Ngapali (pronounced "Napoli" - like Naples Italy) Beach is in the west coast of Myanmar (Burma). At first I was really disappointed to leave Bagan for ‘just
a beach’…but this was probably one of the best, most tranquil beaches I’ve ever
been to. Beautiful rocks and cliffs
mixed with smooth/soft sans, palm trees, shady grape trees. Pretty much perfect. We stayed at the Lin Thar Oo Hotel, beach
view, $60. It had gone up in price from $45 in the 2011 Lonely Planet
guidebook. We’d read that prices in the last couple years have increased by a
1/3 or have doubled in some cases. O.O
We flew from Bagan to Inle Lake/Hohe airport over to
Ngapali/Thadwe airport on the west coast. Warm already at the airport but got
right on the hotel shuttle. The first
thing we did was check in and immediately get a taxi 20 minutes in the village
of Thandwe to the nearest ATM. In the middle of this dirt street with vendor
stalls and naked kids and mangy dogs, was this gleaming ATM. And it worked. Thank god, since we were
totally out of cash. One thing you have
to have in Myanmar is cash. Bring crisp
US cash. The economy is interchangeable with the U.S. dollar and you actually
get a better exchange rate using the greenback.
Easy math: $1,000 khat (“chat”) = $1 USD. No credit cards (except a few places in
Yangon) – even the airlines and expensive hotels only take cash too.
Back from the village and soon in the shady breeze of the
hotel deck restaurant with a Myanmar beer in hand, and spring rolls and friend
prawns dipped in a sweet chili sauce. J Oh yah…
Then…a swim. The Bay of Bengal is
like bath water. Warm, comfortable. The surf is totally calm. We did try to
body surf the 1-ft waves though. Later, I must have taken about 500 photos of
the beautiful sunset that evening.
The electricity at the hotel was turned on from 6 p.m. to 6
a.m. so we were able to charge everything overnight. There was plenty of hot water for showers.
Nice wood floors. We’d recommend this place – if only it had internet. That was
the one thing we really needed, unfortunately.
We wasted a couple of good hours the following day looking for it and
when we found it at a high end lodge with expensive hourly rates, it was slow
as molasses. A good business opportunity, I think!
Dinner out was on the main ‘road’, off the beach in the
village. Whole baked fish, veggies, rice, spring rolls (of course), Myanmar
beer (of course). Delicious.
The second day we woke up for sunrise (150+ photos) and then
coffee and breakfast on the hotel’s deck restaurant. Breakfast buffet with delicious omelets,
“pancakes” (which were replicas of blinis we had in Russia that Sara introduced
us to), juices, coffee, and a selection of local foods. Popular are the
breakfast noodles and fritter (a variety of fried cakes). Solid.
We had arranged a 4-hour snorkel trip when we got in. Took off on long boat with a driver and a perpetually
smiling guide “Tso Tso”. 2 morning snorkels around nearby Pearl Island (cool
fish, reef wasn’t that great). A break for a beer, banana and peanuts -an
interesting and satisfying combination – at the Pearl Island ‘beach bar’. Another long snorkel around the north part of
the island was our favorite – right off the beach. We saw 2 cool eels, parrot
fish, angel fish, a puffer, needlenose fish – loads of colorful cool fishes.
After a laundry break, the internet caper and lunch at a
swank hotel, we walked a half hour on Ngapali beach to our hotel on the north
side of the crescent shaped beach. Made it back in time to take another 200+
photos of another amazing sunset. I took a video at one point just as the sun
was touching the horizon, then zoomed in and there were 2 fishing boats
passing. “Epic”. (Charles is sick of me using that word). Sunrises in Bagan. Sunsets at Ngapali. Epic!
A lovely night beach dinner with Myanmar rum – a
surprisingly smooth and delicious rum. With a coconut water and rum drink in
mind, Charles snagged a coconut from the fruit ladies who pass by on the beach
every 10 minutes -they carry tons of fruit on a huge plate on their head. Some
more fried prawns and we were set.
Last morning was beautiful. Woke up for sunrise with our
hammocks (only 50-100 photos). So comfortable and lovely. Awesome breakfast
again. Amazing swim all morning…we stayed out for HOURS in the Bay. At noon, after having had another rum and
coconut and prawns, we were off to the airport.
Awesome awesome stay.
Beautiful landscape near Inle Lake
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