Irrawaddy

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Day 2...Day 3...Day 4...Day 5...Day 6...Day 7...Day 8...Day 9...Day 10

We joined our ship, the Scenic Aura, somewhere just outside of Mandalay which is pretty much dead centre in the picture below. The cruise ended a few hours (by bus) north of Yangon shown as Rangoon in the picture below. This must be an old map although the country is referred to as Myanmar and not Burma. The length of the river cruse was 334 miles or 534 km.

In Mandalay we picked up another 10 passengers (maybe it was more don't remember) and most of them are shown in the pic below. The guy taking a picture of me is Mark Orwoll a professional travel writer. I'm still waiting for his article to appear in one of the travel mags. Pretty much all old farts like me. Mostly all good folks though.

The guy with the LANAI hat at the left of the picture below was a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam war. I didn't get to talk to him about it so I don't know if he was shooting people from the helicopter or evacuating wounded soldiers. Maybe he was just bringing cold beer to the generals miles behind the war zone.

You meet some interesting characters on cruises. The guy with the black hat in the picture below (in front of Yi Mon) is Ken Hammond. He is a university professor in Las Cruces, New Mexico and he was on this cruise on behalf of National Geographic. Apparently they are teaming up with Scenic on certain cruises. He is an "expert" in certain Asian cultures and he was here to provide lectures explaining what we were seeing. An interesting guy. He was also one of the leaders of the Kent University (Ohio) chapter of Students for a Democratic Society. And we all remember what happened on May 4, 1970 at the university. He was there for that event.

These are what greeted us the afternoon we boarded the Scenic Aura.

A new ship under construction. The walls are being constructed of cinder blocks - very strange considering how low the water is in the river. Our ship got hung up on sand banks many times and the river wasn't even at its lowest point yet.

Many people live in tents along the riverside. No running water, get your bath in the river, no internet and no TV. There's probably a huge golden Buddha just behind the trees though. Who knows where the outhouse is.

A couple fancy river boats.

Day 2

Our first full day on the river cruise we visited a small community that is trying to survive by becoming a tourist stop. The first leg of the journey was by bus and on the way we saw some interesting things.

The truck below is one way things are moved around in Myanmar - pretty primitive but it gets the job done.

There is nothing fancy about the interior.

Another way they move stuff around

A motorcycle converted into a hauler. The driver was totally enclosed by his cargo - I don't know how he'd make a turn.

The village we visited was called Hsithe. Pronounced Seeth I think (rhymes with teeth). At some point we left the bus and we took a few river boats to the village.

This is some of us arriving at their dock...just steps cut into the bank. I imagine the river's rising and falling every year prevents a permanent dock from being built. Some of the folks who walked with canes or who were waiting for hip / knee transplants had a little trouble with these hills but there were always people there to assist.

We were shown how the villagers lived and made a living. The gal below is making a fishing net.

This gal is making HUGE cigarettes.

They live in these primitive looking shacks but note the satellite dish in the middle of the photo.

Even if you have to go to an outhouse ...

and do a squatty job...

you still need to have your television.

The shot below was a schoolroom. What's interesting is the subject...they are studying electrical circuits. Look closely at the blackboard. Zoom in. I guess they need someone who can fix the TVs and satellite receivers when they break.

And here's a typical kitchen stove.

And boys in Myanmar want a pet just like anywhere else in the world. And this is a useful pet that you can eat if you need to.

Here's the entire gang again. We were given a lesson in throwing fishing nets in a grassy field.

On the way back to join the Scenic Aura we boarded the ship shown below. It was a nice two hour leisurely ride down the Irrawaddy.

Terri sitting with Konstantin and Marina enjoying the afternoon sun. Our other friend Ian to the right.

The highlight of the trip to Hsithe for me was this chicken mom and her babies.

Day 3

Day three is a busy day - we start at a ancient, half-built pagoda. It's quite large as can be seen by the people in front of it. It would have been very impressive if it was ever finished.

Now it's too unsafe to climb on.

There are some parts that are available to the public though. Our friends Konstantin and Marina

Three young nuns we met at the unfinished pagoda. They seemed friendly enough - as did most of the people of Myanmar.

Next we visited a finished and operating pagoda.

And apparently the Buddhists look after the old people - I've already sent in my application.

In the afternoon we visited a "nunnery" and gave the nuns a bunch of cheap crap. Apparently this is done once per cruise at this place. I'm not sure how many sippy cups and clothes hangers a nun needs. I'm betting after the tourists have gone away they collect all the crap up and sell it back to Scenic only to be given it back again in two weeks time with a different cruise. Just a guess though.

They pretended to be happy to get this junk.

After the gifts they seemed pretty sombre though. I think they were hoping for some better stuff this time.

A short video of how it went.

And then they sang us a catchy song after to thank us. What a great life! to be a nun in Myanmar!!!

In the evening we visited a special place to view the sundown and have champagne.

So the pics that follow are just of some of the people we met on this trip. Ian, good Assie that he is, would rather have beer than champagne.

Our guide Yi Mon.

A couple brits David and Daphne???

Konstantin and Marina

Day 4

Day 4 was a slow day - we took a bus to an ancient site where there are many Buddhas in caves. These people are nutty about Buddha.

So just a bunch of pictures from that place.

There was a heard of monkeys living there. I think that was the best part of the day for me.

There were gobs and gobs of these holes in the rock where statues of Buddha were kept.

And you would think that at some point they could have decided what he looked like.

The only thing consistent is the long droopy earlobes.

Apparently these caves have been here since 1400 AD

We met a couple nuns here and gave them a little money.

and got a smile in return.

Day 5

On our fifth day we visited the town of Yandabo where just about everyone works at making pottery.

They do it right inside their houses.

This gal shows how it's done.

And this gal finishes the pots. Can you imagine sitting like that all day with your back straight and your legs sticking straight out.

The tools.

Lots and lots of pots.

The pots are fired in a huge pile of sand and straw.

Everybody is involved.

And at the end of the day they watch satellite TV.

Scenic, the company we were travelling with, built these new toilets for the village to use.

Prior to that the villagers used toilets like these.

And Bessie the legless pig.

Day 6

Day 6 was a pretty full day. We were in Bagan and eight of our group decided to do the optional balloon ride. We had to get up at 5:00 AM so we needed to behave the night before. Then we went to a Wildlife Sanctuary where all they had was turtles. Later in the day we visited another bloody pagoda or shrine or something.

The four gals in our group. Terri on the left Marina on the right and I'll be damned if I can remember the two in the middle. I'll just call them Edith and Myrtle.

The balloons startout flat on the ground and then they inflate them as shown below.

The guy below was our driver. I don't think he'd bathed in a week. Major B.O.

A shot of the burner.

Just after taking off.

The sun is just rising now.

Just some of the thousands of shrines.

The shot below was taken by our smelly pilot and emailed to us.

At the end we landed on a sandy stretch of river side.

It was a lot of fun.

The visit to the Wildlife Sanctuary turned out to be pretty disappointing. Just a bunch of turtles and a few crappy deer. Bugger!

Later we visited some more temples and pagodas and saw hundreds and hundreds of Buddha statues. These guys REALLY like the Buddha.

Some of these temples are covered with real gold leaf. Not sure about this one.

Some of the Buddhas.

And a reminder that kids are the same everywhere. First pic is out of focus...sorry.

Most of our group again. A sexy looking bunch!! Note that we're all bare footed. We all have to cover our sinful knees and shoulders when we visit these places and our feet must be bare too. Often the floors are filthy so when you exit there is usually someone there with wet-wipes to clean your feet.

M0re temples....it goes on and on...

Just imagine what these people could have accomplished had they invested all the money and the time to took to build all these temples into more valuable things.

Day 7

Today we started with a horse and buggy ride to visit a bunch more temples.

Kind of hokey but a bit of fun none-the-less.

Some shots of some of the thousands and thousands of Bagan temples.

They go on forever and ever.

Back on the ship for lunch - and maybe we moved to a different village - I watched local people transferring gravel from a small boat to the side of the river. They carry the gravel in a basket on their head.

Up a steep bank they go. Over and over again.

Just imagine how many trips were made to make these piles.

Another common site on the river - piles and piles of garbage waiting to be burned.

People here just throw their garbage in any ditch and then someday someone comes and burns it.

In the meanwhile I imagine a lot of it gets in the river and finds it way to the ocean.

Later in the day we visited another town with French colonial buildings.

And more garbage just thrown in the street.

Day 8

Day 8 is a sailing day to the town called Magwe. There we travel by tri-shaws, which are just bicycles with a side car attached to another temple or pagoda or...??? I can't remember how to tell the difference.

Terri in her tri-shaw.

Some of the temple buildings.

This is General Aung Sang the guy who liberated Burma from British rule. His daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi, was kept under house arrest for 15 years and is now a member of the ruling class.

More often than not our ship just docks on a muddy bank of the river. Each time local men help to put out the gang plank so we can get off and get back on the ship. I imagine they get a few dollars for helping although I never saw anyone getting paid.

A lady washing clothes in the brown water.

Monks or nuns..who can tell with the shave heads.

And people living right on the river bank. I can see some poles to the left that might be electrical poles. But plumbing and sewer...nope!

In the afternoon some of the ship's crew put on a fashion show for us. All were wearing clothes from the various distinct areas of Myanmar.

Our guide, Yi Mon.

This young serving gal's name was Moon.

And in the evening all the passengers dressed in local clothing and there was a special meal aboard the ship.

Terri and I with Moon.

Our friends Ian and Inge.

A fancy display for the gala event.

And sunset...

Day 9

Another kind of slow day - when cruising like this it's not that important that each day be go go go. Sometimes it's nice to just sit on the top of the boat and watch the river bank go by.

Fishermen's camps on the riverbank. I don't think they're living here full time - just during the day when they're fishing.

A fairly huge LP gas barge LP=Liquid Propane. I've no idea what it was doing in the river.

And a ship carrying mud that has been dredged up from the bottom of the river. The river brings a lot of soil down from the north and they dredge it up to keep certain parts of the river deep enough for boats to get through.

When we finally landed I watched his young lady work her ass off getting the boat tied up. I was really impressed.

First she meets the boat and grabs a line.

Then lugs it up the bank and ties it to a stake.

And then helps pull out additional lines to secure the boat.

Here she's pulling on a small line that will allow a bigger line to be tied to the shore.

And below she got stuck in the mud and one of the crew had to help her get free.

I was really impressed how hard she worked.

The Scenic Aura is finally secured and we can disembark. If you look closely you can see a few people walking with canes. Some of our group definitely had problems with these banks.

And once we got on shore this was the greeting party. All very happy to see us.

And today the big deal is an old British fort.

Over the years large chunks of the fort have broken off and fallen into the river.

And some of the kids from the greeting committee saying goodbye as we head back to the ship.

Day 10

Day 10 we sailed down the river some more. This would be our last full day on the river.

All along the river are shrines, pagodas, stupas, temples...you name it...it goes on and on. I don't know how these people afford to build these things but I guess they manage somehow.

Here's one on the top of a hill.