Ngwe Saung

It was only 40 years ago a small Indonesian village was considered to be home of one of the most beautiful and unspoiled beaches in the world, a secret kept by only a few surfers and adventurous travellers. That little friendly village with an amazing beach is Kuta, Bali. That little secret has transformed into a tourist hub, with an international airport, numerous shopping malls, hundreds of hotels not to mention touts flogging ‘Bintang’ t-shirts and fake Rolexs’. It would be the opinion of many travellers that the last of the idyllic and unspoiled beaches throughout the world have succumbed to the pressures of tourism. In many cases, this is true. However, in Burma, the beach known as Ngwe Saung remains as one of the last of the few remaining paradises’ left on the planet. Situated on the shores of the Bay Of Bengal, Ngwe Saung literally means silver beach and stretches for a total of 14 km along the shoreline. This is where I was heading for my next beach vacation.
The drive to Ngwe Saung from Yangon took roughly 6 hours but passed through the small towns and picturesque countryside along the way. At present, an airport is being constructed in the town, so car was the most comfortable and logical choice, plus it gave me a chance to view the spectacular landscape. I finally arrived at the resort to be greeted by the friendly reception staff, which showed offered me a refreshing welcome drink and showed me to the bungalow. It was simple, but had an elegant charm about it. I decided to take a rest to recover from the travelling I had done in, so I laid on my bed, staring at the thatched roof of the bungalow. As I lay there, I could hear the sounds of the waves of the ocean. The simplicity of the bungalow and the sounds of the Indian Ocean were like a lullaby to me, and I fell asleep in a matter of minutes.
I awoke as the sun began to descend into the Indian Ocean. I was lucky enough to be able to watch this spectacular visual event take place from my bed. As I lay there, my stomach began to rumble and hunger got the better of me. Watching the ocean gave me the craving for freshly cooked seafood. Being by the sea, I could only imagine how delectable and soft it must be. I walked along the sandy path that was dimly lit by tiki lanterns, following the smell of freshly cooked seafood that filled the air. The hotel’s restaurant was out in the open with stunning views of the sea – the perfect setting to enjoy some delicious barbequed seafood. I tucked into some of the freshly caught seafood comprising of grilled fish, squid and mouth-watering prawns cooked ever-so delicately with local Burmese herbs and spices. I enjoyed a few drinks in the warm tropical evening and shared travel stories with other travellers before calling it a night.
The next day it was time to hit the beach. I had seen the beach from my room and it looked stunning, but now was my chance to try or myself. Like most other popular beaches around the world, I had expected a gaggle of vendors to swamp me selling all kinds of things that I wasn’t interested in purchasing. But this wasn’t the case. I was greeted with a soft ocean breeze, wide open beaches, and a number of local-style fishing boats lined up along the beach.
This was truly paradise. I set up base for my day on the beach under a thatched umbrella to escape the tropical sun, copy of the novel that I never had time to finish reading back at home, fresh guava juice. Just myself and the long, silvery-sand beach of Ngwe Saung.