In the remote possibility that you find yourself in Chaung Tha and get bored (really?) with the scenic desert beaches there is a bunch of things that you could do. One of them is visiting Phoe Kalar Island which is within stone’s throw from the Southest point of Chaung Tha beach. You could swim your way to it unless you are afraid of having your body parts cut by any of the passing motor boats.
We were, indeed, so we took the boat. No one of the locals could speak English, so we used our fingers to point our desired destination. We were concerned about the return as there was no way to communicate with our ‘captain’ and there weren’t any passenger boats on the other side. We decided that we will think about it when the moment comes and headed to Phoe Kalar. The ride cost us 2000 Kyats (less than 2 usd) both ways for the two of us. This is much more than what the locals pay but we sure didn’t mind.
Phoe Kalar is a fishermen island. The people live by selling dried fish and corals. Electiricity is not an option, life is simple. At the reception of our hotel we were told that the place is ‘no nice’ but I would suggest it to anyone who wants to experience the Burmese life at a deeper level (and support the local business). It was nice to walk on the village ‘roads’ and witness the local daily routine. We were approached by an English-speaking man who offered us a tour around the island but we declined. In a hindsight I would have accepted. But at that time we still weren’t used to all the attention we were getting.
However, what we saw was more than enough for our senses. In less than 500 meters we walked on a soft, sandy beach, rocks and I was definitely hypnotised in the tidal mangrove forest.
Here is the photo recap:
