Thursday 27th August 2009
Where was I? In the last episode, we’d just walked round the delightful ‘Pottery Village’ and then we took the coach back to the dock. We were there for 9:30 a.m., because the ship was due to set sail at 10:00 a.m. for Bagan. I was not altogether surprised when Captain Myo Lwin cast off a little early around 9:45 – a good captain is only happy when his ship is under way and his ship has been unable to ply ‘The Road to Mandalay’ in Kipling’s famous phrase describing the river for so many months.
Around 40 Orient Express ‘Logistics Staff’ and others watched from the dock as the ‘Road to Mandalay’ gently moved away from the dock and pivoted to place the bow downstream (the Voith-Sneider propulsion system makes the ship very manoeverable). There is a pagoda just downsteam of the dock and the captain first pointed the ship towards the pagoda and made the appropriate obeisance to ensure a safe journey. The TV crew, of course, were collecting pictures of the departure.
When the ship is moored at the berth, hinging booms are deployed into the river bed to hold the ship steady. Once raised vertically into the sailing position, a member of the crew, wearing a safety harness, set about cleaning and repainting the discoloured ends of the booms. Buffet lunch was served on the top deck and the weather remained hot. I spent some time on the bridge, at the invitation of the Captain and we chatted about many topics. In the afternoon there was a demonstration of Thanaka, the creamy, natural make-up made from the Thanaka tree. One of the girls on the staff applied Thanaka in a pretty, leaf-shaped design to the cheeks of the ladies who wanted to participate. The Longyi is the traditional lower garment available in versions for men and women and guests were shown how to wear these. From mid-afternoon, afternoon tea was served in the Piano Bar and this was followed by a lecture on Myanmar’s racial groups.
The ship continued downstream and moored midstream around sunset, pointing the bow upstream and dropping the anchors. In the early evening, a ‘Longyi Cocktail Party’ took place on the Top Deck as a prelude to full dinner in the Restaurant. We were a small but very varied band of passengers and I was surprised how quickly new friendships developed. Various nationalities, from solitary travellers like myself to parties of four, all seemed to get on very well. Pictures of the cruise downstream.
The evening terminated in a ‘Surprise on the River’. Around 2,000 tiny rafts, each carrying a lighted candle and some fitted with a coloured paper screen to produce varied colours, floated down the river towards us from upstream where, hidden in the darkness, local villagers retained by ‘Road to Mandalay’ lit and launched the craft from a number of boats positioned across the river. The emotion as these lights came towards us, embraced the ship some passing on the one side some on the other then disappearing into the darkness downstream, is hard to describe. As the passengers made their way to bed (or to the Piano Bar for late-night drinks), there were many moist eyes at the beauty of the effect.
Friday 28th August 2009
We were due to set sail at 6.30 a.m., so I ordered morning tea in my cabin for six. It arrived promptly but by the time I was ready to greet the day, the ship was already continuing downstream. My previous trip on this river had been in the dry season when, in places, there was barely enough water for a ship as large as ‘Road to Mandalay’ even though she is flat-bottomed and designed originally for river cruising. This trip is in the Rainy Season where the river level can be tens of feet higher and all the adjacent flatland is inundated. The river water brings precious soil nutrients in suspension and this natural fertilisation allows farmers to produce up to three crops a year. Breakfast was served with the usual flair in the restaurant and, before 9.00 a.m., we had moored midstream opposite a simple landing stage near Old Bagan, ready for our visit ashore.
A number of local motor boats came out from the shore to act as ‘Tenders’. The ship carries its own handrailed gangway which can be lowered almost to water level to allow passengers an easy transfer from the ship’s reception area to the small boats. Passengers going ashore were then divided into a number of small groups by ‘preferred language’ and each group had its own tour guide. The boats are wooden, built in a traditional style. They have a rudder for steering and a Chinese-made small diesel engine driving a long shaft terminated in a conventional screw propellor. The engine mount has limited movement, to allow the prop to be lifted clear of the water but, unlike Thai ‘longtail boats’, the tiller is used as well. The diesel engines have no electric start so a crank handle is inserted and turned furiously to get them to ‘fire-up’.
We were soon ashore and climbing the path leading up the river bank to the Plain of Bagan. In addition to crowds of locals just interested in the re-starting of the ‘Road to Mandalay’ cruises, we were mobbed by dozens of souvenir sellers, many quite young. A series of wooden-wheeled horse-drawn carts were waiting for us and we divided ourselves between these vehicles, two per cart, and set off in convoy down the main track of compressed sand. Whereas in most places a horse-drawn taxi would be retained for the tourists, here in Bagan they are the standard ‘Taxi’ used by residents. At most major road junctions, there are usually a couple of these carts parked under a shading tree waiting to be hired. I found myself sharing a horse taxi with Franz, the Country Manager from Orient-Express, on a fact-finding expedition. He commented that what should have been a magical experience, quietly moving past the dozens of small pagodas in our horse carts was marred by being followed by a number of noisy motor cycles and bicycles used by the more-determined souvenir sellers. The motor bikes can continue to sell even as you are moving – the rider keeps station next to the cart whilst the pillion passenger displays the goods on offer and gives the ‘patter’ about the quality and value. Longyi, jewellery, bangles, pictures, lacquerware and other craft items are all for sale. We passed the famous Ananda Temple and left our horse carts outside the Sulamani temple, where there were more souvenir sellers, some with very elaborate stalls extending right up to the temple precinct. Only once we entered the temple, in bare feet, did the hubbub of the souvenir sellers recede and we could listen to the descriptions given by our various guides.
Our tour buses had followed us to the temple so after we had emerged and run the gauntlet of the souvenir-sellers, we boarded the buses for a journey of a few miles to the revered Shwezigon Pagoda. After walking round this large temple complex, there was a long arcade of souvenir sellers before we boarded the buses for the journey back to the boat. We paused for a fascinating visit to the ‘Everstand’ lacquerware workshop where the owner ‘Mister Moustache’ explained in detail the making of lacquerware before conducting us around the site to look at the processes in detail. A modern showroom displayed the vast range of articles produced in lacquerware and, with no pressure to buy, our group seemed far more willing to purchase souvenirs. At the landing stage, we negotiated the waiting sellers and took the motor boats back to the ship moored mid-channel. It looked very elegant in the bright sunshine. Once again, buffet lunch was provided on the top deck.
At 2.30 p.m. we were off again by bus. Our first stop was the Dhamma Ya Zika Pagoda. Then, we moved on to a village where we were allowed to look into the house of a land-owning family. The old grandmother was spinning cotton on a fairly crude spinning wheel. Another family member was preparing the cotton to be woven on a hand loom. Photographs of young people obtaining their degrees were displayed on the wooden framing for a mezzanine floor where the children sleep. We moved on to a riverside Pagoda and then looked around the Ananda Temple before our final call – the upper terraces of the so-called ‘Sunset Pagoda’ to watch the sunset. Our TV crew were also on hand to record the event. The surprise for me was when a teenage boy came up and said “Remember me?” and it was my ‘chaperone’ from my bike ride on my first visit to Bagan. In a while, we were joined by his younger brother. They both said we should repeat the bike trip. Although I’d had the same idea myself, I said that I would have to check first, so the elder boy gave me a scrap of paper with name and a mobile number which could be used to make arrangements. Then it was back to the ship, still patiently waiting mid-stream. Exploring Bagan.
Dinner was a farewell meal as some passengers were booked one-way only (Mandalay – Bagan) and would leave the ship the following morning. Other guests were due to join the ship for the return cruise to Mandalay. Following the Farewell Dinner, there was a puppet show using traditional Myanmar marionettes.
