A ferry heads down the river towards the setting sun near Monywa. Pic: Aung Tun Win

EFFICIENT transportation and glorious scenery around Bhamo have been identified by the manager of a local travel agency as the main reasons why tourist numbers to the region are climbing.

“The number of tourists coming to Bhamo is increasing every year. Tourists like the region because the transportation is smooth and convenient,” said U Moe Naing, manager of Kong Tong Travel and Tour Company.

“The scenery between Bhamo and Katha is beautiful – even The Lonely Planet guidebook says so. Lots of tourists choose to come here and take a ferry down the river,” he said.

Charles Detilleux, a French tourist, said: “I enjoyed my trip to Bhamo for several reasons - I liked the mountains that I visited while I was there and my trip down the river was pleasant too.

“It was nice to compare the villages along the river with those I’d already seen in the mountains.

Mr Detilleux’s holiday in Bhamo was also fortuitous and only came about because an alternative plan was aborted.

While Mr Detilleux said he enjoyed his visit, he said there were a few challenges he had to overcome.

“One of the problems I had is that I had to think about everything carefully and nothing was ever easy. The country has a great future and if it opened up more, there would be a lot of travellers,” he said.

U Moe Naing said the most popular way to get to Bhamo is to drive.
“Sometimes tourists come to Bhamo by boat from Myitkyina through Myitkyina-Sinbo.

After that, they go to Mandalay on an Inland Water Transport (IWT) ferry. But if they cannot wait for a ferry, they take a bus to Mandalay,” he said.

According to statistics from Bhamo’s IWT office, 97 tourists took ferries from Bhamo to Mandalay in the first four months of 2007-08 financial year, compared to 69 in first four months of the 2006-07 financial year, a 25 percent increase.

U Moe Naing said most of the town’s visitors are from Switzerland, Belgium and Germany but there are also plenty of Chinese, who often come to Bhamo overland through the village of Lwe Je near the Chinese border. He said in peak season the town receives about 150 travellers and another 30 during low season.

U Pe Tin Hla, manager of Grand Hotel in Bhamo, said: “Europeans often want to come here to observe the local bird life, Ayeyarwady dolphins and the lifestyles of local people,” he said, adding that they tend to come in smaller groups of two or three.

U Moe Naing said that one of the area’s biggest drawcards is the village of Sein Lon.

“Sein Lon is very beautiful and there is some nice architecture. It was a district town in the colonial era,” he said.

Sein Lon is 36.8 kilometres (23 miles) from Bhamo and situated on the Bhamo to Lwe Je road.

U Moe Naing said there are plenty of other attractions in the region.
“Tourists can visit a church in Pan Mu village that is built on a cliff, and there is a another one, St Michael’s, about 14km (9 miles) north of Bhamo. It was built by the French in 1938 and is believed to be the first church made in Kachin State,” he said.

While tourism in the area is already heating up, U Moe Naing said it may get even better in the future.