Myanmar (Burma): Janaury 2017: Day 3: Setting sail

Myanmar (Burma): January 2017

Day 3: First day of sailing

Visiting 7-Eleven for cold drinks before we board the boat.

Fruit stand.

Sea of longtail boats.

Next stop: Kawthaung (aka Kawthong, or Kawthoung), Burma (Myanmar).

Anchor man sitting on the prow.

Kawthaung (aka Kawthong, or Kawthoung), Burma (Myanmar).

Pad thai. So good. We devoured two huge plates.

Under way!

Interior common area and kitchen.

Sunset looking west from Thay Yae Island.

Sailboat pulling by.

One of many fishing boats.

First of many meals by Chef Pui.

Gai lan in foreground, fish in background.

Met most of the sailing group after breakfast at the hotel (Nai Yang Beach Resort), loaded into the minibus with a driver and a guide, and had a pretty painless 4 hour drive north to Ranong, on the Thailand-Myanmar (Burma) border.

Immigration was fairly painless, the longtail boat ride wasn't too bad at all (the crowd of boats at the pier only seemed chaotic?)), and after few casual cruises by border security for very informal inspections, we were across the inlet and off the coast of Kawthoung in Myanmar. We never touched the Burmese mainland; instead immigration came straight to us and took their sweet time approving our visas.

Captain Brian soon had us underway, and Chef Pui had us very well fed with his superb pad thai. A few pleasant hours later we were anchored off Thae Yae (Thay Yae) Island, surrounded by the lights of squid boats, and completely offline to the rest of the world!