It was such a relief to be finally out of Thailand. We had planned to go to Myanmar (Burma) in December/January, but with continuing problems with the boat we were not able to get to Myanmar until February. Our permit allowed us into the country for 18 days. While we were in Myanmar a Burmese person had to stay on our boat and we could only go so far north. Some of the islands located off Western Myanmar were off limits because they were occupied by the military. We checked in at the port of Kawthoung, which is located across the river from the Thai city of Rangoon on 2/3/15. Arnold, the Burmese person from the Ministry of Travel and Tourism that would be staying on the boat, would be our guide, translator, etc. He ended up being a pretty cool guy, and helped me with work on the boat. He also helped us plan our destinations and pick good anchoring and adventure spots. I split up what we did in Mergui Archipelago into sections.

Arriving at Kawthoung

Arnold and me on Sea Glass

Playing games while on passage.

Diving

One of the main reasons for going into Myanmar was definitely the diving. With it being hard and expensive to get in, most of the reefs and sites had no tourists. I got my dive certification in 2011, and I’m glad I did. If I hadn’t I would not have seen half the stuff I did on this amazing voyage.

Here are all the dives we did while in Myanmar:

2/5/15 Westerly Rock

Max depth 21.3 meters (63 feet)

Time spent 32 min

A fun dive off a rock and has great visibility.

Me with Westerly Rock

2/7/15 the rock off Khiayin Quar

Max depth 19.1 meters (57 feet)

Time spent 37 min

All the wild life!

2/9/15 Shark Cave

Max depth 15.5 meters (46.5 feet)

Time spent 37 min

Make sure you find the cave before you go in the water. Once we found the cave we were running low on air, so we did not go into the cave.

2/12/15 Black Rock

Max depth 25 meters (75 feet)

Time spent 41 min

A fun, casual dive. You can spend forever exploring all the nicks and crannies.

At the surface after diving a black rock.

2/13/16 Taua Rock

Max depth 25.3 meters (75 feet)

Time spent 39 min

You dive over a pinnacle were there is tons of sea anemones.

The tons of sea anemones.

2/19/15 High Rock

Max Depth 17 meters (51 feet)

Time spent 29 min

Not a beginner dive. The current rips around the corners super fast. You have to look out for sea urchins when you grab hold of the rocks.

My favorite dive spot was Westerly rock, (it unfortunately did not have cowboys and Indians on it). However, it did have many fish, coral, and it had a visibility of 40 meters (120 feet). Amazing! Another spectacular dive that we did was Black Rock. This rock is in the middle of nowhere, and therefore had untouched wild life. There were massive moray eels, tons of sea anemones, and I even saw a cuttlefish.

Zooming around on the dinghy after a dive

People

Many of these islands are uninhabited. The ones that have people living on them have villages, dry season fishing villages, or Salone (marine nomads) villages. There are many fishing boats in the area but they live on their boats. However the fishermen do come into the villages for trading, supplies, and repairs. We did go to a village called Galan Village. The people there were extremely nice and we gave many clothes to the Salone and the Burmese school. Arnold also showed us the local temple that was under construction. We met and talked, through Arnold, with the second-head monk in the area. The monk told us that they were going to build a small resort to house the people that would come to see the new temple.

Giving clothes to some Salone people.

A very cute puppy I found.

The temple under construction.

Another village we went to was Lak Ang Village. The village used to have over 700 people, but most of the people moved to the other side of the island and started a new village. Lak Ang Village is a fishing boat village and serves as a regional hub for the much larger fishing company. The company also aids other independent boats that need repairs. The man who ran the 20-boat fleet took us for a tour of the village. The village kept all different kinds of animals such as pigs, chickens, and goats. We also saw two giant wood boats that were under construction.

A big transport boat under construction.

Having fun on the beach at Lak Ang Village.

I'm the fat Momma.

Oink!

At Wale Island (pronounced wali, like the movie) we went in to check out Sa-Lak-Gala Village. The village was a Burmese village and had about a hundred people. On the beach we gave the kids kites and footballs. But what the kids loved were these poppers. You would pull the strings and confetti came out of it in a loud bang. Going through the village we saw some kids playing traditional football. It is a sport like volleyball, but you can only use your feet and head to hit the ball. It looked really challenging.

On Bocho Island there was a village called Mo-Kyounk Village. The village had over two thousand Burmese and Salone people living in it. In the village James, Jacob, and I gambled against some villagers in a local game. The game worked like this. You bet money on any of six animals, an elephant, a peacock, a tiger, a dragon, a horse, and a guy we called whipping guy because he held a whip. Once everyone bet, the man running the game rolled three dice. Each side of the dice had a different animal. If one of the die showed the animal that you bet on, you would earn double the money you had bet. It was great fun and I left with more then I had started. We also played soccer (football) with the school kids. They were very good, and our team won barely: 7-6.

Bringing the rest of our spare clothes into the village.

At the local temple.

The betting game.

Yes!!!

Now to talk a little bit about the Salone (Mokken) people.

The Salone people are like the Native Americans of North and South America. The Salone were already living in Myanmar before the Burmese arrived like the Native Americans were in America before the Europeans arrived. The Salone are marine nomads. They build and live on their own boats, never staying in one place for a long time. They have weird superstitions such as never lie on your stomach when it’s raining and if you whistle or sing while traveling a storm will brew. As we sailed through Myanmar we did not see any of the traditional Salone people because during the rainy season they are out in their boats and try to avoid contact with people. The Salone that we have seen have begun integrating with the Burmese and adopting their language and culture.

A salone boy happy with his new clothes.

Hiking

With most of the islands we visited being pretty small or being uninhabited, trails were uncommon. However one island that we visited, Khiyin Quar, had a trail. The island had a resort on it, but it was only open during the rainy season when people came out to surf on the giant waves that came. The trail was quite steep and challenging, and while climbing giant mosquitoes kept trying to land on you and suck your blood. It was all worth it when we reached the top of the mountain. The view was breath taking; you could see the entire island from there.

The easy part of the hike.

Enjoying a break.

At the top!

At Sulak Mau Island we headed into a village to check it out. The villagers were very kind and offered us drinks. We gave them a ball for there volleyball net, and Jacob, James, and I played volleyball with the kids. One of the villagers then showed us the generator and the fresh water lake. We decided then to do a short hike to see the water supply lakes for the main lakes. It was a fun hike, going through the center of the river. There were many animals such as dragonflies and crayfish. The smart villagers took the mountain rain runoff and channeled it to their man-built lakes. That way they could have water all year round and sell it to the fisherman who came to the village.