Bilu Island

Bilu Kyun means ogre island, and it is a large flat island of rice fields and rubber in the mouth of the Thanlwin, with something like seventy villages on it. What makes it worth a day is that the villages specialise: one makes writing slates and slate pencils, another wooden smoking pipes, another rubber bands cut from sheet, another coconut-shell ladles, another walking sticks. Everything is done by hand in yards and open sheds, and a circuit of the island takes in several of them in a morning.

What to look for

• The slate village - school writing slates and pencils cut and framed by hand.
• The pipe makers - wooden smoking pipes turned and finished in open workshops.
• The rubber band cutters - sheet rubber cut into bands, an unlikely thing to watch and oddly compelling.
• The coconut workshops - ladles, spoons and bowls made from shell and wood.

When to go

November to February is dry and the roads on the island are easy. The monsoon makes the tracks difficult and the ferry crossing rough. Workshops run in the mornings and often stop by early afternoon.

Practical notes

There is no signage and no tourist infrastructure: a guide or a driver from Mawlamyine who knows which village does what is close to essential. Roads are rough and distances add up. These are homes and workshops, so asking before photographing matters.

Nearby

Mawlamyine is across the water, and Mudon and Win Sein Taw Ya are south on the mainland.