The name Gawrangyi Kyuun ေဂၚရန္ဂ ်ီက ်ြန္း is a very strange one because Gawrangyiေဂၚရန္ဂ
်ီ is the name of an Indian tribe that came to work in Myanmar during the colonial times. My friends do not know exactly from where and what type of Indian they are. There were many groups of Indians at the time: the Ponnas, soothsayers of high caste who settled in Myanmar since ancient times and were advisors to Myanmar Kings; Tamils who came from Tamil Nadu and is the most populous group of Indians in Myanmar nowadays; Bengalis who were from Bengal and the 2nd most populous group; the Chittee / Chettier, well known, who were money lenders; Moguls, northern Indians whose were the ruling classs of the last Indian dynasty, Aryans from further West, maybe Iran,the Punjabis from Punjab, the Sikhs, also from the northwest India, the Khawtaws (now called Bengalis) from the land that is now Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan. I suspect the Gawrangyi to be another name for the Tamils. Did Gawrangyis live on the Gawrangyi kyuun? If so, where are they now? There are no Gawrangyis on Gawrangyi Kyuun nowadays!
The Kyuun is also a misnomer nowadays as it means island. Although up to around 1970 Gawrangyi Kyuun was an island and coastal boats passed through the waterway, but since around then a sand bar developed and it became a peninsular. But the name, both Gawrangyi and Kyuun persists.
As Gawrangyi Kyuun is the part around Ngayokekaung that protrudes into the sea, boats would have to avoid it or boats in trouble would land there to ask for help. Maybe a boat of Gawrangyis were stranded on its beaches on their way to Rangoon to find their wealth as Myanmars nowadays leave home and go abroad to find theirs.
The land bridge that now connects the Gawrangyi kyuun to the mainland
I heard of the Gawrangyi kyuun only recently. It has become popular only for about 2 years since a new road was built to Ngayokekaung. Previously Ngayokekaung and Gawrangyi Kyuun had only boat travel by sea available.
Even now, the Ngayokekaung road from the Ngayokekaung hill on the Pathein – Maw Tin road to Ngayokekaung is still a bad all weather rock road which is being cemented in certain places. However, the road to Gawrangyi Kyuun from that road along a circuitous road along the upper streams is a very bad dirt road that is not passable after the rains until it has become dry and should only be driven by 4 wheel drive off road vehicles and other high axle cars.
Although getting there is difficult, it is popular not only because of the clear waters, good beaches and beautiful rocks, but also because it is still in the virgin stage, unspoiled and with few visitors on the clear beaches where one feels like being at a private beach on an isolated remote island.
The following are photos of the Kyway Gyaing near Gawrangyi Kyun
In a few years, the road will be better and more will visit, spoiling it.
The road map to Ngayokekaung.
One can drive or take a bus to Ngayokekaung and then transfer to Gawrangyi Kyun from there with motorcycle rides and a ferry.
We went along with the Royal Ruby group and the trip left Yangon at night time. We were collected near our home at 7:30 pm but after taking on another group and waiting for the big bus, finally left Yangon Hlaingtharyar only at 9:30 pm after filling up.
I woke up at a stop near the Nyaungdon bridge in Pantanaw township and had coffee.
Beyond that, I woke up again at the Ngayokekaung hill stop and had mohingha early before dawn.
There were interesting posters and sights at the Ngayokekaung hill.
We went ahead on the road to Ngayokekaung and soon dawn came.
However, it was still dark on the road.
Daylight came in time.
Soon, we reached the Kyway Gyaing
The Kyway Gyaing village road
I had a quick dip in the sea before lunch was ready.
On the beach were …
…crab boles and footprints
crab holes
beached tree stump
The beach was deserted most of the time
The south side of the Kyein Gyaing ၾကိမ္ခ ်ိဳင္
Kyein Gyaing beach front.
Gawrangyi Kyun at far north
Double room beach front bungalows where we stayed
Dining room and the FOC tubes for guests
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The next morning we went for a walk to the north end of the Kyway Gyaing where there are rocks.
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Tags: infotainment, Myanmar, Travel
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