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We booked our Asian adventure way back in August 2018 and even then we recall reading that the Irrawaddy river could be a bit low by February, being dry season and all. We only spent 1 day/2 nights in Mandalay and the day before our 12 hour river cruise was set to commence, we did reconfirm the trip with the company. (Reconfirmation is a big thing in Myanmar. If in doubt, email/phone or get someone to do it for you, but definitely reconfirm.) The company said ‘of course’ and we were up super early and left the hotel at 5.30 am to head to the pier in Mandalay. By pier we mean ‘steep sand bank with rough steps cut in to facilitate access to the gang plank leading to the river vessel’ - but we’ll call it a pier for the sake of the argument.
The RV Panorama 2 was a cracking boat - enclosed and air-conditioned downstairs, shady and breezy on the top deck. We enjoyed scrambled eggs for breakfast soon after the sun came up and relaxed for the first time in a few days (still recovering from our full day extravaganza in Mandalay yesterday).
The laugh of the 12 hour day was about 10.30 am when we stopped for a tour of a river side village. We’re not a big fan of poverty tourism and usually (as on the Mekong in Laos) we’ll skip the village tour to avoid contributing to the feedback loop of seeing western tourists as mobile ATM units flinging money and sweets to village children who then come to expect it. Anyway - the cruise was being so well run we decided to risk it and headed down the gangplank with our hands firmly on the long bamboo safety rail/pole being expertly held in place by two of the ship’s crew. Perfectly adequate, undoubtedly functional and definitely funny - also height adjustable to the hand height of the tourist using the rail - which can’t hurt.
The tour was interesting and we were fascinated to watch straw sunhats being made by hand - one person can produce roughly 50 in one day - incredible to watch. We were back on the boat at 11.30 am and knew that lunch was going to emerge miraculousely from below stairs sometime after 12 noon. It seemed sensible to snag a table and enjoy a pre-lunch juice and beer, along with some locally grown peanuts. Some other guests actually made a huge dent in the bar’s top shelf by the time lunch was served - a great little earner for the boat. Lunch featured typcial Burmese style food - a bean soup, a tomato based curry chicken dish, bean salad and locally made peanut brittle for dessert. There was nothing for it after lunch except a rest... we needed to psyche ourselves up for the mid-afternoon longyi tying demonstration. The Longyi is a large piece of fabric, 2m by 80 cm, folded in half and seamed to produce a tube. It can (as we found out) be folded and tied in myriad ways to produce unisex styles of skirts/shorts/jackets/hats/bags and baby slings. Who knew? Sounded a bit daffy but the demo and fashion parade conducted by the 3 male crew members, followed by the Thanaka ground bark/skin product demo was really very good. Obviously exhausting for us, if not them... more snoozing into the late afternoon was required. As pleasurable as these river cruises are, after sunrise and with the exception of the odd village the view never really changes. River. Sand. Banks. Other boats. River - wonderful way to relax knowing we’re not missing anything.
By 5 pm the Bagan pier/dock/steep sand bank was in sight and we gathered up our bits and bobs in preparation to depart. Once more the gang plank and long pole were utilised to get us off the boat and into the waiting arms of the bag carriers (who also assisted immeasurably when we boarded in Mandalay). It can (and is) seen as a scam or rort by some tourists... but we think 1000 kyat (about A$1 / US$0.70) is a bargain for heaving 20+ kilos onto your back (or head) and trudging through sand, up diabolically steep steps and ramps. We found schlepping along with our 7 kg little wheely-packs quite daunting enough.
We found a cab and were at the hotel within 20 minutes, checked in and eating dinner within another 20 minutes (river side, open air, pinky dusk, lovely view, yep), less than 40 minutes later we walked back to our room via the scenic route (bar/pool/spa, nice nice, yep) and were in bed by 8 pm and asleep by 9 pm (James) and 11 pm (me... over tired altogether, yep yep)... It’s not like we had to be up before dawn again... oh. Hang on... yes we did! Alarm set for 4.40 am. Hot Air Balloon day is upon us.
(PS: We mention the low water in the Irrawaddy because on ballooning day a couple of fellow guests quizzed us when we said we’d come via boat from Mandalay. ‘Really?’ they said (yes - we said), ‘But wasn’t the river low?’ they said (er... not particularly, we said), ‘So you got all the way down from Mandalay?’ they said (being a bit over the 3rd degree at this point, we replied ‘well obviously! we’re here aren’t we!’)... Thankfully they went quiet after that. Chatting with our balloon pilot later, she was also surprised we’d made it. Apparently one of the Mandalay based boats has been stuck in Bagan for the last few days. Maybe going upstream is the challenge - we screamed along the river going with the current the whole way from Mandalay. Either that or the skipper owes someone money.
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