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merous remnant bricks and posts remaininginto the 1950s. If you know what you’re lookingfor you can still make out a section of 10fthighmud rampart where the lane aroundthe monastery cuts through it to the east, butyou’ll probably need a guide and the site ishardly memorable. Far more impressive is theawesome seasonal bamboo bridge (return tollwith bicycle K300) that allows you to make yourprecarious way across the wide Tapin River. Anice cycle ride is to continue over the bridgefor half an hour west through timeless Sinkinvillage and on to a brickworks from which a10-minute stairway climb takes you up TheinpaHill past a meditation hall to a stupa withvery attractive panoramas.TToursSein Win (%in China 0086-692 927 8557) ThisEnglish-speaking guide (K15,000 per daywithout transport) is an eccentric septuagenarian.His front room is dominated bythe helicopter he designed and built butnever flew for want of a sufficiently powerfulengine. At least not yet.4SleepingOnly two options accept foreigners. Both arecentral.oFriendship Hotel HOTEL $(%50095, in China 0086-692 687 6670; LetwetThondaya Rd; s/d/tr with shared bathroom $7/14/21,s/d with air-con $20/25; ai) This large, comfortableChinese-style hotel is truly excellentvalue for money with plenty of little extrasincluding in-room coffee, free water fill-ups,satellite TV and a basket of complimentarytoiletries. Even the basic rooms are wellmaintained, better ones have good linens anddecent mattresses and all qualify you for theexcellent buffet breakfast served in an appealingrooftop cafe. Helpful manager MoeNaing speaks fluent English. There’s an internetroom but don’t count on a connection.Grand Hotel HOTEL $$(%50317, in China 0086-692 688 1816; Post OfficeRd; s/d $15/20; a) Grand indeed is its modernlobby and blue-glass facade but the roomsare altogether more down-to-earth, andwhile reasonably well equipped, they are letdown by their musty bathrooms.5EatingThere’s a great new place for Burmese curryspreads(K2000) directly beside FriendshipHotel (south) while on the short diagonalstreet cutting behind that hotel (northeast)you’ll find a busy cafe, a popular beer-stationand barbecue place and a servery for precookedMuslim-Indian curries.Sein Sein CHINESE $(Kannar Rd; veg/nonveg dishes K1500/2000, riceK300; E) The old-fashioned dining room,rough round tables and beer-poster decorpromises little. However, the reliable Chinesefood is widely considered the best intown, there’s a menu in English (no prices)and there’s Dagon beer on draught (K600).It’s near the IWT office, and tantalisinglyclose to the river but without views.Arthan TEAHOUSE $(Kannar Rd; snacks K200; h5.30am-7pm) Justsouth of the riverbank pot-sellers’ stalls,this very basic teahouse is the only one withviews of the Ayeyarwady.8InformationFree town maps are available for guests at theFriendship Hotel. They are extremely useful, ifmisleadingly out of scale towards the edges.The prefi x %0086-692 denotes ‘China numbers’,which should be dialled from anotherChina-line phones (0086-692 numbers) to avoidpaying international call rates.8Getting There & AwayAirTheoretically the clunky government aircraft ofMyanma Airways (%50269; Kantawgyi St) fl yto Yangon ($120) via Mandalay ($45) on Thursdayand Sunday. Ticket sales are only possiblefrom 8am to 9.30am and 1pm to 4pm, one daybefore fl ying. Their offi ce is three blocks east ofthe market, up Sinbyushin St then half a blocksouth.BoatIWT FERRIES Pre-purchase tickets at IWT(%50117; Strand Rd; h9am-5pm), the woodenmansion with brick-columned overhang that’sset back opposite the Sikh Temple, just north ofthe central riverfront area. Departures (7am onMonday, Wednesday and Friday) are from a jetty2½ miles south of central Bhamo. Don’t forgetmats and bedding (see boxed text, p 239 ). Costsand very approximate timings (southbound, dryseason):Shwegu ($2, five hours)Katha ($4, 10 to 12 hours)Kyaukmyaung ($9, 22 to 30 hours).Mandalay (deck/cabin $9/54, 30 to 50 hours)243MYITKYINA NORTHERN MYANMAR & THE UPPER TOURS BHAMO AYEYARWADY (BANMAW) TOURS