After early morning tea in my cabin, I had a simple breakfast in the restaurant as the ship raised anchor and headed upstream. Around 9.00 a.m. we entered the Second Defile. 'Defile' is a rather odd word which the British used - the word 'Gorge' is perhaps more readily understood. Certainly, the scenery became more rugged and the river became narrower. It was also distinctly cooler. Jungle covered mountains lay left and right, falling steeply towards the river. There were frequent small villages on both sides with a few houses constructed of bamboo. Sometimes, there were isolated dwellings. Always, there were boats both powered and un-powered, for there are very limited roads here. The larger clusters of houses might have a pagoda nearby, sometimes we saw small pagodas isolated near the river. We passed Wei-Ma Elephant Camp on the east bank, but we only saw one elephant.
In places there were sheer rock walls, rather reminiscent of the Mekong River passing through the northern part of Laos. Trees and shrubs tenaciously eked out an existence even in these rocky sections. On the west bank, there's a small outcrop of rock known as the "Parrot's Beak". It protrudes from the face of the rock just above the waterline. Somebody with a good imagination once decided it looked like the head and beak of a parrot. It's now painted in bright colours to make the resemblance more obvious.
Recently, there had been quite a lot of rain so we saw a number of small waterfalls cascading down the rock walls.
One of the fast boats was visible ahead, moored at a small sandy spit. The Captain said that they had stopped to clear weeds which were fouling the propeller. When we came abeam, the boats crew of five men (two with hard hats) were all standing in shallow water dealing with the problem. The Fast Boats, in common with many of the larger boats on the Ayeyarwaddy, have the propellor mounted on a substantial welded steel outrigger extending from the stern of the boat and driven through additional propellor shafts including some form of Ackerman flexible joints. This outrigger can be raised or lowered by altering the effective length of an angled supporting shaft leading to the stern of the hull by turning an adjustment wheel. The outrigger had been raised so that the propellor was half out of the water. The weeds must have been pretty tough because one boatman was belabouring the rearmost propellor shaft with a large hammer.
They succeeded with the repairs and caught up with us in Bhamo. Our ship only makes four trips up to Bhamo each year so we attracted quite a lot of attention from the people who live near the river banks. Most of them would wave as we passed and, of course, we reciprocated.
The river is much narrower in the Second Defile, so it runs much deeper to drain the headwater. The Captain invited us to inspect the Echo Sounder screen - the depth was typically 150 to 160 feet when we looked. The underwater rocks disturb the water flow, creating vortices of rotating water which appear as whirlpools on the surface. The Captain explained that there are often two contra-rotating whirlpools abreast and the helmsman will aim for the 'slack water' in between them. Because of the skill of those on the bridge, our ship made stately progress apparently oblivious to all the turbulent water.
The river became wider and the hills more gentle as the approached Bhamo. On the east bank there was a logging camp for conveying timber away by water. Huge teak logs were stockpiled awaiting shipment. There were a couple of the traditional rafts, where the logs are suspended by ropes from massive pontoons These rafts are then towed by a powerful tug boat. But there were also a couple of massive steel barges, already loaded with logs cut to the width of the barge. In this case, the tug boat often lashes the barge alongside and they proceed 'two abreast'.
We passed under the New Bridge which appears almost complete. There are eight steel truss spans but only the one we used was marked for river traffic. There were 'traffic lights' on the bridge piers but they were not lit. The bridge carried a lane for road traffic (equipped with lighting standards), a single track metre gauge railway and a pedestrian lane. On either side of the bridge spans, there are reinforced concrete approaches. I was told that the railway track will be connected to the new triangular junction I saw two years previously at Katha in one direction and extend to Bhamo in the other direction.
Fairly soon, the important town of Bhamo was clearly visible on the east bank in the afternoon sun. The first Fast Boat was waiting for us at an island on our left and the Captain pointed out the that the second Fast Boat had almost caught up with us after stopping for repairs.
One of the smart twin-funnelled modern ferry boats was berthed at the waterfront on our right. The Captain told me that there are three of these in service between Mandalay and Bhamo, calling at various places on the way. Between them, they provide a daily service on the river. The Captain dropped anchor mid-stream and, as usual, the two Fast Boats ferried the passengers ashore.
This year, activities in Bhamo have been restricted because of the security situation involving dissaffected tribesmen. The population of Myanmar is made up of over one hundred ethnic groupings who do not always co-exist peacefully. In the hot sun, we had a walk around the central part of the town, looking at the bewildering range of items on offer in the huge market (similar to Katha but even larger) and street after street of shop premises.
Refreshments had been provided for us at the modern building of 'The Bakery', overlooking the dual carriageway road. However, the carriageway nearer the river was almost entirely taken over by an open-air market and their customers so the odd vehicle on that side made only slow progress. Then, we all walked by to the landing steps where the two Fast Boats were waiting to take us make to the ship. Once we were all aboard, the Captain started downstream to Kaung Tone where he anchored for the night.
In the evening, a group of Kachin dancers in ethnic costume entertained us on the top deck with a number of traditional dances.
Photographs:
Through the Second Defile to Bhamo.
Bhamo.
Kachin Dancers.
[Revised 16-Oct-2012]
