Bhamo Travel Guide
Bhamo is a small city in northeastern Myanmar in Kachin State on the banks of the large Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River. Previously known as Sampanago, as capital of the then Manmaw, Bhamo's biggest appeal is its ancient city walls.
- Worth It?
- Not really, unless you have a love for ancient city walls and coins.
- What to Do
- checking out the old city walls, visiting Kachin hill tribes.
- Best Time to Go
- November through February during the winter dry season.
- How Long?
- If you've made the effort to get to Bhamo, it's worth spending a couple of days here.
- Trivia
- Bhamo lay on the India-Burma-China caravan route.
Bhamo lies pretty close to the Chinese border, Yunnan Province, and mainly features a Chinese/Shan populace, with a scattering of Kachin folk in the hills. It lies at the highest navigable point on the Ayeyarwady River and featured on the India and Burma caravan routes to China.
It is not really worth the hassle of getting to Bhamo unless you have bags of time in Myanmar or are really into coins. The trade with copper coins with China in the 19th century was a big deal in this part of Myanmar.
Travel to Bhamo - Getting There
The most common way to get to Bhamo is to take a bus from Mandalay via
Highway 31. The more comfortable and scenic option, however, is to take a river ferry. They leave Mandalay three times a week for Bhamo. Bhamo also has an airport although there is only one flight per week from Yangon, the main international gateway, with Myanmar Airways.
Bhamo Things to Do
Bhamo Attractions
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