Kanchanaburi or Yangon?

Neither is a beach destination, but a hot afternoon plays out differently in each. Kanchanaburi has fresh water to get into: the stepped, clear green pools below the Erawan falls, about an hour out of town, and the river itself, where guests at the floating guesthouses drift downstream with the current. The sea is a different matter. The Gulf of Thailand is more than three hours' travel away, so any time on the sand has to be its own leg of the trip.

Yangon offers nothing like that. Its broad, muddy river is no place to swim, so cooling off means a hotel pool. Its Bay of Bengal beaches at Chaung Tha and Ngwe Saung are a full day's drive away and need a few nights of their own rather than an excursion.

Yangon is the more rewarding place to eat. Burmese cooking is its own cuisine, and you can try it in the tea shops over mohinga, in fermented tea-leaf salad and in slow-cooked curries with their spread of side dishes. The Indian and Chinese quarters add biryani, dosa and the evening barbecue on 19th Street.

Kanchanaburi serves good, cheap provincial Thai food. Highlights are river fish such as snakehead eaten at sunset on a floating restaurant and grilled snacks at the night market by the station. Beyond that there is little range.

Yangon has much more to see. The gilded Shwedagon on its hill is one of the great religious sites of Asia, and around it are the Sule, Botataung and Chaukhtatgyi pagodas and a downtown of crumbling colonial landmarks such as the Secretariat and the Strand riverfront.

Kanchanaburi's sights all tell the story of the Thailand-Burma railway: the bridge you can walk across, the rows of Allied graves at the war cemetery and the Railway Centre. They make a sobering, worthwhile day rather than several.

Evenings are quiet and early in both cities, but they differ in style. Kanchanaburi has a short strip of backpacker bars with pool tables and cover bands, plus noisy Thai party rafts on weekends. Yangon's version is draught beer at open-fronted beer stations with football on the screens, skewers on 19th Street, and a few rooftop hotel bars and small clubs.

This is Kanchanaburi's strongest card. The town sits at the edge of the forested limestone hills along the Burmese border, with Erawan's waterfall trail about an hour away. Further out are the falls and caves of Sai Yok, boat trips on the reservoirs and bamboo rafting on the river.

Yangon lies on flat delta land, so its outdoors means Kandawgyi Lake's boardwalk, evening walks round Inya Lake, the park at Hlawga and a ferry ride across the river.

Kanchanaburi has more good excursions. The old railway runs north to Nam Tok, Hellfire Pass has its memorial trail, and the Khmer ruins of Prasat Muang Singh make a quieter outing. Nakhon Pathom's great chedi and the canal markets at Damnoen Saduak and Amphawa are also within reach.

From Yangon the clear choice is Bago, a former royal capital with a towering pagoda and a long reclining Buddha. Twante's pottery kilns and the island pagoda at Kyauktan are smaller outings, and the Golden Rock really needs a night away.

Kanchanaburi is the better bet with children, thanks to its outdoor side: the Erawan pools, the slow train over the trestles, a night in a raft house and the safari park outside town. The war cemeteries will mean little to young children, and most outings need a minivan.

Yangon is harder going. Its heat, broken pavements and chaotic traffic come with only an old zoo, a small amusement park and the lawns of People's Park. It suits older children who like temples and markets.

Both are awkward in different ways. Kanchanaburi stretches for several kilometres along the river, so most visitors cycle, rent a scooter or join tours, and buses to the national parks are sparse. Yangon's colonial grid can be walked despite the uneven pavements, cheap taxis cover the rest in heavy traffic, and with motorbikes kept out of the centre the streets are calmer than you might expect.

Yangon has the one real shopping experience of the pair: Bogyoke Aung San Market, a colonial market hall full of lacquerware from Bagan, jade, puppets and longyi cloth, with Chinatown and the Indian quarter for spices.

Kanchanaburi has a night market, souvenir stalls by the bridge and a few shops selling the province's blue sapphires, and that is about all.

Both are cheap, but Kanchanaburi goes further. Riverside raft rooms cost very little and the local train is almost free, though park entry fees for foreigners, private drivers and tours add up.

Yangon's tea shops, street noodles and taxis are just as easy on the wallet. Its comfortable international hotels, however, cost more than the rest of a stay would suggest, and the Shwedagon charges foreigners for entry.

Stage life is thin in both, but Yangon has a little more to offer. There are small marionette performances, evening shows of classical Burmese dance by Kandawgyi Lake and, if you are lucky, an all-night zat pwe at a pagoda festival. In Kanchanaburi the one occasion worth planning around is River Kwai Bridge Week, with its sound-and-light show and fireworks restaging the wartime bombing of the bridge.

Kanchanaburi is the easier place to slow down. Raft houses and resorts on the upper River Kwai offer hammocks over the water facing the jungle, Thai massage is everywhere, and the small hot springs at Hin Dat make a soak on the way to the hills.

Yangon's calm comes in pockets: firm Burmese massage, dawn at the Shwedagon and the long-established Mahasi centre, where foreigners can join vipassana meditation. Outside those, the city is loud and congested.