Ngapali, Myanmar February 2018





Fortunately teaching in China brings on a holiday in February as part of the Chinese new year. Rather than stay in country many Western/international teachers find somewhere else to go. Most head to the beaches. Either Thailand,  Vietnam or Bali. I decided to go a little off the beaten path and headed to Myanmar. I wanted a truly beachy holiday and ended up in Ngapali Beach. Fortunately I got a direct flight from Beijing to the capital of Myanmar. I came in very late at night so I had to stay overnight before catching one of my favorite small planes down to the beach area. There are many close by airport hotels if you need an overnight stay. It was perfect for a quick rest, up for breakfast and then back to the airport.
There are many many beach hotels/resorts as well as smaller village side choices. I went with Pleasant View Resort.  It was a lovely stay. I wish I had splurged a little and went with one of the beachside cabins, but my hotel room was just fine. Below is a snapshot from my Trip Advisor review.


This was an incredibly peaceful, relaxing holiday. The day pretty much went like this: wakeup, toss on some clothes, down to the breakfast buffet, coffee by ocean side, long walk on the beach, to the
hotel cafe for another coffee and then beach side on a lounger under an umbrella, up for a quick swim and back under the umbrella. Lunch was usually some fresh fruit sold by the beach vendors. Then back to the room for a snooze and a sit on the balcony. The resort had a few restaurants but no need

to eat there when there were dozens of restaurants in the village that ran parallel the the beach resorts. Better to give money to the locals. People from Myanmar are lovely, warm and welcoming. Most spoke a little English in the restaurants. The restaurants were all very similar in style and food
choices: open air seating with lots of seafood and some western options. A great meal with a 1 or 2 cocktails could be had for about 10 dollars! There are also lots of little touristy shops selling pretty much the same wares.  Other holiday highlights include:

*Above mentioned beach time
*A day trip to some local Buddhist temples
*A balloon trek which was quite lovely and a must do experience, if a bit pricey
*A long, hot, trek up a local mountain through the “jungle”.... I only fell 5 times!

Below are photo highlights:















































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