Moeyungyi Wetland

Moeyungyi was built as an irrigation reservoir in the early twentieth century and became a Ramsar site because of what winters on it. From November the shallow water fills with ducks, jacanas, egrets, storks and waders in numbers, and a flat-bottomed boat poled through the reed channels gets you in among them. It is the most accessible serious birding site in the country, close enough to Yangon for a very early start and back the same day, and quiet enough that few visitors are ever there.

What you actually see

• The waterbird concentrations - ducks, jacanas, egrets and storks in numbers from November.
• The reed channels - poled boat routes through the vegetation rather than open water.
• The open water - a broad shallow reservoir with fishing platforms and stilt huts.
• The observation tower - a platform at the visitor area giving the whole wetland at once.

When to go

November to February is the season; outside it the birds disperse and the water level drops. First light is when the wetland is most active and the light is best. Boats are arranged at the jetty and take an hour or two.

Honest expectations

Facilities are basic and the accommodation on site is very simple. Boats are poled and slow, and there is no shade on the water, so a hat matters more than binoculars. Outside the winter months there is genuinely little to see.

Nearby

Bago is about an hour south, and Yangon is a long two hours further.