A wind from the south caused a certain amount of buffeting of waves against the hull during Wednesday night which occasionally woke me but I had no trouble slipping off to sleep again. I'd planned a fairly gentle start to the day with the alarm set for 6.00 a.m. and tea in my room ordered for 6.15 a.m. I think it was well after seven when I sauntered down for breakfast but the dining room was still quiet. We were already under way upstream. After breakfast, I went up to the bridge and the Captain and I had a long conversation. We were due to leave the ship using the 'Fast Boats' for a visit to Nwe Nyein village. The first boat was due to depart at 10.00 a.m. and the second (on which I was scheduled to travel) ten minutes later.
The transfer of passengers to the 'Fast Boats' is normally done with 'Road to Mandalay' under way so there's a certain frisson of excitement associated with crossing between two moving boats but there are always plenty of helping hands close by to make sure the process is safe. Once the first 'Fast Boat' was loaded, it slipped the three mooring lines and moved away from the big ship noisily, to be quickly replaced alongside by the second 'Fast Boat'. The remaining passengers (including me) boarded and we were soon chasing the first 'Fast Boat'.
Both boats travelled up river for about 45 minutes. The first boat was already moored at the brick and concrete steps leading to a monastery compound and the passengers were going ashore. We tied-up next to the first boat and disembarked by crossing to the first boat using a large metal plate laid between the boats and then by using the first boat's gangplank - two narrow planks vaguely held together and with a long pole of bamboo held by two boat men to serve as a handrail. It's not quite as hairy as it sounds.
We walked through the monastery compound and into Nwe Nyein village. It seems that the entire village is devoted to the production of pottery jars, from small bowls, through larger bowls, some with glazed decorative pattern, to large storage jars up to about four feet in height. A number of small boats were docked in the mud of the river bank and were being loaded with different products. First, we passed a huge stack of timber which is used in the kiln for the firing process. Next, we came to a hole in the ground about 8 feet long, 3 feed wide and perhaps 3 feet deep. Two types of dry clay, in the correct proportions, are tipped into this mixing pit and thoroughly mixed manually by young men working in the pit. The clay may have been carried up to a mile to reach the pottery. When required, water is carefully added to the dry mix whilst thoroughly 'kneading' to produce wet clay of the proper consistency.
We saw two women making larger bowls with a simple 'kick wheel' potter's wheel. The potter sat at the wheel, 'throwing' the shape while the assistant remained standing kicking the potter's wheel and fetching and carrying for the potter as required.
Nearby, a third woman was applying the white 'slip' which would define the pattern on these bowls. The result is a repeated swirling leaf pattern suggesting a number of plants growing up the outside of the pot. I was amazed at the method adopted to create this decoration. The lady dips her hand into the white slip then, with a rapid, curving sweep of the fingers, transfers the slip to the outside of the pot, each finger tracing an individual leaf. The pot is then turned to allow the next 'plant' to be created until the pattern encircles the pot. Within a few seconds, the job is done and, with a couple more flourishes to 'paint' the rim and base, the pot a laid aside to dry and the process is repeated on the next pot. Before firing, the pot is covered with a clear glaze. After firing, the 'unpainted' clay is a lustrous dark brown and the leaf motif is a golden yellow. The effect is most attractive.
Making the large water pots is a physically demanding task and we only saw male potters undertaking the work. When I was young, I was taught how to make small 'coil pots' from modelling clay. The raw material is rolled into a long 'sausage' which is coiled to form a circular base. Further 'sausages' are added as necessary to build up the walls of the pot to the desired shape and height. The large water pots are made using the same method, writ large.
The pot is constructed on a 'kick wheel' used only to rotate the work in progress as required by the potter using one foot. The potter sits on a tiny wooden stool but, as the pot grows, a second stool is placed on top of the first to bring the potter to a more convenient height. The potter has quite a sizeable pile of clay at his side, from which he takes a good 'dollop' and kneads it to form a sausage three or four feet long and five or six inches in diameter. Working such an unwieldy 'sausage' must take considerable strength. The result is also quite heavy, so one end of the 'sausage' is laid over the potter's shoulder whilst the other end is used to form the pot. Once the walls of the pot are started, the potter rapidly 'crimps' the sausage to the ring below by squeezing the clay between thumb and forefinger every few inches, slowly turning the wheel with his foot as he goes. Once the potter has reached the widest point of the jar, one 'sausage' will not even complete one ring, so the process of 'sausage' making, applying and 'crimping' is repeated many times.
Further clay is added to produce a smooth surface outside and in. Leaf motif decoration, as described above is usually provided, with glaze over the decorated part of the pot. We saw one brick-lined kiln for firing the various pots made at the village. It was built on a slope with entrances at both the high and low ends. Since it was still being loaded, we were able to walk inside. Once full, wood fires are set and the entrances bricked up, apart from small 'firing holes' which allow more wood fuel to be added. The 'Road to Mandalay' team has set up a refreshment table so that we could have a drink before walking back to the two 'Fast Boats' waiting for us at the Monastery steps.
By this time the 'Road to Mandalay' ship had passed, and was a few hundred yards upstream of us, so it took only a few minutes to rendezvous with the ship and transfer the passengers back aboard. As each 'Fast Boat' disembarked its passengers, it took off at speed to go ahead of us. The ship had now entered the 'Third Defile' of the river, so I took lunch on the Top Deck to better watch the passing scenery.
The section of the river to Male, where we were to anchor that evening, has eight schools near to the river so on each of the four trips to Bhamo during the year, stationery is donated to these schools as part of the 'Road to Mandalay' Social Contribution. Each 'Fast Boat' had gone ahead of us to deliver the donations to four schools and their task was to deliver that stationery in bulk before our ship passed each school. The school staff then rapidly distributed the donations (usually exercise books and pencils) so that the pupils were waiting on the river bank when the 'Road to Mandalay' passed.
As we approached each school, the 'Road to Mandalay' manoeuvred as close to the shore as was prudent and gave a long blast on the siren to alert the school.
At every location, all the pupils were lined up on the river bank waving their just-received stationery and cheering us in thanks. The ship acknowledged with a series of short blasts on the siren and all the passengers watching from the rail on the top deck would wave back. Many, many photographs were taken.
The 1st school (on the West Bank) was Ma-Aw, which has 154 pupils.
The 2nd school (on the East Bank) was Pya which has 58 pupils.
The 3rd school (on the East Bank) was Nyaung Pin Tha which has 95 pupils.
The 4th school (on the West Bank) was Yone-Pin, which has 270 pupils.
The 5th school (on the West Bank) was Kote-Tet, which has 355 pupils.
The 6th school (on the West Bank) was Ka-Bwet, which has 327 pupils.
The 7th school (on the East Bank) was Kyaw-Lay, which has 60 pupils.
The 8th school (on the East Bank) was Pon Ner which has 108 pupils.
Before we'd passed the last of the schools, it had started to rain but that didn't seem to dampen the spirits of the school children or the passengers.
Photographs:
By Fast Boat to a Pottery Village.
Schoolchildren along the Ayeyarwaddy.
[Revised 6-Oct-2012]
