Dala Ferry
Dala Ferry
3
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3.0
66 reviews
Excellent
8
Very good
15
Average
15
Poor
10
Terrible
18
xentrixx
1 contribution
Oct 2019 • Solo
If you are thinking of taking a trip to Dalah village, please read before a following story which happened to me this week. Not taking the Lonely Planet's warning of trickshaw drivers seriously enough, I followed a young lady who approached me on the pier, offering ferry tickets. I paid 4000 kyats and signed some tourist book. Then she gave my ticket to a humble looking young guy who went with me on the boat. Although he was trying to come across as a nice person, the fact he was crossing the river with me, still keeping my ticket, was highly suspicious. But still I thought that I would somehow figure it out when I reach the shore. Alas, I didn't. To my bad luck, it started raining heavily so I didn't have other choice than follow my "guide" to a place which turned out to be a trickshaw parking lot. They offered me a tour around the area for 7000 kyats/ 30 minutes. I accepted even I already felt that it wouldn't be like that in the end. We set off, my "guide" was still with me, sitting on a second trickshaw which was riding in front of us. In this moment, I realized that the final price would be very likely doubled, but it was too late to leave and the rain was really strong. Therefore, I decided to finish the tour as soon as possible, counting the minutes since. Subsequently, we visited a dark and not very nice temple, some greasy spoon and a village with cemetery, reportedly hit by a typhoon. And then came the peak of the performance - an attempt to persuade a gullible tourist to buy a bag of rice for poor kids from the willage. The scenario is as follows - the "guide" takes you to a gloomy store where bags of rice are piled up. The price of one bag is around 85.000 kyats. To support the "donation" story, one bag is bearing an inscription with name , Ireland, and a picture of heart. The whole thing is - expectedly - based on the emotional extortion. Nevertheless, I resisted and didn't buy anything. Then, I asked the "guide" to take me back to the pier. There on the trickshaw parking lot I met a young lady, reportedly the owner of trickshaws. First, she tried to extent my tour for thirty minutes more that I indeed had done. When I was arguing that it had took only one and half hour, she finally set the price for 28.000 kyats. When passing her the money, she added that it was only for one trickshaw and that I had to pay also for the second one. I expected it but still I tried to argue with her, telling her that nobody had told me that before. Smiling, she slightly rebuked the "guide" for it and that was all. There was no point to discuss it anymore, so I and the "guide" returned to Yangon. On the way, he didn't talk at all, maybe feeling sorry for this kind of "business". But the story didn't end - after getting back to the city, I was approached by a young chubby Indian looking guy, who demanded another 25.000 kyats for the "guide". This made me angry, so we started arguing. I openly told the guy that it had been a scam which made him aggressive. He was yelling, but being 191cm/97kg I wasn' t scarred and I was ready to punch his face right after he'd try to touch me or impede me to leave, regardless I was alone and only tourist there at the moment. But when I was about to leave, the "guide" very politely asked me for 10000 kyats which made me sorry for him so finally I gave him the money. I know that all the above mentioned money is just a chicken feed which doesn' t ruin any tourist, but it is a matter of principle. Such behaviour may spoil otherwise a great reputation the people of Myanmar have in terms of relationship to foreigners.
Written 30 October 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
firach
Hong Kong, China60 contributions
Apr 2018 • Friends
I see charging foreigners more as a way to contribute to the local economy, so I do not mind paying more for the ferry ride. A local guy had volunteered to tour us when we get to the other side for 5000kyat, and my friend and I declined as we wanted to walk. Having crossed the river though, it was quite hot in the middle of the day and another guy offered to tour us on his rickshaw - 2 people for 4500kyat/half hour. We confirmed the price and agreed. He had good English and explained to us many sites in the local villages, about how they were struck badly by the Cyclone Nargis and the tour went on longer and longer. Around 25 minutes into the tour we asked to return to the pier, and he just kept going and explaining about the villagers' suffering again. Finally after 45mins he brought us back to the pier, and told us to pay 4500kyat PER PERSON PER 15 minutes. We were outraged and did not pay, and he started coughing and saying he was sick, and when we gave him 10000kyat for an hour's ride worth, he did not accept our money. Yet when we walked away then, he came back and asked for 20000kyat. Finally, we gave 15000kyat, but it was a pity that they were not honest and even tried to pretend to be sick to get sympathy. Would recommend avoiding the rickshaws and just walk.
Written 4 April 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
FyingKiwi
Christchurch, New Zealand1,132 contributions
Dec 2016 • Solo
In a country that clearly attempts to encourage its population to be hospitable to foreigners, it is greatly disappointing to find at least one scam operating. It appears that ticket sellers will not sell tickets to foreigners who are otherwise directed to another office. Here you are appraised (going by the attention paid to you by the man behind the desk), for how much (it seems), you can be fleeced. You are then quoted an exorbitant price for the return journey, and advised that you will need a guide (who is introduced to you). The guide comes at an additional cost, which while they say as much as you are willing to pay, will not accept anything less than 10,000 Kyats. You are then taken across (by ferry) to Dallah, where you are told by the guide you need to hire a taxi. At this point I walked off and returned to the ferry (thankfully I had my ticket}. I do not mind paying a higher price for a ferry ticket across (although I disagree that we should), but very much dislike how you are led to believe extras are additionally required.
Written 31 December 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Cameron S
Castle Rock, CO668 contributions
Dec 2019
Foreigners are required to pay an inflated price for a ticket, and the ferry terminal on the Yangon side is full of touts and 'tourist guides'. After 30 minutes, my common sense told me to skip this activity..., after reading the reviews, I am glad I didn't do it!
Written 16 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Stefano S
Savona, Italy7 contributions
Jan 2020 • Couples
Avoid at all costs! As written in many sites It’s a scam! At the Pier there Is a polite guy looks like an indian guy Who sells boat ticket sorrounded by fake guides Who want only cheat you. There Is nothing to see overthere. Fake guides Will try to come with you saying that they only want to improve their english and in dala you Will be forced to rent rickshaws for 4.500 kyat 30 minuts.
I have been travelling around Asia for years and i have never seen something like that.
Don't go there It s a waste of Money and time
I have been travelling around Asia for years and i have never seen something like that.
Don't go there It s a waste of Money and time
Written 15 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Peter F
Kuching, Malaysia19 contributions
Mar 2018 • Couples
Be warned, don't take the ferry to Dala! The whole operation is a well organized Mafia to simply rob tourists of their money. We wanted to see "real life" away from the tourist tours and have been advised to visit Dala.
When we arrived at the Ferry Jetty, we were not able to purchase normal tickets at 300 Kyat (about US$ 0.22) since we were tourists but had to purchase them at a "special tourist counter". There we have been shown a framed "certificate", stating that for foreigners the return fare was 5000 Kyat (about $ 3.70) and it was compulsory to hire a local guide. When asked about the price for the "compulsory guide", a man who called himself Coco said, we can pay whatever we want. We agreed on a price of 10'000 Kyat (about € 7.50). To put these prices into perspective, a half hour 12km taxi ride cost us 3000 Kyat (about US$ 2.25).
While finally crossing on the ferry to Dala, our "guide" Coco could not stop to feed us,in very poor English, a lot of meaningless information such as Japanese tourists would not have to pay fares because the ferry was built in Japan and so on. Once we reached Dala after about 10 Minutes, Coco called 3 Tricycles to show us around Dala. We were pedaled through what looks like one gigantic stinking rubbish dump to several "Beauty Salons", a half dried out creek and a what they called "road" under construction and a dilapidated Pagoda,. Nothing to be seen. As a "highlight" of the tour, they wanted us to visit the market. What we have seen there made us freak out completely. Never in my life have I seen such a filthy place and we have been afraid to get food poisoning just from looking at the food. The whole place was was stinking, filthy, dirty and crawling with thousands of gigantic Cockroaches, on the floor, on the walls and all over the food! They even crawled up our legs and went inside our trousers. It was like being in a Horror Movie.
We quickly asked the to take us back to the jetty. But instead of taking us to the jetty, they took us to a remote place and demanded 3 x 36'000 Kyat plus the fee for the guide and the ferry tickets, a total of 128'000 Kyat (nearly US$ 100.00). Please note that this is more than one weeks wages for a well trained waiter with good English literacy in a high class restaurant in Yangon. This was outrageous as we agreed on 10'000 Kyat before. But they insisted on the 118'000 Kyat and became quite aggressive. I never carry much cash on me when traveling I only had 60'000 Kiat and told them so. They then "offered" to take us to an ATM. Since I thought that it was quite unthinkable to find a ATM in this area, I gave them the 60'000 I had in my wallet and we ran off. They followed us but we were lucky to be able to disappear quickly into a large crowd of people and board the ferry back to Yangon.
Luckily I always keep some money hidden in an secret place and so we still had enough to pay for our taxi back to the hotel.
Back at the hotel we discovered that out bodies were full of flea bites and even found lice in our hair. My wife developed a rash on her neck that became so bad, we had to seek medical attention.
We are not exactly fainthearted and I live and have been working in Asia for almost 15 years. Therefore I know that hygienic standards are not as high as in Europe or the US. But this place is the worst I have ever seen before and somehow tainted our favorable impression of the generally friendly and polite Yangon people.
When we arrived at the Ferry Jetty, we were not able to purchase normal tickets at 300 Kyat (about US$ 0.22) since we were tourists but had to purchase them at a "special tourist counter". There we have been shown a framed "certificate", stating that for foreigners the return fare was 5000 Kyat (about $ 3.70) and it was compulsory to hire a local guide. When asked about the price for the "compulsory guide", a man who called himself Coco said, we can pay whatever we want. We agreed on a price of 10'000 Kyat (about € 7.50). To put these prices into perspective, a half hour 12km taxi ride cost us 3000 Kyat (about US$ 2.25).
While finally crossing on the ferry to Dala, our "guide" Coco could not stop to feed us,in very poor English, a lot of meaningless information such as Japanese tourists would not have to pay fares because the ferry was built in Japan and so on. Once we reached Dala after about 10 Minutes, Coco called 3 Tricycles to show us around Dala. We were pedaled through what looks like one gigantic stinking rubbish dump to several "Beauty Salons", a half dried out creek and a what they called "road" under construction and a dilapidated Pagoda,. Nothing to be seen. As a "highlight" of the tour, they wanted us to visit the market. What we have seen there made us freak out completely. Never in my life have I seen such a filthy place and we have been afraid to get food poisoning just from looking at the food. The whole place was was stinking, filthy, dirty and crawling with thousands of gigantic Cockroaches, on the floor, on the walls and all over the food! They even crawled up our legs and went inside our trousers. It was like being in a Horror Movie.
We quickly asked the to take us back to the jetty. But instead of taking us to the jetty, they took us to a remote place and demanded 3 x 36'000 Kyat plus the fee for the guide and the ferry tickets, a total of 128'000 Kyat (nearly US$ 100.00). Please note that this is more than one weeks wages for a well trained waiter with good English literacy in a high class restaurant in Yangon. This was outrageous as we agreed on 10'000 Kyat before. But they insisted on the 118'000 Kyat and became quite aggressive. I never carry much cash on me when traveling I only had 60'000 Kiat and told them so. They then "offered" to take us to an ATM. Since I thought that it was quite unthinkable to find a ATM in this area, I gave them the 60'000 I had in my wallet and we ran off. They followed us but we were lucky to be able to disappear quickly into a large crowd of people and board the ferry back to Yangon.
Luckily I always keep some money hidden in an secret place and so we still had enough to pay for our taxi back to the hotel.
Back at the hotel we discovered that out bodies were full of flea bites and even found lice in our hair. My wife developed a rash on her neck that became so bad, we had to seek medical attention.
We are not exactly fainthearted and I live and have been working in Asia for almost 15 years. Therefore I know that hygienic standards are not as high as in Europe or the US. But this place is the worst I have ever seen before and somehow tainted our favorable impression of the generally friendly and polite Yangon people.
Written 5 April 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
tilong
Dubai, United Arab Emirates383 contributions
Aug 2019 • Friends
Please avoid if you can. Absolutely nothing to see or do in Dalha. As foreigners you'll be scammed every 2 minutes. Between the tuk tuk ride (mine went from 10000 an hour to 5000) and the donations for the tsunami village, the orphanage and the bag of rice for children. I asked for 3 hours but asked to go back to the boat after only 30 minutes.
The temples are not looked after and the whole place is extremely filthy. Not the skeamish type but that was overwhelming.
The temples are not looked after and the whole place is extremely filthy. Not the skeamish type but that was overwhelming.
Written 16 August 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
davidchak
Sofia, Bulgaria54 contributions
July 2017 • Solo
Locals pay 300 kyat and foreigners pay 4000 kyat for return fares.
This ferry sails across to the dala township, which is considered to be a slum area in Yangon standards. I think the experience on this ferry vary depending on how you "look"
I am an Asian and I was wearing a longyi that day. There's nothing "touristy" about me except for the fact that I just smile and wave my hand whenever the vendors try to sell me something on the boat.
It was a very interesting experience to be on the ferry and an even more interesting experience once you crossed the river to Dala side. I was fortunate enough to have hired a guide (which by the way, is an amazing person! Let me know if you want his contact) prior to boarding the ferry.
However, all in all, like i mentioned earlier, my experience is more pleasant probably because I blended in with my longyis and my skin colour.
Once we crossed the river, my guide brought me to a school in the monastery - there wasn't any pressure for me to give donation or whatsoever. It's a very saddening sight to see that these children are in the monastery school instead of public school because of poverty. After that, he brought me around the neighbourhoods in Dala, and explained to me about the situations there, and the last stop of the trip was at the local ferry terminal (or as he said, the bamboo village).
It was a very solemn experience to see the effects of poverty and at the sametime, the resillence of thre people, but unlike what i've read online about going to Dala, the people I met there were very genuine.
It is also interesting to note that as far as I can tell, I am probably the only non-local there on the island, and I didn't get any "extra" attention from the people there.
This ferry sails across to the dala township, which is considered to be a slum area in Yangon standards. I think the experience on this ferry vary depending on how you "look"
I am an Asian and I was wearing a longyi that day. There's nothing "touristy" about me except for the fact that I just smile and wave my hand whenever the vendors try to sell me something on the boat.
It was a very interesting experience to be on the ferry and an even more interesting experience once you crossed the river to Dala side. I was fortunate enough to have hired a guide (which by the way, is an amazing person! Let me know if you want his contact) prior to boarding the ferry.
However, all in all, like i mentioned earlier, my experience is more pleasant probably because I blended in with my longyis and my skin colour.
Once we crossed the river, my guide brought me to a school in the monastery - there wasn't any pressure for me to give donation or whatsoever. It's a very saddening sight to see that these children are in the monastery school instead of public school because of poverty. After that, he brought me around the neighbourhoods in Dala, and explained to me about the situations there, and the last stop of the trip was at the local ferry terminal (or as he said, the bamboo village).
It was a very solemn experience to see the effects of poverty and at the sametime, the resillence of thre people, but unlike what i've read online about going to Dala, the people I met there were very genuine.
It is also interesting to note that as far as I can tell, I am probably the only non-local there on the island, and I didn't get any "extra" attention from the people there.
Written 1 July 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ib0sh0w
London, UK95 contributions
Dec 2019 • Solo
I was advised by my tour rep from the night market tour to go with him but I didn't have the time to Waite for him. As soon as I got to the ferry I was approached by a young fella who spoke dubiously good English, I saw it coming a mile away. He got us two taxi motorcycle we got one each sat on the back, he took me to some not so great pogodas, and he took me to the interesting parts that I wanted to see, real locals living in poverty, tiny huts no shoes. Kids dogs everywhere, it looks sad, taking water out of a dirty looking small lake. There's some sort of charity thing where you buy a sack of rice and they give it to the locals, I said I will buy half for £20! This is not compulsory you can just say no thanks. apparently this gets donated to local community!! I have no way of confirming. I just hope it does these people have no shoes. At the end we got back to the harbour just over an hour. I said how much for the bikes! They said 30,000kyt whatever, after some fake haggling on my part I gave them the money. Went towards the boat and said to the young dude who showed me around how much do you want he said what do you wanna give I said 10000 he said 20k, after some more fake haggling on my part I gave him the 20k.
In total the whole thing cost me around £50 with the donated rice money.
It was an amazing experience and well worth it. Even if I was ripped off. The reality is if your a local and you know what your doing bla bla you could get it done for £5. I was only there for 3 days and in my opinion it was well worth seeing, bottom line is I went in knowing they were gonna rip me off, £50 is not a bad rip off considering I did actually get to see what I wanted to within 2 hours.
In total the whole thing cost me around £50 with the donated rice money.
It was an amazing experience and well worth it. Even if I was ripped off. The reality is if your a local and you know what your doing bla bla you could get it done for £5. I was only there for 3 days and in my opinion it was well worth seeing, bottom line is I went in knowing they were gonna rip me off, £50 is not a bad rip off considering I did actually get to see what I wanted to within 2 hours.
Written 13 December 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
TravellingSidjulsey
London, UK93 contributions
Nov 2019 • Couples
Be warned it is one big SCAM from as soon you buy the ticket, we only walked 5 minutes the other side of the river with so much hassle trying to rip you off! We got straight back on the same boat again..
Written 28 November 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
What time is the last ferry from Dala back to Botahtaung
Written 9 February 2019
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