Mergui Archipelago, Myanmar
Frequent traveller Magazine
(June/July 2001)

Virginal Isles

Whether on land or at sea, the Mergui Archipelago offers a spellbinding array of untouched wildlife that brings you back to Mother Nature. Text and picture by Ed Peters

The Mergui Archipelago - 800 islands sprinkled over 30,000 sq km of the Andaman Sea - is to wanderlust what Viagra is to sex. It's the sort of place that makes you want to grab your passport, a wad of cash, and just go.

For half a century Mergui was put of limits by a suspicious government based in Yangon, and nobody but fisherman and the Mogen sea gypsies sailed pass the pristine beaches and mangrove forest, or explored the islands' hidden trails and creeks. Then, in 1997, numerous requests from foreign tour operators, the power-that-be relented, although access is still heavily restricted. With few inhabitants, and being well away from major towns, pollution is minimal. In most destinations, deserted beaches are rear, but almost all the beaches in Mergui are deserted. What is rare in Mergui is to find a beach with somebody else on it.

There are two ways to explore the archipelago. Either from the SEAL tented camp on the island of Wa Ale Kyunn - sallying out on kayaks or by motorised inflatable - or by liveaboard yacht. Whichever way, the scenery above and below the waves is breath-taking. Wild boar, civet cats, monkeys, buffalo and giant monitor lizards roam the interior of the larger islets, and there are rumours of tiger and elephant. The coral reefs in Mergui's plethora of dive sites are rich in marine life and unscarred by dynamiting or dragging anchors. And the cries of the blue herons, hornbills, sea eagles, kites and flashing green parakeets are the only noise to disturb this totally pacific island idyll.

On Land

One of the largest of Mergui's islands is the L-shaped Kyunn Tann Shey, better know by its English name of Lampi, just east of Wa Ale Kyunn. Recently declared a national park, it is uninhabited and strictly out of bounds to logging companies, be official corporations or otherwise. Other Island are little more than a speck on the map, perhaps a jagged rock or 

two piercing the surface or a strip of beach with a backdrop of trees that make an idyllic locale for a picnic lunch.

Others still are borders with mangroves swamps, where you can thread a kayak over and under the drooping boughs. Alone in a near silent tangle of vegetation, with only scuttling ground squirrels and crab-eating macaques, a snack curled high in the trees or an occasional call from green parakeets and great hornbills to remind you of other animal life. There are wider waterways too, headed by waterfalls and deep pools that are a tonic for weary muscles and backs after a morning spent propelling yourself atop a kayak.

One of the most interesting ports of call in Mergui is the Moken village of Majong Galat on Pulau Nala, which is also inhabited by local fisherman. Hardy and independent seafarers, the gypsies are curious, if a little shy, towards visitors. But after 50 years in isolation, they are still very welcoming. Majong Galat is a little more than a line of rough shanties, with a couple of shops selling basic necessities, a lean-to drinking shack or two, and a town hall cum monastery where the Buddhist abbot in charge of the village's day-to-day affairs lives in some splendour.

At Sea

Liveaboard yachts provide an even greater freedom to roam Mergui, with a cornucopia of divesites and sheltered bay to drop anchor for the night. Naturally there are will-appointed cabins, a dining room and accompanying washing facilities, but there is little to compare with dining on deck in the evening. While feeding off freshly-caught lobster, one recalls the day's events, swapping anecdotes with the crew and fellow passengers, all beneath a sky lit up by a plethora of dazzling asterisks, undiminished by anything so artificial as man-made light.

For many, Mergui's main appeal is its diving. The lack of pollution and human population combine to provide superb underwater visibility and an enormous variety of marine life to gaze at, so the list of what's on offer reads like the index from divemaster's handbook.

Soft corals and sea fans complement glorious coral gardens. Groups of goatfish shimmy between the rocks 

and over the coral substrate bottom, and veritable academies of checkerboard wrasse and small fish fry flit from outcrop to outcrop. Barracudas and small white tip reef sharks patrol constantly, and some of the more hair-raising dives - like "In Through The Out door" near Great Swinton Island - host caves that act as shark dormitories. Even non- qualified divers can enjoy the undersea smorgasbord, simply by donning a mask and snorkel and hopping over the side of the boat. Inevitably, one day Mergui will have five star "paradise resorts" and the Moken will be watching CNN. But until then, the archipelago is going to remain a diver's and explorer's Paradise.

 
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