Mon State Travel

Best time to visit

As with much of the rest of Myanmar, November to April is the high season for visiting the Mon State. December to February offers the most beautiful and comfortable weather conditions. 

It is uncomfortable to travel from June to September because it is sometimes very hot and sometimes raining heavily during these months.

Check the below table for the general idea of Mon State weather throughout the year.

Mon State’s current weather and 7-day forecast

MON STATE WEATHER

Visit the pagodas

Mon has several pagodas of extreme importance. The Kyaiktiyo Pagoda or the Golden Rock Pagoda is the most important and visited by pilgrims all over the world. Other important pagodas include Kyaik Paw Law Pagoda, Shwe Sar Yan Pagoda, Win Sein Taw Ya Pagoda and Kyauktalone Taung Pagoda.

Explore the cities

Mon State has several cities worth a visit. Mawlamyine is the third largest city of Myanmar, an erstwhile capital of the British empire. The Kyaik Than Lan Pagoda is a popular landmark in the town, built in 875 AD. Another city to visit is Thaton, a town located between two rivers. Filled with an interesting history, Thaton is an old town where you can see the remnants of the palace.

Relax at the beach

One of the most beautiful beaches of Myanmar, Setse Beach is located in Mon State. It is a wide brown beach overlooking the Bay of Bengal. It takes about an hour and a half to reach Setse Beach from Mawlamyine. You can plan a day trip and relax at the beach.

Travel to the island

Having an extensive coastline, Mon not only has beaches but features several islands as well. You can hire a boat to visit these islands. Bilu Island is one of the primary ones to visit, being a centre of Mon culture. There are about 60 villages inhabited by the Mon people. Another island worth a visit is Gaugsay Kyin Island, located quite close to Mawlamyine. It is a good picnic spot, ideal to spend a lazy day.

Thingyan Hta-Min

Mon state Thingyan Rice (known as Thingyan Hta-Min in Burmese) is the traditional Mon dish and the most popular dish of the Mon State. It is a bit tricky to cook. The rice is infused with wax extracted from burning candle and eats together with the fried salted fish and mango salad. The salted fish is fried with onions and sour mangos. Although it is popular as a Thingyan traditional food, the people from Mon State eat not only as a breakfast but also as a snack/light food at any time.

Kyaikhtiyo Pagoda Festival

The Kyaikhtiyo Pagoda Festival is an exceptional celebration of lights festivity. On the Full Moon Day of Thadingyut, local people offer the lighting of 9000 candles and 9000 blooms to the Buddha. On the following morning, rice, desserts and different tidbits are offered. Kyaikhtiyo is a residential area in Mon State, Myanmar, celebrated for its Kyaikhtiyo Pagoda or Golden Rock – a most loved goal for voyagers. Explorers from close and far come to visit this place, as they considered Kyaikhtiyo as a holy place like different pagodas in Myanmar. Located on the slope of a similar name on the edge amongst Sittaung and Thanlwin, this pagoda is around 18 feet tall and based on an immense stone around 50 feet circumference, makes anybody shocked in the main observe on the grounds that the rock is adjusting unstably on the edge of 18ft high shake and isolated from the mountain edge by a profound gap more than 1100m over the ocean level.

It is difficult to know about how the stone keep its adjustment, however it has been there for a long time. Individuals trust that the chose rock and keeping it adjust having a place with the heavenly energy of the Buddha: only a hair of Buddha can likewise keep this extremely immense stone a large number of years. It is impressive big name and pulls in hordes of admirers every year starting from October to March which is the regular journey time frame for admirers Especially on the full moon day of Tabaung, the stage of the pagoda is lit with ninety thousand candles offered to the Buddha and a great many admirers assemble around the pagoda offering organic products, nourishments incense to the Buddha. In some cases reflected beams of shading from the Buddha's picture were said to have been seen by the admirers.

Mawlamyine (capital of Mon State) is easy accessible by air, by train, by car/bus or by boat.

By air

The most convenient way is to fly from Yangon to Mawlamyine. There are regular flights from Yangon to Mawlamyine airport. Moreover, daily flights are also flying from Mae Sot, the province of Thailand. You can use motorcycle, pickup truck and bus as a taxi to the city center from the airport and which are available at the entrance of the airport.

Contact us for the latest flight schedule and price. Or you can check via some online platform such as SkyScanner.com or Kayak.com

Here you can find some tips to book the cheapest flight

By Train

Traveling by train is also popular among visitors. It can enjoy the breathtaking views along the way but it takes few more hours to get to there. The railway starts from Yangon and heads to Mawlamyine, Ye and Dawei.

By car

You can go there by car from Yangon - Mawlamyine highway route, Mawlamyine - Kawkareik - Myawaddy - Mae Sot route and the three pagodas route from Thanbyuzayat. These are the most common way among visitors. There are highway buses from Yangon, Mawlamyine to Hpa An, Myawaddy and other towns.

By boat

Mawlamyine is connected to Hpa An by boat, although the journey can be more costly than a bus or train ride. Several operators operate boats in this route.