By Train to Naba

Events of Tuesday, 18th September 2012

Sunrise on the Ayeyarwaddy, north of Katha.

Once again, I attempted a photograph of the sunrise on the Ayeyarwaddy. I was brought up on Kipling's poetic image of sunrise on what the British called the 'Irrawaddy' where he writes "The dawn comes up like thunder outa China 'cross the bay". I'm still not sure what he meant. Instead of dwelling on this, I had breakfast whilst the Captain moved the ship downstream from its overnight mooring to Katha.

By now, all the guests were getting quite used to the routine of being taken ashore by the two Fast Boats. Waiting for us this time, on our second visit to Katha, were not 'trishaws' but a line of 2-wheel horse-drawn covered 'traps' which are used as taxis. When everyone was allocated to 'trap', the procession moved off. We turned inland and then took the turn leading to Katha Railway Station. Through the diminuitive ticket window (such as stations in England once had) the almost-invisible booking clerk was handing out pasteboard tickets one at a time for the special train waiting in the single platform. The train was headed by a fairly battered diesel-hydraulic locomotive of German origin and the train comprised three 'Upper Class' corridor coaches in excellent condition, by Myanmar Railway standards, with a 'composite' coach ('Ordinary Class'/'Luggage'/'Guard') bringing up the rear.

The 'Road to Mandalay' Special Train ready to depart from Katha.

I don't think the 'Road to Mandalay' Guests would have been happier to discover that the 'Luggage' section contained re-railing jacks, spare sleepers and tools to deal with the problems if the train became derailed!

Two years before, after a bit of negotiation, I had managed to travel in the cab of the locomotive (there's a full description here, with links to pictures and the report on the return journey). This time, somebody on the railway decided it was not possible. The mechanic from my earlier journey recognised me and was very friendly. He explained to the driver (who looked very smart in a uniform with a name badge) that I also drove trains. I hadn't managed to bring any prints with me but I had loaded a few of my railway pictures into my camera and these were studied by everyone around the locomotive. The driver became very friendly and he had surprisingly good English. He allowed me into the cab and engine room to take some quick pictures but then I had to board the train. As is fairly standard practice in Burma, I left the coach door open and stood in the doorway to take pictures. Although 'Road to Mandalay' staff invited me to sit and were clearly concerned for my safety, they eventually accepted that I was intent on travelling like that, so I was able to get some technical pictures on the way to assist my understanding.

Leaving Katha, there were a lot of mainly bamboo buildings near the track and plenty of of people wanted to wave at the special train. We then passed through fields and crops, passing the tiny halts of Netyetwin and Langma. Up until this point, we had tantalising views of a cloud-covered mountain range - Gangaw Taung, I think. But now jungle closed in around us and our views were restricted. The railway has to insinuate itself through these mountains, partly by climbing and partly by twisting left and right. After about one and three quarter hours, the jungle receded and we approached Naba through more fields. To reach the platform, we had to travel right through the station, wait for the points to be switched and then reverse. By the time we were able to get off, it was about two hours after our departure from Katha, giving us an average speed of not much above 10 miles per hour. Students at the Katchin College gave the 'Road to Mandalay' Guests a performance of ethnic music and dancing on the platform and 'Road to Mandalay' staff provided refreshments. A larger audience was provided by local people who were generally happy to watch from behind the barriers which had been set up.

A performance of Kachin music and dance on the broad platform at Naba.

We then divided into groups with our various guides for a walking tour of the pretty village of Naba. As we walked through the various lanes there were (like everywhere) numerous photogenic children. A brief stop was made at a private lending library where there seemed to be an off-shoot business producing snacks.

The lending library at Naba.

We looked at the mechanics of a business producing noodles which was situated in and around a timber-built house with a colourful garden. Our route back to the station used a much-used footpath which crossed one of the sidings. A train had inconsiderately been parked in this siding, severing the footpath. Pragmatism had come to the rescue and two railway sleepers had been laid in between two of the parked wagons. One sleeper was laid from the ground on one side with the other end resting on the top of the coupling between the two wagons, the other sleeper has been similarly placed on the other side, providing a bridge in the form of an inverted, shallow 'V'. Whilst we crossed, a couple of men were on hand to assist anybody who was in difficulty.

Back at the station, there were a few minutes for me to talk with the driver and crew. The driver had his digital camera with him and insisted on getting the Mechanic to take a posed picture of he and I shaking hands.

The train driver and Jan on the platform at Naba.

Then, it was time to set off on the return journey to Katha which took around a couple of hours. I remained standing in the open doorway of the coach behind the engine for most of the journey, so I was hot and tired by the time rolled into Katha. I think the Guests enjoyed the trip but everybody was tired by the time the horse-drawn 'traps' had returned us to the landing steps and the Fast Boats had transferred us to the 'Road to Mandalay'.

I enjoyed a buffet lunch in the restaurant as the ship continued downstream. The day was still hot so a decided on a swim in the pool on the top deck. As I left the pool, dark clouds approached us, a strong wind started and within minutes there was a heavy rainstorm. I retired to my cabin until the storm blew itself out. As it became dark, we anchored midstream at Kyan Hnyat (where we'd gone ashore a few days earlier). There were some amazing cloud effects as the sun sank below the horizon. As you might expect, the clouds in the west were tinted red as the last of the sunlight was refracted. But there was sufficient light to illuminate the clouds in the east a very dramatic pink.

A dramatic sunset at Kyan Hnyat.

A tiring, but enjoyable, day was completed by a dinner comprising typical Burmese dishes.

Photographs:

Private Train to Naba.
Katha to Naba (mainly 'technical' pictures).
Naba Station (mainly 'technical' pictures)
Naba to Katha (mainly 'technical' pictures).

Monastic Noviciation Ceremony at Moe Dar

Events of Monday, 17th September 2012

The ‘Road to Mandalay’ moored mid-channel on arrival opposite Moe Dar village which is on the west bank. We could see that Moe Dar was a fairly large place, with buildings extending some distance along the river bank downstream. The monastery itself seemed quite large. One of the three regular passenger ferries was tied-up when we arrived, its deck rails lined with passengers, but it slipped away towards Bhamo as the two Fast Boats took us to the village. We arrived in a long dirt road parallel to the riverbank lined with buildings which appeared to be mainly shops. An entrance gateway and steps leading to the monastery lay on the upstream side, but we could see a procession and hear music coming towards us from the other direction. The area was crowded with Burmese anxious to watch the procession, but they made room for the ship’s Guests to watch as well.

The procession was led by a bicycle being pushed by one man. A large horn public address loudspeaker had been tied to the handlebars, a battery (probably an automotive battery) hung from the side and a mixer/amplifier was fixed to the rear carrier. A second man managed the mixer/amplifier and two long cables going to hand microphones held by male and female singers following. A group of musicians provided accompaniment (I saw cymbals, a horn and a sort of recorder). The loudspeaker was painfully loud, but I resisted the temptation to put my fingers in my ears, in case this was interpreted as disrespect. Two lady dancers, keeping pace with the bicycle, performed to the music.

Dancers, musicians and bicycle public address.

A single file of people walked behind – three men with floral banners, three ladies (two with offerings of fruit and flowers carried on the head), a number of men with fans, five ladies with offerings dressed in ‘Sunday Best’. Each of the five offerings included a piece of maroon cloth, attractively folded into a sort of flower. Finally, there were a number of young ladies, also in ‘Sunday Best’ and carrying offerings.

Five ladies and five young ladies, all with offerings.

A second procession followed. This was led by a male comic dancer dressed in longyi, black shirt and dark glasses, moving his arms, legs and body in an erratic style. Very dark skin and a gap-toothed smile added to the comic effect. I assumed that this dance was one variation on the Burmese comic male dancer tradition I had seen before. The dancer was followed by another ‘public address bicycle’, a male singer with a hand microphone and a ‘band’ with different instruments. A man came up to the dancer and pinned money to his shirt. No such encouragement was needed, possibly because of the presence of the ship’s Guests, it was some minutes of antics before the dancer could be persuaded to move on.

Money is pinned to the shirt of the male comic dancer.

Behind the musicians, a number of girls walked with offerings and the procession was completed by five bicycles being pushed, each loaded with a prayer mat wrapped around other items I couldn’t identify strapped to the rear carrier.

Two of the five bicycles in the second part of the procession are studied with interest by the watching crowd.

A third procession comprised five garlanded horses, each bearing a young boy dressed in very fine clothes with a head-dress and referred to as a ‘Prince’. Each ‘Prince’ had two men holding parasols above their head, to complete the regal effect. I concluded that the five boys (aged about 5 years and upwards) were the noviciates and that the princely attire symbolised the Lord Buddha’s origins as a prince. The noviciates each carried a bag of wrapped sweets, which they threw into the crowd, to the delight of the many children watching. Each noviciate was fairly heavily made up, to give a very pale skin colour.

The third part of the procession comprised the five 'Princes' on horseback.

The final mobile public address system was the ‘de luxe’ model, mounted on a bullock cart drawn by two animals. Another group of musicians requiring amplification this time travelled in comfort on the cart. The animals seemed quite unfazed by all the activity and noise. The music was for a final young boy dancer dressed, like the noviciates, in a colourful, princely attire, also garlanded and wearing make-up who performed a traditional dance including elegant arm and finger movements.

The bullock cart carrying musicians and public address.

It was now time for us to enter the monastery and the main hall where the noviciation ceremony would take place. Normally, family and friends of the new novices would be invited but ‘Road to Mandalay’ had arranged for their Guests to witness this important ceremony.

The Ordination Hall of the monastery was of wooden construction, lifted above the ground on tall wooden pillars. The walls were decorated with religious posters, pictures of monks (including elderly, framed photographs). One wall carried a long row of framed certificates. At one end of the hall a low stage was provided with a sort of proscenium arch, like a theatre. This arch carried was decorated with strings of LED lights. The rear of the stage area housed shrines and a multitude of venerable objects. At the front edge of the stage, six decorated, wooden chairs had been placed for the senior monks. The chair for the head monk was much wider than the others and had a microphone on a stand. Family and friends of the noviciates were seated on the floor of the Hall and ‘Road to Mandalay’ Guests either joined them, seated themselves on benches around the hall or remained standing. The musicians we’d first seen in the procession had already positioned themselves on the floor at the rear of the hall and they were playing so that the older of the two dancers could continue her slow, sinuous, almost hypnotic movements.

Four senior monks and the bespectacled head monk took their places and the five noviates, now without their princely costumes, were brought in and sat in a line facing the stage.

"Four senior monks and the bespectacled head monk took their places".

The head monk intoned for a few minutes and then the symbolic shaving of the hair commenced. Each noviciate was shaved, apparently expertly and painlessly, by a monk and the hair was carefully collected on a special tray held by the noviciate's parents or supporters whilst another man held a single parasol above the boy.

The heads of the noviciates are shaved.

Each noviciate was led away once the shaving was completed and then the offerings brought by the procession could be seen, lined up in front of the stage. The maroon cloth I’d seen folded ‘like a flower’ was now revealed as the noviciates first robe. Each noviciate, stripped to underpants, was carefully and, it appeared, tenderly dressed in the robe by an elderly monk. The noviciates then squatted in a line facing the senior monks and the head monk spoke for a while.

The noviciates are addressed by the head monk.

The ceremony was complete and the senior monks retired to a reserved area adjacent to the stage where they relaxed around a low table.

There was, apparently, an ‘official photographer’ who posed each noviciate with proud parents or guardian so that this important event could be recorded for posterity. Ruth and I were rather surprised to be asked to join some of these groups and I was reminded of a wedding photographer in my country as the friendly cameraman pushed us into the composition he wanted. I must confess that I have some misgivings about very young boys and girls becoming novices when they can’t be said to give “informed consent”. But it should be understood that such youngsters, if they are orphans, have only one parent or come from a very poor family are given better life chances under the protection of the monastery. In Burma, monastic institutions are not enclosed orders but form a vital part of the wider community. Novices cannot be ordained as monks until they reach the age of 20 and even then monks and nuns can, if they choose, return to a ‘normal’ life and marry. As Ruth and I left, there were a number of young novices relaxing and we both took the opportunity to take some more pictures.

Outside the monastery, there were still lots of villagers who’d been watching the earlier procession. The Doctor was handing out small treats to the local children. We walked down the long, dusty main street, trying to take in all the varied activity. I was particularly taken by the lady owner of a general store who had diversified by setting up one end of her shop as a ‘video arcade’. There were three domestic television sets side by side and a number of hand-held games consoles. Two young children were completely absorbed in a 2-person game.

I’d anticipated we’d have to take the long walk back to the landing steps where we’d arrived but, instead, we were directed into an elaborate modern building. It was not obvious what the business was but we walked right through the building to emerge on a sandy beach where a number of large, wooden cargo-carrying boats were moored, together with a host of small boats. Children were playing or swimming and one young married couple were standing in the muddy water carrying out their afternoon ablutions and innocently delighting in one another's company. A gangplank had been provided to one of the large wooden cargo boats and we were directed across it. We crossed the lower deck of the cargo boat on planks, noting that the entire lower deck was filled with containers of molasses being shipped for wine-making.

The lower deck of the wooden cargo boat was filled with containers of molasses.

Moored on the river side of the wooden boat were our Fasts Boats, ready to take us back to our temporary home and dinner.

Photographs:

Noviciation Ceremony at Moe Dar.

[Completely revised 5-Oct-2012 as the wrong text had been inadvertently posted whilst I was in Burma - mea culpa!]