HOUSE OF THE WEEK
Extravagance in Hlaing Tharyar
WITHIN Yangon’s many townships, Hlaing Tharyar has one clear advantage above most of the others – an abundance of cheap land. more
The World departs Myanmar for India
(Volume 26, No. 515)
A CRUISE ship carrying 99 passengers and 260 crew was due to depart Ngapali Beach for Port Blair in India’s Andaman Islands late on March 20 after spending 10 days in Myanmar.
The World, a 196.35-metre US-based luxury cruise ship, arrived in Kawthoung on March 11 before travelling to Yangon and Ngapali.
While in Kawthoung, guests visited Philar and Lampi islands and held a private party on one of the islands, a spokesperson from Myanmar Voyages International Tourism Company said on March 17.
“Our company arranged the ground tours in Yangon to Bago, Bagan, Mandalay, and Inle Lake. Guests could choose which tour they wanted to go on,” he said.
“The ship left Yangon at 2pm on March 18 and sailed to Ngapali. It’s the first time The World has visited Ngapali.”
He said the cruise was to depart the beach shortly before midnight on March 20.
“The guests are leisure and business travellers. Most are American, but there are also some other nationalities on board.”
News media were not permitted to speak to pass-engers for “privacy” reasons.
“These visitors wanted to have their privacy and that’s why we did not allow them to meet any media for inter-views while in Myanmar.”
