We tried some delicious and fresh seafood, wow, those grilled prawns and squid, so yummy!!! 

We met some Spanish guys who were working on a new resort, hoping to open for the high season starting in November.  
And we only saw one single car in the island, I still wonder how they brought it there. Certainly not in one of those longtail boats they use as ferry transport!!!

Batu Bute fishing village

And then back to mainland Trang for our last day. Trang has nothing special other than the night market and a few nice cafes. I ate a whole plate of oysters (10 pieces) but I have to say they are not as tasty as the Galician or Mediterranean ones.

Southern Myanmar

Beautiful wooden houses in Dawei

Yay!!! I finally made it to Dawei Peninsula after more than 3 years living in Myanmar!!! I took the 14-hour-ride bus down and flew back, which I don’t think is a good idea unless you travel with a tight budget. Overall, I saved 100 USD but I was knackered when I got there and had to go straight to bed. I was supposed to travel with Maureen, a colleague from work, but she wisely changed her mind last minute and took a plane instead.

Dawei is a laid back and very clean town with lots of well-kept, two-storey wooden houses. The traffic is not noisy or chaotic like in Yangon or other big cities. The whole area was only opened to tourism in 2013, so it’s largely undeveloped. I visited the only travel agency in town, Panorama Tours, for tips on, transportation options, distances and times. They were very helpful and friendly and speak good English. That night we met a group of six Spanish-speaking travellers that were in fact two solo travellers and a group of three. We had a few beers with them at the Pearl Princess Hotel and exchanged adventures and views on places in Myanmar and other countries in Asia.

Lovely smiles

Astonishing Grandfather's beach

We decided to take the public mini-van to Autcha What village, (it takes two and a half hours), the last stop at the end of the tarmac road. From there, we jumped on the back of motorbike-taxis to San Sa Aw beach where we were staying for two days. Paradise Beach Bungalows is one of the few resorts available to foreigners and it really matches its name: it felt like paradise there. The path through the jungle to the remote beach is pretty rough, up and down a mountain. Especially after the rain, it takes experienced local drivers for you to feel safe, or it does for me at least!!! That’s why I refused to go next day with some Austrian guys we met at the resort and I chose a local as my driver to the nearby Grandfather’s beach, an amazing untouched beach and probably the most beautiful in the peninsula.

Sunset at Paradise

Our Austrian friends

Fresh crabs

The atmosphere at the Paradise Beach bar is very friendly and cool and the food they serve is delicious though a little pricey. One night I ended up dancing some flamenco with Martin, one of the Austrian, at the guitar…Oh, my, what a few beers can do… Time flies and we have our last night booked at Coconut Guesthouse in Maungmakan beach, the closest to Dawei. Lots of local people as it’s a weekend and not a very clean beach, when you compare with those further south. 

We met the Austrians for one last dinner and my choice was fresh crabs, wow, so yummy!!! 
I could live on seafood forever!