The Second Defile, Thein Pa Taung Meditation Centre and Bhamo

Sunday 29th August 2010

The short version:

We continued upstream through the Second Defile, passed by Bhamo City (on our right) and reached the limit of our cruise just short of the narrow entrance to the First Defile. The ship turned around and anchored mid-stream. Our Fast Boats transferred us to the Thein Pa Taung Meditation Centre. After our return to the ship, we continued downstream to moor midstream opposite Bhamo's waterfront. At 5.0 p.m. our Fast Boats transferred us to the city for a walking tour around the market and town.

The longer version:

We'd previously negotiated the Third Defile and that hadn't been particularly exciting - the river certainly narrowed but the scenery didn't seem that different from further downstream. So we were intrigued as to what the Second Defile would bring. At first, we passed a number of isolated farms and small villages, with most of the inhabitants watching the great white ship as it passed. We spotted an elephant slowly emerging from a pool near a group of houses. Presumably the elephant had been to the pool for washing. As I discovered during my encounter with elephants in Thailand (see 'Elephant Camp'), elephants are fastidious creatures and regular bathing is important.

We pass riverside houses with an elephant in the background and the plain gives way to wooded mountains.

The river narrowed further and the ground rose up on either side, heavily wooded and presenting rocky cliffs. In places, the water became quite turbulent. I found it reminiscent of my cruise on the Mekong through Laos (see 'Into Laos'). Most of the passengers were out on deck, many on the open bridge.

We'd been told about a feature in the rock wall called "The Parrot's Beak" so we were all on the lookout for that.

The Parrot's Beak.

Fortunately, the rock in question had been helpfully painted green for the plumage with a red beak and black and white eyes, otherwise I think we would have missed it because it was only a few feet across, just above the water.

The Second Defile has steep, wooded cliffs which reminded me of the Mekong in Laos

Eventually, the river widened and the mountains receded, leaving a fertile plain encouraging a number of larger villages. We passed our destination, Bhamo, and continued almost to the start of the First Defile. Looking ahead, we could see the wooded hills closing in on a much narrower river. But this was as far upstream as we could go, so the Captain turned the ship and we glided downstream. Pictures of our journey upstream are here.

I'd spotted our Fast Boats moored at the bank so, around 2.00 p.m., we went through the by-now familiar routine of being transferred ashore. The Thein Pa Taung Meditation Centre is situated on a wooded hillside and a long set of concrete steps led up from the landing place. It was very hot so the sections of the steps provided with a roof were very welcome. As we entered the main compound I was distracted by the generator house and made a very brief inspection.

The building contained two diesel engines, each driving a generator through a belt. The Chinese single-cylinder diesel engine is found everywhere in Myanmar, driving boats and trucks. I afterwards identified the engines as type ZS1115 made by Yingtian in Jiangsu, China. This single-cylinder 4-stroke diesel is intended for boats. With a 115mm bore and 115 stroke, it's rated at 16kW shaft power.

There were a number of buildings where students practice meditation.

Students practising meditation in one of the large dormitories.

We saw nuns meditating in relatively private spaces but most students were in large dormitory-style buildings, one for ladies, one for men. Provided we remained quiet, we were allowed to look in on these rooms. We also climbed to the shrine at the summit of the hill which commanded splendid view of the river below.

The spirituality of places like the Meditation Centre doesn't come out in a bald description of what we did but the beliefs of the Burmese makes even visiting a place like this quite an experience. After we'd walked round the site, the RTM people had (as usual) arranged a refreshment stop with cold drinks and fruit on the steps of one of the temples. Then I noticed the Doctor and a group of nuns sitting on the floor in another open-sided building so I walked over and he invited me to sit with them.

The Doctor had just finished a consultation with the Head Nun, a dignified but friendly person in her 70's who was now suffering from back pain. The Doctor had administered one injection and intended to give a second on his next (and final) visit of the year. Three younger Nuns were in attendance and, although I couldn't converse with them, we all shared the humour of the situation. A kitten wandered in and lay down beside me while I stroked it and we found that very funny, too. Eventually, the Doctor and I got up to leave and one of the younger Nuns presented me with four bananas, scurrying off to find a plastic bag to carry them.

Pictures of the Meditation Centre are here.

We all rejoined the two Fast Boats but the 'Mother Ship' had gone! The Captain had already taken 'Road to Mandalay' downstream to Bhamo, turned to face upstream, and anchored mid-channel. So the Fast Boats took us downstream to board the ship. There was time for refreshments on the Observation Lounge but not much more, for at 5.00 p.m. the Fast Boats were to take us ashore for a walking tour of Bhamo.

The riverfront had a variety of craft berthed at various landing places. We disembarked at a set of concrete steps, watched by a number of friendly locals. At the top of the steps, a dual-carriageway ran parallel to the river with traditional teak buildings on the landward side. I didn't at first realise it was a dual-carriageway because the roadway nearer the river seemed to be used mainly for parking or for pedestrians either walking or just standing talking. But, occasionally, vehicles would pass, patiently waiting for people to move out of the way.

Bhamo is the largest town in the area, a staging point on the main northern trade route with China. Goods are imported from and exported to China by road and then the river provides good communication with the rest of Myanmar. Architecture is a mixture of the traditional and modern. Most of the modern buildings are owned by Chinese.

Our walking tour took us away from the river and I was quite shocked by the amount of traffic - mainly motor bicycles but with a fair number of small trucks, pick-ups and a few private cars. I'd become unused to this amount of traffic in the days since boarding at Mandalay! We passed pavement sellers with large displays of vegetables and numerous shops, including the first opticians I'd seen in Burma. The Fire Station appeared to be still using a couple of Japanese fire appliances dating from the second World War. The three-storey KBZ Bank building looked very prosperous. Kanbawza Bank Limited is a Myanmar bank owned by 'a close business associate' of government officials. On the pavement outside the bank was a top-of-the-range Caterpillar-built 'Olympian' 50kW packaged diesel standby generator. I was reminded of the rather more basic installation at the Meditation Centre.

Our tour finished at a large monastery complex dominated by a large golden pagoda. By the time I'd made a quick tour around some of the buildings on the site, I was happy to accept Mr. Win's suggestion of a lift back in one of the larger motor rickshaws. We stopped for complimentary drinks at tables outside a modern building facing the river then we walked the final few hundred yards back to the landing place. The Fast Boats transferred us back to 'Road to Mandalay' at anchor just as it became dark. Then it was dinner and bed so as to be refreshed for the next day's adventures.

My pictures of Bhamo are here.

[Amended 12-Oct-2010, 21-Oct-2010].

Katha and Shwe Paw Island

Saturday 28th August 2010

The ship continued its journey upstream to Katha. This is one of the towns created by the British as an administrative centre. One claim to fame is that George Orwell's last posting with the Colonial Police was at Katha, before he contracted malaria and left the police to become an author.

We anchored mid-channel opposite the town and the International Signal for 'I am at anchor' (a black 'ball') was hoisted from the short flagpole at the bow. I spotted our two Fast Boats moored at the landing stage and shortly they moved across to our ship to ferry the passengers ashore. It had rained heavily during the night but Katha was gently warming up and it was quite pleasant.

Landing at Katha - "A long line of trishaws were waiting for us ..."

A long line of trishaws were waiting for us and members of the crew were allocating us, two at a time, to individual trishaws. The trishaw is a three-wheeled cycle able to carry two passengers. There are two main types. In one type, the passenger seats are two abreast behind the driver and the machine has two wheels at the rear. The other version is a bicycle plus 'sidecar' where the sidecar has one seat facing forward and a second seat facing to the rear.

The trishaws took us to a fairly green area of town clearly laid out by the British. We walked past a grain warehouse which we were told was a Government Store and paused to look at a single-storey Colonial building which I believe was the British Club originally. We made our way back to the trishaws past the former British tennis courts. Another ride in the trishaw took us through what was clearly the British residential area. The layout reminded me of the similar residential area in Maymyo.

George Orwell's house today.

We stopped at the two-story house, timber-framed with brick infill and a corrugated iron roof set in around a couple of acres which had been the home of George Orwell in the 1920s. Today, it is very run-down but provides homes for a number of Burmese families. We were allowed to walk around inside the house. The unmarried lady upstairs spoke quite good English and was happy to chat with the foreigh vistors. The married lady we met downstairs did not speak English but was also happy for us to wander round. Her son (eleven years old, I think) showed us his workbook and he had considerable talent as an artist.

Then it was back on the trishaws and our convoy made its way to the Market. On the periphery of the Market there were a number of permanent shops and tearooms. I looked at one clothes-making shop where a man was cutting out material using cardboard patterns. I couldn't work out what the cut pieces would become. Next door, there was a picture-framing and mirror shop. In the back was the raw aluminium extrusion which would be cut and mitred as necessary. A number of sample mirrors and pictures were on display. A recurrent theme was a picture of a young person on graduation wearing a mortar board and gown. We saw this sort of picture proudly displayed in a number of better-class homes we visited on our travels. Outside this shop was a very clean Chinese-made 'Kenso' motor bicycle. I was intrigued by the 'Manchester United' custom saddle. Further observation showed that numerous Premier League clubs are featured. Then we went into the market itself, stepping over a low wooden step padlocked in place presumably to stop motor bicycles or similar entering the narrow aisles between the stalls.

A well-stocked pharmacy inside Katha market

As always, the overriding impression of the market was of the wide range of food and non-food items on offer and the friendliness of the population. Most of the stallholders were women, some accompanied by young children. The walls of a pharmacy stall were lined with wooden cupboards with glazed doors, crammed with remedies in a variety of bottles and packets, presumably mainly traditional.

Rejoining our fleet of trishaws, we started back towards the landing stage but, given the option of walking part of the way, I bailed out and walked down one of the main shopping streets. You see bicycles, motor bicycles, trishaws and tractors but I didn't see a single car. With the threat limited to fairly slow-moving vehicles, I was not too suprised to see three men engaged in an extended conversation in the middle of the street, oblivious to the passing traffic weaving around them.

Back at the riverbank, there was time to look around the outside of the temple and stupas, watch people joining the local ferries with all sorts of luggage and marvel at a rather derelict-looking 'Pandaw'-style boat which appeared to have two side-by-side diesels aft driving two fairly modern 'Z-Drives' from which I guessed she is still at work. Although there was a set of concrete landing steps leading into the river wherewe boarded, these were not in use but were occupied by an elderly woman washing clothes in the murky river water. From the number of bags and plastic containers of washing laid out on the steps above her, she either had a large family or, more likely, was providing a professional laundry service. My pictures around Katha are here.

By 10 o'clock, the two Fast Boats had transferred us all back to 'Road to Mandalay' and the ship set off upstream passing a succession of large and small villages with temples and stupas and friendly residents who frequently stood watching the great white ship as she passed. We passed a series of logging camps where barges were being provided with outriggers to support the heavy logs to be carried away downstream.

A barge provided with outriggers. The network of ropes attached to the booms suspend the logs to be transported just underwater.

At a school we passed, all the pupils were on the river bank cheering and waving, so I assumed they'd benefitted from the RTM charity. My pictures as we sailed north are here.

We enjoyed buffet lunch and later Sammi had arranged a visit to the ship's stainless steel kitchen where twelve people work.

As we continued our cruise, I was introduced to a huge, green praying mantis with a head-neck-body length of about 5 inches. I was told he'd been happily sitting on the ship's rail, hitching a lift, since lunchtime. One of the guides seemed to think it was a grasshopper although I thought it was a mantis (on my return I confirmed it was a mantis, probably Acromantis indica, common name Burmese Mantis). A German passenger taking photographs disturbed the mantis who, to my surprise slowly climbed onto the back of my hand where he seemed quite happy.

Jan makes friends with a green praying mantis.

There are a few more pictures of the mantis here.

Whilst this was going on, we had arrived at Shwe Paw Island and dropped anchor mid-channel. The Yellow Flag Fast Boat had loaded its complement of passengers so I dashed to my room and then to the boat, muttering apologies about having been delayed by a "grasshopper". A short trip by Fast Boat took us to the island and its village of Shwe Paw Kyun.

It seemed a fairly idyllic spot and, at least as far as the first area we walked through, a fairly well-off place. Houses were substantially built of teak, in a rectangular garden with bamboo fences. A series of beaten earth 'roads' thread between the properties. We'd been assured that we'd be welcome to look inside any house we came across - the occupants would see it as an honour that foreigners would want to inspect their abode. This view is so different from the Western belief of a 'home being a castle' that I found it impossible to test the theory. However, after the Guest Lecturer, Pauline, inspected a handsome property, I diffidently approached the girl in the upper storey of the house and, in sign language, confirmed that I was welcome. The girl called herself Mi-Mi and in the dark cool upper room I spotted a picture of her in mortarboard and gown, although she looked too young to have been to university. Further on, San chatted to a dignified lady of 71 who stood at the bamboo gate of her house, with a dog curled up nearby. We passed a woman with a long bamboo pole, knocking coconuts from a tree, then a group of three women, two with young babies, just chatting on a street corner. I never did find out who the three men were who followed us for some time, one talking earnestly into a two-way radio, one with an important-looking sheaf of paperwork. We crossed a creek on a very attractive covered bridge, where a young woman was sitting with her beautiful young daughter. At another very prosperous-looking substantial teak-built villa the owners, a middle-aged couple, came over to talk to San. It appeared that they were the owners of the Fast Boats which we were using. On subsequent days, the man appeared on our Fast Boats. I formed the opinion that it was probably his wife who was the driving force for the business.

Smiling villagers in Shwe Paw Khun

Pictures of the village are here. We carried on towards the island's Primary School, watched by more groups of smiling villagers.

Another presentation of stationery was being made to the pupils at the primary school but, by the time my group arrived, this was virtually completed. However, there was time for photographs of the happy, excited children.

'RTM' passengers visit Shwe Paw school.

Pictures of the school are here.

We made our way back across the island and entered the monastery complex. This is an ancient and revered site as was clear from the multitude of buildings we walked through. We saw the head monk, attended by four elderly monks. I was intrigued by the contrast between the simplicity of their life and the installations of sound equipment necessary to relay the reading of the Buddhist scriptures to the outside world. We passed through the museum where numerous treasures are kept. Outside, we walked alongside lifelike statuary illustrating various Buddhist stories before coming to an area crammed with pagodas of various ages and designs. With perhaps hundreds of close-packed spires pointing skywards, I was reminded of my visit to Kakku on a earlier trip to Burma.

Pagodas at Shwe Paw Monastery.

More pictures of the Monastery are here.

We left the monastery via a long, covered passageway and soon came back to the landing place for our fast boat. However, I was told that the Doctor was holding an impromptu clinic a little further along and I was invited to have a look at that and catch a later Fast Boat back to the ship.

The Clinic held by Doctor Hla Tun on Shwe Paw Island (Photo: RTM)

There is no doctor, nurse or midwife on Shwe Paw island so the impromptu clinic set up by Doctor Hla Tun attracted 19 patients. In the absence of a suitable building, the clinic was set up at the side of the road, with some wooden staging used as an examination couch. The Western concept of privacy appears unknown, so a crowd of villagers watched the consultations in awe. The Doctor treated a series of problems apparently completely unfazed by the conditions, producing meticulous notes on the patients and the remedy prescribed. Oral medicines were dispensed from a carrier bag of assorted treatments but some of the conditions required injections. I watched for a time but, when the departure of a Fast Boat to the ship was announced, I returned to the ship. The Doctor returned later when he'd completed the consultations. My pictures of the Clinic are here.

After dinner on the ship, we were entertained in the Observation Lounge by a group of Shan Dancers. There are a few more pictures here.

[Additional material added 20-Sep-2010, 21-Oct-2010]

Kya Hnyat Village

Friday 27th August 2010

Unusually, I woke up two or three times in the night, finally getting up just before six. Shortly afterwards, the ship set off upstream. I took breakfast on the Top Deck around 6.30 a.m. so as to be ready in good time for our trip ashore. When we arrived at Kya Hnyat, the ship anchored mid-channel and we could see a traditional village on the right bank.

Our two Fast Boats had been moored at the river bank by the village and soon they rendezvoused with our ship. The Yellow Flag Fast Boat tied up to the ship and the usual arrangements were made for transferring passengers. At 7.25 a.m., all the Yellow Group passengers (including me) had boarded and we made the short journey to the village, allowing the Green Flag Fast Boat to tie-up to the ship and pick up the Green Group passengers.

The busy market at Kya Hnyat

Mr. Win, my group's guide, led us up the steep path from the shore and we were immediately immersed in village life. Men, women and children were everywhere, usually initially staring at the apparition of Westerners who had suddenly appeared in their midst. A combination of "Mingale Ba" (Good Morning), a smile or slight doffing of the head on our part elicited a broad smile with all but the most shy.

We walked through the market area where decrepit wooden stalls were arranged to leave narrow paths of hard earth forming a square grid. The range of vegetables, fruit, fish and meat was remarkable but the standards of cleanliness would have induced an immediate heart attack in a European health inspector. As Mr. Win identified the different foods and described the method of preparation and the health benefits (obesity and heart problems are allegedly rare) we garnered lots of smiles from the locals. Dogs and cats wandered between the stalls unmolested.

The stallholders each had a simple 2-pan balance for weighing the food but there were very few balance weights. Then I realised that they each had a collection of (presumably spent) dry cell batteries, size 'A' or smaller, which were being used as balance weights. Sight of this would presumably have seen off any European Weights and Measures inspector!

The population of the village was supposed to be around 1,000 and it seemed that all of them were in the market. Of course, many of the people we saw would have come in from surrounding villages by bullock cart, Chinese-made motor cycle or on foot.

The side of the market away from the river bank extended along one side of the 'main street' of beaten earth. Here we found non-food businesses like Tea Shops, public telephone shop (where you pay the proprietor to use a telephone) and hardware shops. The ubiquitous Chinese-made motor cycles, usually with three people on board, somehow managed to thread their way through the pedestrians without accident. We came to a white-painted Stupa with a number of bullock carts standing outside. A game of handball had just finished and the young men players wandered off in various directions. Next, we came to a modern brick clock tower. The usefulness of the clock was somewhat limited by its having no fingers. Just beyond the clock tower, there was a large open-sided assembly hall and the high-pitched hubbub indicated that there were already a number of young children inside.

The schoolchildren at Kya Hnyat

I wasn't prepared for the number of children sitting on the floor - after the stragglers arrived, there must have been around 1,000 young pupils. The Doctor was at the front of the assembly, standing by a table loaded with 500 ruled exercise books and a similar number of pencils with erasers. At 8.39 a.m., the stern-faced male teacher called for quiet and then had the children sing (unaccompanied and surprisingly tunefully) three songs.They then recited a prayer of thanks to the donors.

Some of the RTM Guests were then issued with a stack of exercise books and a bundle of pencils and told to pass among the seated children distributing one book and one pencil to each child. There was not much space to work through the crowd and only having 500 books meant that many children would be disappointed. The Doctor was surprised at the number of children attending since over 500 books and pencils had been distributed on the previous Bhamo cruise.

I'm afraid that in the excitement of the moment, discipline rather broke down. I became mobbed by chilren and surrounded by grasping hands. Clearly, the larger children had an advantage in trying to obtain a gift. I deployed my best school-ma'am voice in an attempt to dissuade the bigger chilren from intercepting items intended for younger chilren but I'm sorry to say that even the sternest of warnings in English failed to achieve a very satisfactory result.

After a few minutes, all the available books and pens had been issued but the Doctor had a few packets of wrapped sweets which we quickly issued to a different part of the crowd. Peace returned as the teacher dismissed the children at 8.50 a.m. to go to their indivual schoolrooms.

Somewhat shell-shocked, we continued our walking tour of the village, stopping first at a small, wooden doctor's surgery which has recently opened. The twenty-five year old doctor said that he normally treated about ten patients every day. The most common problems, he explained, were influenza and malaria.

On a dusty street corner, a woman was selling Thanaka in the form of small logs. We soon gathered a small, friendly crowd as Mr. Win explained the use of Thanaka. We continued through a residential area where dogs, cats and rather scrawny Burmese chickens roamed free. We passed a barber's shop (a simple wooden open-fronted gabled construction equipped with table, mirror and chair leaving the barber and customer in full view. After passing another hardware store filled with intriguing items the purpose of which could only be guessed at, we made our way back through the market and boarded the waiting Fast Boats.

Whilst we'd been in the village, our ship had weighed anchor and was already proceeding upstream so it was necessary for us to match motion with the ship before coming alongside. The Captain later explained that, in such strong current, he cannot hold the ships position accurately without putting down the anchors so ship normally makes around 8 knots whilst, one after the other, the Fast Boats tie-up alongside. It's quite exciting to watch the vessels come together but once the process is complete, it's perfectly safe and simple for the passengers to transfer. As the Captain said, a good example of Einstein's Relativity.

The rest of the day was spent more quietly on the ship as we passed through the Third Defile towards Katha. I was intrigued by the sudden appearance of a fairly large industrial zone on the East Bank. The Captain identified a working sugar-processing plant and nickel factory under construction but I could see fractionating columns at another plant and, in the distance, two tall chimneys, one long 3 or 4 storey building with windows and two multistorey apartment blocks. Two tower cranes were still at work on this Chinese-financed major development.

The scene became more rural again. The inundation of the low-lying land on our left meant that a number of the smallholdings we passed had temporarily become islands.

Later, on our left, we passed quite a large town which straggled along the river bank for some distance, the area liberally sprinkled with gold pagodas. One large passenger ferry was moored at the town's landing stage.

We cruised fairly close to the left bank of the wide river so we had a good view of the various villages we passed with the wooden houses built on stilts to cater for very high water. The passage of 'Road to Mandalay' is quite an event and villages lined the bank to wave as we passed. The passengers were similarly lined against the ship's rail, reciprocating the friendly greeting. The countryside was getting distinctly more 'jungly' and, in the distance, mountains could be seen.

Logging Camp en route to Katha

This is logging country and we passed one large loading point extending over a few acres filled with hardwood logs and provided with a series of cranes at the waterside to load the barges which carry the timber downstream. The barges are provided with outrigger booms formed from suitable hardwood logs on both sides of the hull. The booms are terminated in bundles of bamboo to provide buoyancy. The heavy logs to be transported are then suspended by rope from from the booms.

At 4.30 p.m. the Guest Lecturer gave an interesting lecture on Buddhist Art and its interpretation.

Around 6.30 p.m. we moored for the night mid-channel, a few miles south of Katha, just as it started to rain. Whilst we were having dinner, the rain intensified and the proposed release of Shan Fire Balloons had to be deferred.

Pictures of Kya Hnyat Village are here.

Pictures of Kya Hnyat School are currently missing, sorry.

Pictures sailing north to Katha are here.

Nwe Nyein Pottery Village

Thursday 26th August 2010

Around 5.30 a.m. the 'Road to Mandalay' 'set sail' upstream. We cruised past a number of villages with simple houses built on stilts with people stirring and going about their business like fishing, tending animals or working in their fields.

After transferring from 'Road to Mandalay' to the Fast Boat, we sailed ahead to the Pottery Village.

Around ten, our two Fast Boats approached and the Green Flag boat moored alongside our ship which was still making headway at about 8 knots. Once the Fast Boat had taken on its complement of passengers, it departed upstream, allowing the Yellow Flag boat to similarly board the rest of the passengers. After a cruise upstream of about 45 minutes, we reached the Nwe Nyein pottery village, with our ship slowly following.

We clambered ashore and started a walking tour of the village. It seemed to comprise one main street of earth with houses and shops on either side. The buildings varied from basic wood-framed with woven bamboo walls to substantial, modern constructions with the inevitable satellite antenna outside. Turning off the main road, we came to one of the potteries. The main item produced is glazed water pots which can be very large.

The clay is apparently brought from a mile or so away. Large pots are made in sections and we watched the base section being made by a potter. A simple 'Kick Wheel' is set in the earth floor on which the potter makes the pot using 'sausages' of clay spiralled to form the walls of the pot and he slowly turns the wheel with his foot. Making pots of this size requires the use of a thick 'sausage' about four inches diameter aqnd quite a number are needed just to make the base section. It takes strength and dexterity to form a reasonable shape. Further sausages may be needed to provide the necessary wall thickening and additional lumps of clay are used to create the finished smooth surface.

Great skill (and not a little strength) is required to build the base of a large water pot from a thich clay 'sausage'.

Wherever we went, there always seemed to be plenty of men, women and children just hanging around to watch their strange visitors. I found it hard to get used to the fact that they love having their photograph taken and they will strike what they consider an appropriate pose as soon as they spot a camera lens. It was difficult to catch them unawares to get a more 'natural' shot. One of the guides, San, was distributing prints of photographs he'd taken on a previous trip. This caused great amusement as the villagers identified the images and showed one another the prints.

The pots are air dried in large warehouses and then glazed and fired. We looked at a kiln in a large, wooden shed. The kiln appeared to be beehive-shaped about ten foot hall, surrounded by massive brick and earth walls. The wood-framed doorway through which the pots had presumably been loaded had been bricked-up, leaving a series of air-holes towards the bottom and a 'firing hole' about 15 inches square at the top. The kiln had be lit the previous day and a man was thrusting length after length of bamboo through the firing hole to sustain the orange glow inside.

We returned to the main part of the village by descending a fairly steep path, passing a number of women climbing up, each carrying two jars about two feet diameter on a wooden board balanced on their head. The ship's staff had arranged a refreshment stop under a roofed area with iced water and soft drinks. On the opposite side of the lane, there was a similar roofed area used for drying pots where a couple of dozen men women and children had gathered, like an audience, to watch the foreigners perform. I found that rather surreal.

We walked back along the main street to the waiting Fast Boats. By this time, the 'Road to Mandalay' had caught up with us and the first Fast Boat rendezvoused with the big ship with the big ship under way. With everybody from that Fast Boat back on board, the second Fast Boat was able to discharge its passengers and then both Fast Boats set off upstream ahead of the big ship.

The Fast Boats went ahead because the Doctor had loaded exercise books and pencils which were to be distributed to a number of schools on the stretch of river to Male. When the big ship reached the first of these schools, all the pupils were on the river bank, waving their new exercise books and cheering. In turn, the passengers on the 'Road to Mandalay' waved back, accompanied by a furious clicking of camera shutters. This scene was repeated as we passed each school to which books had been donated. At at least one school, the pupils had made signs saying 'THANK YOU' which they held aloft. On the previous Bhamo trip ('BHAMO 1') stationery had been distributed to 5 schools but, on our trip, the Doctor had added deliveries to two more villages - Yone Khing and Ma Au.

At each school we passed, all the children came to the riverbank to wave and say 'thank you' for the stationery delivered earlier by the Fast Boats.

At 4 o'clock the Guest Lecturer, Patricia Welch, delivered an interesting talk on Buddhist Art.

At 6.30 p.m. there was a 'Longyi Cocktail Party' when most of the passengers, men and women, wore Longyi following a previous demonstration featuring Longyi and Thanaka on that afternoon.

The day finished with a convivial dinner in the Restaurant followed, for those who wished, by drinks in the Piano Bar to the accompaniment of music played on a Roland Electronic Piano.

My pictures sailing north to Nwe Nyein Pottery Village (by 'Road to Mandalay' and Fast Boat) are here.

My pictures of Nwe Nyein Pottery Village are here.

My pictures sailing further north to Male (past the riverside schools) are here.

Back to Mandalay

Tuesday 24th August 2010

I wasn't expecting an Airbus for the Yangon flight but that's what was provided and we had a comfortable, if short flight. The business section is laid out in a spacious 2+2+2 layout. With a flight time of just over one hour, the friendly cabin staff had their work cut out to serve the simple but nicely-presented meal.

Immigration at Yangon did not take long and my checked bag arrived on the carousel in the baggage hall at the same time that I did. Passing through the Green Channel, I entered the Arrivals Hall to see Thet, one of the 'Road to Mandalay' guides, holding a board with my name on above his head, accompanied by a lady I'd not met before who apparently handles arrangements at the airport for 'RTM'. I was soon in the car for the fairly quick journey into Yangon.

It's peasant to arrive at a hotel and recognise the same members of staff - the Strand always seems like home-from-home to me.

This time, I was in room 202 with the same spacious facilities as other rooms and a view out to Strand Road. The hotel now has Wi-Fi which was indifferent in my room but fine just outside my room in the seating area overlooking the atrium. I ordered a simple meal from room service and, before I'd finished my e-mailing, the food arrived so I quickly pressed 'Send' and returned to my room. I'd discovered that Googlemail worked fine but blogging sites still seemed to be prohibited. I was tired from the journey and, as I needed to get up at 4.45 a.m. the next day, I did not delay long in climbing into the huge, comfortable bed.

Wednesday 25th August 2010

My alarm woke me on the 25th and, a few minutes later, the telephone rang with the morning call I'd booked as a back-up. Shortly afterwards, my cooked breakfast arrived allowing me to be ready and waiting in reception for my 5.30 a.m. pick-up. Another RTM Guide, Gigi, arrived and when we were joined by a German lady also booked on the trip we climbed into the people carrier for transfer to the Domestic Terminal for our flight to Mandalay.

The domestic terminal is still a fairly ramshackle affair but it seems to work and my large suitcase was whisked away to re-appear magically when I got to my cabin on the ship. I was issued with a sticky Yangon Airways label badge and a boarding pass for flight 'SPL'. About 6.30, a fairly large party arrived who had been at the Governor's Residence hotel. In the departure hall, announcements are only made in Burmese but a 'bell boy' tours the hall holding a board with the flight number on it so, when 'YANGON AIRWAYS SPL' was displayed we made our way onto the bus for transfer to the waiting aircraft - an ATR72-210 turbo-prop. The aircraft was almost full of 'RTM' passengers. Departure had been shown on our instructions as 7 o'clock but, in fact, we were airborne at 6.45 a.m. for the 80 minute flight to Mandalay.

Pictures on the flight to Mandalay are currently missing, sorry.

Mandalay International Airport's 18,000 foot runway (designated 17-35) is the longest in South East Asia so our aircraft had no trouble in landing and taking one of the high-speed turn-offs part way down the runway. A coach transferred us the short distance to the terminal building. Because there are no scheduled international departures, the large terminal was largely deserted and after X-raying our hand luggage on the way out (what's that about?) we quickly found our guide (I'm part of Mr. Win's English-speaking group) and our Bus, Number 3.

We took the dual-carriageway toll road towards Mandalay itself. It's the rainy season so we passed lots of fields inundated by river water but this annual flooding brings nutrients making the land very fertile. When we reached the river itself, we took the new road bridge across to Sagaing. A toll is now collected.

Painted Buddha image in a temple on the Sagaing Hills

Sagaing is regarded as the spiritual centre of Burma and the myriad green hills are dotted with stupas and monasteries in a variety of designs. We made a visit to the 2nd tallest hill, topped by a temple and a television transmitter. A narrow, steep, winding road struggles up the hill past numerous monasteries. Heavy rain during the night had caused a retaining wall to collapse at one point. A gang of volunteers was clearing the road of debris prior to making repairs, in this way gaining 'Merit' by their unselfish actions. The morning was dry and sunny so, after we had toured the temple complex, we had good views of the river and the flooded fields below and caught our first views of the 'Road to Mandalay' at her 'home berth' across the river.

Rejoining our bus, we descended to the plain and passed through one of the villages making water storage pots which I'd visited on an earlier trip to stop at a silversmiths' workshop to look at the beautiful embossed silver articles being made. I'd visited this on an earlier trip but I was very happy to have another opportunity to watch the craftsmen at work.

Pictures on our trip around Sagaing are here.

By now, it was after 11 o'clock to our ship was ready to receive us. The coaches parked in the 'RTM' compound and I got out, to be warmly greeted by the Captain who, after shaking hands with the other guests, accompanied me to the ship. My friend Doctor Hla Tun was there, together with a number of the hotel staff I knew from previous trips so it was a joyful reunion. I was fairly tired so, after a few minutes of conversation, I was shown to my room where I took a shower prior to the ship sailing.

I felt I was home again.

I went up to the top deck at 12.30 p.m., just as the ship was leaving the berth. The Captain manoevred the ship clear and crossed the river to the Sagaing side before heading upstream. This gave the passengers an excellent view of the Sagaing Hills with their Pagodas and Monasteries. The Captain and I talked for a while before I took buffet Lunch on the Top Deck.

We continued upstream past Mandalay Landing stage and the boats of every description tied up along the eastern bank of the river. There were a number of 'Pandaw' design vessels plus the new-build 'R.V. Paukan' which can be described as "Pandaw's Big Brother". The Captain was critical of her appearance and I had to admit that the proportions and styling of the vessel didn't seem quite right.

I'm sorry to report that the skyline of Mandalay City has been impaired by the ongoing construction of a high rise block of apartments - a philistine addition to a city which still retains at least some of the elegance of a former capital city.

As we continued north, the massive bulk of the Unfinished Pagoda at Mingun appeared on the western bank. The ship anchored midstream when we were level with the Unfinished Pagoda and a 'Fast Boat' appeared and moored alongside. A custom-made set of steps complete with handrails were installed on the side of the big ship to allow passengers to transfer to the Fast Boat.

The Fast Boats are passenger carrying ferries, steel-built and carrying passengers on two decks. At the rear is a massive diesel engine (it appeared to be a Nissan V10 on one which I later examined). At present, two of these boats are chartered by RTM to support the operation.

The World's Largest Uncracked Bell at Mingun

Passengers wishing to go ashore at Mingun were ferried to the landing stage in two trips. The afternoon heat was stifling. As a popular tourist destination, we encountered a number of buildings serving as Art Galleries selling oil paintings together with hordes of vendors who were very persuasive following us for some distance. There were also a number of bullock cart Taxis touting for business. We had a close look at the base of the Unfinished Pagoda (which I didn't climb on this occasion) and then moved onto the Mingun Bell. This 90-ton bell was intended for the Unfinished Pagoda. The earthquake of 1839 brought down this bell which lay on the ground until 1896 when Queen Victoria was pleased to have the bell re-hung on massive cast columns. After trying out the bell, we moved on to what is sometimes called the 'Wedding Cake Pagoda' because of its design and white paint finish. After climbing to the top, we retraced our steps to where members of the ships hotel staff has set up refreshments with iced water and soft drinks. Thus fortified, we walked back to the landing stage and the Fast Boat returned everybody to the ship in two trips.

At 7.00 p.m., we were invited for drinks on the top deck where Sammy Bottari, a charming young woman from Australia who is now Hotel Manager, introduced the Ship's Officers and Heads of Department. A dance group then demonstrated a traditional Burmese humorous dance routine before we all trooped to the dining room for the Welcome Dinner. After dinner, I was happy to retire to my cabin for the night, thoroughly exhausted.

Pictures of the Cruise to Mingun are here.

Pictures of our shore visit to Mingun are here.

On to Bangkok

We boarded the EVA Air 777-300ER at Heathrow in good time, ready to leave as scheduled at 21:35 but the Captain came on the public address to say that he was still awaiting his clearance because of Air Traffic delays in the London area and departure would be delayed by about twenty minutes.

Sure enough, just before ten p.m. the tug pushed us back and we commenced taxiing - a long-winded start-stop process as we were in a queue for runway Two Seven Left, with take-offs about every two minutes. Two separate lines of aircraft were converging on the runway so I counted at least fourteen departures before we hurtled down the runway and took to the sky ourselves. We made a left-hand climbing turn over south London.

It was already dark but there was very little cloud so the full or almost full moon looked like a massive spotlight. Orange artificial lighting identified towns and thin orange necklaces marked the roads. I was initially puzzled by a bright white patch ahead. This resolved itself into the English Channel, reflecting the moonlight.

They served a reasonable supper and then darkened the cabin for the 10-hours plus slog to Bangkok. The electric seats can be configured almost flat and they issued a duvet so I managed a few hours sleep. Considering the wonder of modern flight, it seems churlish to become bored on a long flight but I'm afraid I did. Because of the time difference, it was three o'clock in the afternoon when we landed at what I call the 'new' Bangkok airport (although it's actually celebrating its third birthday at present).

Check-in for the Thai flight to Yangon at the transfer desk was painless and, after a bit of leg-stretching, I made my way to the Thai lounge to give you this update. Incidentally, Thailand lived up to its 'Land of Smiles' tag because the security staff at the X-ray and metal detector checkpoint to get from Level 2 Arrivals to Level 3 Departures were smiling and polite.

More when I can ...

Off again!

I'm off again, this time to Burma. I've not yet finished writing about the wonderful trip to the Arctic and already I'm leaving for a cruise on the Irrawaddy River.

Alan brought me to Heathrow Terminal 3 this evening, but I feel I may have fallen through a time-warp into a parallel universe as the lady on security not only gave me a wide smile but helped to arrange my carry-on luggage on the trays for X-Ray. Bemused by this unusual kindness, I went through passport control. I noted that the Passport Officer greeted the child of the lady in front of me with a 'high five' so I was prepared when, having checked my passport, the gave me a big smile and wished me well.

I'm travelling with Eva Air (the Taiwanese carrier) on their flight BR0068 as far as Bangkok. The aircraft will then continue to Taipei. Eva Air share the American Airlines lounge - a spacious, modern lounge with splendid views of the apron and plenty of working computers to give you this update.

As the trip proceeds, communication may become more difficult but the reports of my three previous trips to Burma may give you an idea of why the country exerts such a fascination for me.

Arctic Adventure - Longyearbyen

Thursday 11th August 2010

Longyearbyen, with two of the preserved wooden supporting towers for the abandoned aerial ropeway.

As requested, the passengers had placed their luggage outside each suite on Wednesday night. Early on Thursday morning, I'd watched the luggage being placed on the quay. As a drizzle started, a large tarpaulin was stretched over the multi-coloured suitcases.

Breakfast on Thursday was the last meal on the ship and then we 'swiped-out' for the last time before leaving the ship to identify our luggage. By this time, the rain had stopped and the tarpaulin had been removed but finding and identifying the luggage of 120-odd people involved a bit of a scrum. Four large coaches were waiting for us. Like the majority of the passengers, I'd opted for coach transfer to the town, giving me a couple of hours to explore the town before catching a coach to the airport where we would be re-united with our luggage.

We drove out of the port and turned left onto the road to the town centre, with the narrowing fjord on our left and the looming mountain on our right. Just a few minutes brought us to the small town which is built in a valley running at right angles to the fjord. The buildings were modern and mainly wood-built Although there was some snow high on the mountains, most of the hills were dark and rather oppressive. I was reminded of a Welsh pit village and the image is appropriate because coal mining forms an important part of the history of Longyearbyen.

The town is remarkable in many ways. It is the administrative centre of Svalbard and, I was told, has a population of around 2,500 (the whole of Svalbard has a population of around 2,700!). When I visited, it was still the period of 'Midnight Sun' with no snow but, a little later in the year, the area enters a long period of permanent twilight when it never enjoys daylight and heavy snowfall can be relied upon. It takes a certain sort of individual to want to live there permanently.

The industrial heyday was at the beginning of the 20th century when John Monroe Longyear, an American businessman, developed a series of coal mines around the town now named after him. Longyear established an elaborate aerial ropeway system to bring the coal down to the fjord for exporting by ship. The abandoned remains can be seen all around the town today. Anything over 50 years old is regarded as a cultural relic and protected. Modern-day mining is concentrated on more discreet installations and tourism is now an important industry.

After the first world war, the Spitsbergen Treaty confirmed the territory as Norwegian but gave the various signatory countries residential, commercial and research rights which are still exercised.

More follows ...

Wikipedia has more information.

My Collection of Arctic pictures is here.

My pictures of arrival and disembarkation are here.

My pictures around the town are here.

My pictures of the Aerial Ropeway are here.

My pictures of mining equipment are here.

Arctic Adventure - 11

Wednesday 11th August 2010

All my Arctic pictures are here.

My pictures at the July 14th Glacier are here.

Jan on the beach with the July 14th Glacier in the background.

Our success in spotting Polar Bears meant that the number of shore visits was rather less than originally intended. On the day before the cruise ended, we made a shore visit uninterrupted by Polar Bears at the July 14th Glacier. This glacier was named by Prince Albert I of Monaco and named after the date of its discovery in honour of Bastille Day in France.

The Zodiacs landed us on a flat beach with the option of a level walk along the beach to the left for a spot of bird watching or a walk along the beach to the right followed by a hike up the rocks bordering the glacier for views from the top of the glacier.

Of course, I elected to hike up the rocks. The expedition staff had surveyed a route through the rocks and marked it with a series of flags. It was quite a tough climb but well worth the effort. The plateau at the top of the glacier represented the limit of our wandering, so fairly soon I was descending again. The gesturing of one of the staff caught my attention and, following his pointed I had a wonderful sighting of an Arctic Fox as he descended from the glacier and without haste made his way across my field of view to the beach and along the shoreline. He was in his summer coat of two-tone grey (the fur is white only during winter) and a handsome fellow.

One of the Zodiacs was picking up a couple of passengers from the shore near the base of the glacier and I accepted the offer of a lift back to the landing point. We had really close sightings of a pair of barnacle geese strolling unconcernedly along the beach.

I disembarked at the landing point and there was time to walk to the group of birdwatchers who'd been watching another arctic fox on the hillside. This fox had dark brown fur but was much further away than my earlier sighting. The sun shone and everybody was a little sorry, I think, when the time came for us all to return to the ship.

We continued sailing south until we came to the fjord leading to Longyearbyen where we docked in the early evening. One more night on board and then we would leave the ship and most of the passengers would catch the afternoon flight from Longyearbyen Airport back to Oslo before going our separate ways.

Arctic Adventure - 10

Tuesday 10th August 2010

My Arctic pictures are here.

We anchored off the flat spit of land known as Smeerenburg (Dutch for 'Blubbertown'. This was a whaling station used by a number of Dutch companies in the 17th century. During this period, whales were hauled ashore, hacked to pieces and the blubber was heated in huge open pans to release the oil. Baleen plates (the filters through which whales filter sea water to extract the plankton) were valuable to provide 'whalebone' used in ladies' corsetry.

Very little of the original station remains - a few timber building foundations and indications of the boiling pans. Boiling pans survive from other sites but there is none at Smeerenburg. Conservation is very strict in Svalbard - anything man-made over 50 years old is a 'Cultural Artefact' and must be left alone.

Whilst Colleen was relating more of the history of the site, one of the Bear Guards approached shouting 'Everybody back to the boats!' and we were shepherded back to the landing site where Victoria and Colleen were trying to get people into lifejackets and into Zodiacs.My Zodiac cruised to where the Bear Guards were carefully watching to offer them a lift, but they suggested that we continued to where they'd spotted a Polar Bear to observe it from the safety of the Zodiac.

We travelled about half a mile before spotting a bear walking across the rocky hillside towards the place we'd just left. The other Zodiacs joined us and we slowly retraced our route, keeping pace with the bear. The bear, in a very sure-footed manner, was plodding across the rocky hillside at a constant 4 to 5 miles an hour. They can keep this up indefinitely when stalking prey but have a burst speed up to 40 miles an hour when going for the kill. The bear was clearly aware of our presence but continued his plodding, descending the hillside to the shore and then continuing along the rocky beach. It was a remarkable experience to be able to observe the animal for half a mile or so from the safety of the Zodiacs and it gave a slight understanding of how inexorable the animal can be in pursuit of food.

More later ...

GWR 'Light Prairie' 5542

The Battlefield Line hired in 'Light Prairie' 5542 to run the service during the summer weekends and she has proved popular with customers and operating staff alike. As a further attraction, the trains have included a preserved observation car.

Because of other commitments (like my Arctic Adventure) my chance to try out this engine came on Sunday 22nd August. Carl was fireman and Sam cleaner. 'Pockets' came with us on a couple of trips.

Although I've been fortunate in working on a number of GWR locomotives, this was a first 'Light Prairie' I've been on (I did have a fairly exciting run firing 'Big Prairie 4160 on the West Somerset some years ago but that's another story).

I'd forgotten that the design was introduced as early as 1906 (although 5542 is a later build). George Jackson Churchward was Dean's deputy for a number of years before becoming CME and in that time he had started to formulate his policies for equipping the Great Western Railway with the finest motive power possible. In a flurry of activity after he took over, Churchward laid down the templates for locomotive design which served the railway for years to come.

Well, we had a grand day running five service trains to Shenton and back and 5542, as expected, steamed freely and performed willingly. I'll tell you more when I can.

My pictures of 5542 are here.

Arctic Adventure - 9

Monday 9th August 2010

My Arctic pictures are here.

We cruised overnight to reach Liefdefjord which is part of the North West Spitsbergen National Park. Shortly after 6.0 a.m. I was on the bridge observing as we manoevred towards the glaciers at Monacobreen. Robin and other members of the Expedition Team were also on the bridge, planning the day's activities. Robin spotted a Polar Bear on a small ice floe ahead of us and made an announcement to the passengers to give them a chance to observe. I moved onto the foredeck for a closer view. The floating ice held a large, healthy polar bear aqnd the remains of a seal. The bear and the ice floe showed patches of blood. The bear had clearly had his fill (it's the fat bears prefer) and a number of birds were attacking what the bear had left. After a while, the bear pushed the remains into the water and then slipped into the water himself. The bear's head could be seen for a short while as he swam away from the ice but we soon lost sight of him. An astonishing experience.

At 8.0 a.m. the first Groups boarded Zodiacs for a tour along the Monacobreen Glacier edge. I had a later departure with the second Groups at about 10.0 a.m. As you'd expect, the water in front of the glacier edge is heavily loaded with pieces of ice produced by the 'calving' process as the ice melts and sections of the ice front crash into the fjord. The zodiac made progress by a series of bumps and bangs over the larger lumps. We couldn't approach the ice front too closely because of the possibility of a section of ice detaching but, whilst we were cruising, we saw a number of 'calvings'.

The collapses are preceded by a rumble like thunder combined with a tearing noise. The amount of ice released each time varies from dissappointingly small to impressively large. The larger amounts produce a noticeable 'tsunami wave' and the crashing ice stirs up nutrients making it a bird paradise.

There were thousands of Kittiwakes and plenty of the more common Arctic species but we spotted a small number of the rare Ivory Gulls. The 'birders' were particularly pleased that we had a very good sighting of the extremely rare Sabine Gull (the entire world population is thought to be no more than 20,000). I watched a spectacular 'dog-fight' between a Kittiwake carrying a fairly large fish and an Auk who was trying to steal the food. The Kittiwake wheeled and turned across the sky above my Zodiac, both birds demonstrating 'high rate' turns. Eventually, the Auk decided to find an easier target and flew off, allowing the Kittiwake to alight on a piece of floating ice near the Zodiac and start to devour the fish.

A little later, another Zodiac approached, driven by the Captain and carrying the Executive Chef, David, and members of the restaurant staff. To our surprise, we were offered a glass of champagne and a tray of chocolate and fruit snacks. After this delightful interlude, we had time for a little more bird-watching before making our way back through the floating ice to the ship. As soon as everyone was back on board, we set sail for the island of Andoye.

After the accustomed excellent lunch, we were to go on a second Zodiac tour. Originally, this was to be a landing but, after a mother and cub Polar Bear were spotted on the island, our plan was changed. The weather had also deteriorated and we set off across a fairly choppy sea with wind, rain and sea-spray combining to discourage even hardy travellers. In addition, earlier the mother and cub had been observed walking about and playing but, by the time we got there, mother and cub were both hunkered down. We made a few circuits of the bay to give mutliple photographic opportunities but the only movement was the mother periodically raising her head and then lowering it. Before our allowed time had expired, some of the passengers in my Zodiac had had enough and elected to return to the ship.

Before cocktails and dinner, we trooped to the theatre for a re-cap and briefing for the foll0owing day. After cocktails (in my case a Coca-Cola) I took dinner with my new friends from Texas. We were now heading south down the west coast of Svalbard in the Greenland Sea and the wind was producing quite a list which resulted in one or two accidents where crockery slid from tables onto the floor with a crash. After dinner, I spent some time on the bridge noticing that the list was indicated as up to seven degrees.

Arctic Adventure - 8

Sunday 8th August 2010

My Arctic pictures are here.

Well, I was wrong about there being no Midnight Sun because at midnight Saturday, it was a clear night with a bright sun. Very odd.

Overnight, we'd sailed around the top of Svalbard to find the sea ice and when I went on the foredeck around 7.0 a.m. we were slowly moving through the broken sea ice at a position of 80 degrees 43 minutes 45 seconds north and 19 degrees 51 minutes 15 seconds East.

Later in the morning, we stopped at a suitable site for a 'Polar Plunge' where 32 passengers and a number of staff jumped into the sea at about 1 degree centigrade from a Zodiac moored to the boarding platform. Two other Zodiacs with safety rings were on hand and each swimmer was equipped with a safety rope. I didn't participate in this activity which took place at 80 degrees 49 minutes 35 seconds north and 19 degrees 33 minutes 36 seconds East!

The ship then set off south. After lunch, we were invited to the Theatre for a very informative lecture on Ice and Glaciers given by Franz. Robin gave a 'Recap and Briefing' and at 3.30 p.m. Victoria gave a fascinating lecture about Arctic and Antarctic exploration including the successful Amundsen/Nobile journey over the pole by airship.

The ship engtered Sorgfjord where we were promised a landing and a hike. This time, there were no bears to cause us to amend the programme but since my Group was in the later departure, it was 6.30 p.m. before we left the ship for a 'wet' landing on the shingle beach. During the early part of the hike, we were looking at the geology of the island and the sparse Arctic vegetation. Later, we found reindeer droppings and three old, bleached antlers. Then we passed a single grave with a wooden grave marker - a vertical post which was probably once part of a cross. Finally, on the way to the shore, we walked near a 'modern' wooden hut which was fairly derelict and the remains of an earlier hut, flattened by the action of the wind and with many of the planks distributed many yards away. There were aqlso some loose bricks and a small rectangular brick foundation for another building. I was on the last Zodiac back to the ship - just two passengers and the balance of the expedition staff.

In the evening, we enjoyed a 'Venetian Dinner', to celebrate the presence of members of the Venetian Society on board. All returning Silversea passengers become members of the Venetian Society. For this type of dinner, the dress code becomes 'Casually Elegant' rather than the usual 'Casual'.

Arctic Adventure - 7

Saturday 7th August 2010

My Arctic pictures are here.

At Robin's recommendation, I was up just before six and on the foredeck with most of the guides and a few passeners. All night, we'd sailed along the glacial edge and we still had some distance to go as we headed more-or-less north up the east of the Svalbard archipelago. Periodically, we passed melt water streams gushing from the ice face. At once point, we witnessed the 'calving' process, as a large chunk of the ice face broke way and crashed into the sea with a rumble, producing a small wave which propagated out from the glacial edge. The sea surface was littered with chunks of glacial ice. The largest were mini-icebergs up to maybe sixty feet across. We avoided these but the smaller pieces of ice were no problem for our ice-strengthened double-hull and, from time-to-time, a loud thump would announce a chunk being thrust aside. This was a very effective wake-up call and the number of passengers on the foredeck or the upper observation decks started to increase.

After breakfast, we had a couple of lectures in the Theatre and a briefing by Robin on our planned landing on island of Storoya, in the north-east of the Svalbard chain of islands.

As we approached Isispynten, a number of the expedition team were on the bridge with binoculars, looking for signs of wildlife. Once polar bears were spotted, the plan to make a landing had to be changed into a Zodiac trip to watch the bears from the boats.

I was in the earlier Groups this time and our driver took us to the most likely spot and we could see a polar bear, but some way off. We tried another spot with a similar result - a sighting but not too close. We did see a number of species of birds and a single seal bobbed up and disappeared (we thought it was a seal rather than a walrus, but it was hard to be sure with a brief sighting). We'd added to our tally of polar bears so we returned to the ship quite happily, allowing passengers in the other Groups to start their tour. Of course, the polar bears move around and by the time the Zodiacs had got near the shore, one bear had moved much nearer and the other Groups had very good sightings. In a very even-handed way, Robin announced to Groups 1 and 2 that since viewing conditions had improved so much since our Zodiac Tour we could, if we wished, go back on a special second trip. This offer was much appreciated and I think more or less everyone 'suited up' quickly for the extra trip. Our sighting was, as promised, much better. A polar bear was on the beach, more concerned with the food he appeared to be devouring than the little boats offshore. Then he shambled off to the rocks at the back of the beach and settled down for a snooze.

Once all the passengers were safely back on the ship and the Zodiacs had been craned aboard, we set sail north for Storoya.

After lunch, we anchored off Storoya Island. Once again, polar bears were sighted so our proposed landing was converted into a Zodiac tour to observe the bears from the sea. The weather suddenly worsened and, by the time we boarded the zodiacs, there was a fair amount of swell, it was windy, misty and raining. We had a rather lively and damp journey to the shore but as we approached the beach, conditions became much better. There were large numbers of walrus' lying in various 'haul-outs' and two polar bears were prowling near the water's edge. Perhaps more remarkable was the way the sea around the zodiacs appeared to be boiling from the splashing of dozens of walrus' divided into a number of 'convoys'. They didn't appear aggressive and were probably just curious but it's an odd feeling to have so many creatures with long, curvingttusks only a few yards away in all directions.

On the landward side of the beach on higher ground there was a massive collection of at least twenty walrus'. The larger of the two polar bears lumbered across to this 'haul-out' and started threatening the walrus' by extending his neck towards the group. Some of the larger walrus reared up and made threatening movements in response. The smaller polar bear watched this for a while and then moved to the position initially occupied by the first bear, who moved to the other side of the group of walrus' in what appeared to be a pincer movement. About seven of the walrus' decided that discretion was the better part of valour and left the group for the sea moving in their undulating rather inelegant manner down the beach. But their was still a fairly massive 'rump' of walrus' who seemed to have no intention of moving and tension seemed to mount. The larger polar bear made a number of lunges into the group but each time the walrus' reared up and made the polar bear step back hastily. The smaller polar bear just seemed to stand there, discouraging the walrus' from moving that way. Eventually, the one polar bear lumbered off across the beach and, as we moved away still accompanied by flotillas of walrus', the other polar bear was a few yards away from the walrus', in an apparent 'stand-off'. We set of back to the ship, getting fairly wet once we regained more open sea. I think the cold was forgotten by most people who were marvelling at what we'd witnessed - as Robin described it later 'like watching a National Geographic Nature documentary'.

Arctic Adventure - 6

Friday 6th August 2010

My Arctic pictures are here.

Around 6.00 a.m. we anchored off Palanderbukta and a couple of Zodiacs went ashore with the Expedition Team to check-out the landing site. It had been a bright morning with mist on the tops of the surrounding hills but, as we took breakfast, the mist came down leaving very poor visibility and so it was no surprise when the proposed landing was cancelled and the ship moved away to give us a close view of a glacier front.

The foredeck was opened to passengers. On the way to the glacier front, we'd spotted a bearded seal just resting on an ice floe so, when we'd finished taking pictures of the glacier, the Captain re-traced his route and very gently brought the bow of the ship within a few dozen yards of the seal and stopped. The image of the seal in a 'face-off' with a relatively-huge ship crammed with humans in red parkas was irresistible but the seal was quite unfazed and remained on the ice as the ship backed away, turned and continued to Alkefjellet.

While the ship was positioning, there was time for lunch in the restaurant, today sitting with with a young couple from England I'd met earlier in the cruise and the couple from Sydney who'd been on the Captain's Table the other night. Equipped with warm clothing, binoculars and camera I then went on deck.

The ship cruised past the cliffs which are home to a large colony of Brunichs Gillemots. The Captain pointed the bow at the almost-vertical cliff and gently brought the ship to within a few dozen yards of the cliff face, making full use of the bow thrusters. Using occasional power, the Captain 'drifted' the ship across the cliff face, keeping the bow pointed at the cliff - a most impressive piece of seamanship. The cliff face was split by a number of vertical fissures, some quite deep and with waterfalls cascading into the sea and a series of very narrow generally-horizontal 'shelves'.

There were thousands of breeding pairs clinging precariously to the cliff, with hundreds flying in an out continuously and some bobbing on the surface of the sea. They made quite a racket and, once we got downwind, the smell of guano was obvious. My camera hasn't got the lens for wildlife photography, but many of the passengers were sporting cameras with massive lenses I'm sure I'd have had trouble carrying, let alone using.

The ship then carried on, working its way around the coastline until we came to our Anchorage at Augustabukta. The survey Zodiacs went ashore to make sure we could make a landing. Having set things up, groups 4 and 1 were landed whilst groups 2 (mine) and 3 waited on the ship.

Eventually, it was time for my group to go ashore and we made a 'wet' landing in a few inches of water on the shingle beach. We dumped our lifejackets in a large blue plastic bin. Colleen briefed us on the need for silence and the avoidance of sudden movement. We were to walk along the shingle a few hundred yards to a position where we could take photographs of an occupied walrus 'haul-out' near the sea. When we got there, there were a few tons of Altantic Walrus lying in the sun, occasionally raising a tusked head, slight altering their position or using a flipper for a scratch. There was one juvenile in the group, easily identified by the much shorter tusks. We stood there in wonder until Expedition Staff hustled us back to the Zodiacs with an air of urgency. At the time, we thought that this was because a sea mist was quickly rolling in and our ship, although only a few hundred yards away, was becoming hard to distinguish. We donned lifejackets and clambered aboard the remaining Zodiacs in record time then stood offshore a few yards whilst the Expedition Staff distributed themselves amongst the Zodiacs. The last person off the beach was one of the armed Bear Guards who had had to run back from their observation position a little way inshore.

It was only when we were safely back on the ship that we discovered that the real reason for our hasty retreat was the spotting of a Polar Bear just a mile away - the mist was only a secondary concern.

After this little adventure, I decided to have Afternoon Tea in the Panorama Lounge. I had tea with excellent raisin scones, clotted cream and strawberry jam. Whilst I was enjoying this, I was joined by a number ofr my American friends and discovered that it was Pauline's birthday. Her husband immediately invited us all to dinner with them and we decided to invite Chris Srigley and Victoria from the Expedition Staff as well. For some reason, I was delegated to make the invitations and confirm the arrangements with Marcello, the Maitre'd.

We enjoyed a very special meal but it did finish a little abruptly. We had started to cruise along the glacial edge - the longest in the Northern Hemisphere - and the sun was shining on the wall of ice. Robin came on the Public Address and, in excited tones, said "You REALLY ought to be out on deck", so we dutifully trooped outside to watch the passing scene. It was 11.0 p.m. before I returned to my cabin.

Arctic Adventure - 5

Thursday 5th August 2010

My Arctic pictures are here.

I woke around 5.0 a.m. with the sun already high in the sky, obscured by mist. At 6.0 a.m. the information channel on the television reported our position as 76 degrees north, 20 degrees east, heading a few degrees east of north at 14 Knots. The map display showed us on course for the island of Edgeoya but we were not scheduled to arrive until around 2.0 p.m.

The morning was made up of a talk on geology, a cocktail party for passengers who, like me, were making their first voyage with Silversea and another lecture by the Ship's Photographer on taking better photographs.

In the afternoon we were scheduled to make a Zodiac landing on Edgeoya, near Kapp Lee. Because they rotate the timings for the different groups, I was not scheduled to go ashore until 4.0 p.m.

However, the sighting of two polar bears near the landing site precluded landing - the bears are strictly protected and may not be disturbed. The ship 'parked' offshore and, with the aid of binoculars, I've now seen my first polar bear lumbering around. But it did seem incongruous to watch the polar bear moving across a green field since they're so associated with ice and snow. This year, the pack ice has not come this far south.

At lunchtime, I was still on deck watching the polar bear through binoculars. I noticed that some of my American friends had decided to take lunch at the 'Outdoor Grill' and they invited me to join them. After a pleasant light lunch, I returned to my cabin to do some more writing whilst groups 3 and 4 made a Zodiac cruise to see the bear and a group of walruses.

They brought forward our disembarkation time so that by four o'clock, the fleet of Zodiacs carrying groups 1 and 2 was quietly approaching the bear. The bear was sprawled on the black rocks near the water's edge. The lack of ice had made it a difficult year for bears and this specimen didn't look very plump or healthy. It certainly wasn't moving a lot, just occasionally lifting its head.

A little way off, a single walrus was languidly swimming near the shore. There are around 50,000 Atlantic Walruses left. I hadn't realised just how big they are. They can be thirteen feet long and weigh a ton. We then moved our position to be just offshore the beach where four male walruses we lying side-by-side. They seemed fairly relaxed - one of the group would lift his head from time to time before snuggling down again. The Zodiacs then returned to the ship in convoy and we cautiously clambered onto the pontoon at the base of the landing steps.

At 18:45, there was a 'Recap and Briefing' in the Theatre by members of the expedition team. When this finished, we all trooped down to the restaurant, presenting them with a sudden surge of diners which they handled with their usual efficiency and courtesy. I was at a table with my lunchtime companions and Katerina, one of the two Bear Guards. Shore parties are always accompanied by armed Bear Guards who keep a look-out for bears and, if the various deterrents (like a flare) fail, will ultimately shoot. After dinner, I made a brief visit to the Bridge as the vessel headed north towards Palanderbukta island. The Captain has an 'Open Bridge' policy. Whilst I was there, I was joined by an English couple who have done some serious sailing and one of my American friends.Then it was back to my suite to prepare for bed although it was still broad daylight outside.

Arctic Adventure - 4

Wednesday 4th August 2010

My Arctic pictures are here.

I went for breakfast around 7.30 a.m. as we continued north towards Bear Island. and was surprised to find most people were taking a late breakfast after the exertions of the previous day. I was eventually joined by a nice American couple and we chatted for a while before I returned to my cabin to do some computer work.

At 9.45 a.m. we were all to attend the Mandatory AECO Briefing in the Theatre. AECO (normally pronounced 'eye-ee-co' is the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators and it seeks to ensure responsible, environmentally-friendly and safe tourism in the Arctic. AECO was set up in 2003 and has 11 members operating a total of 16 vessels. The offices are inbLongtearbyen (where this cruise will end). For more information, goto www.aeco.no.

The Briefing was interrupted by news that whales had been sighted ahead of the ship and we were invited to go out on deck. I saw spouting and a mother and calf breaking the surface a number of times as the captain sailed in circles to try to keep us near the action. Although it was sunny, there was a bit of a wind so, at the earliest opportunity, I went to my cabin for a parka and my camera. By this time, they'd opened the doors to the foredeck which houses the anchor winch so I spent some time there. Over the next half hour, we had a number of brief sightings of the original or perhaps other whales. A tail displayed out of the water indicated a diving whale, after which there were no further sightings so the ship resumed course for Bear Island and the public address summoned us back to the Theatre to complete the briefing.

After the AECO Briefing, there was a description of the afternoon Zodiac trip we were to take to study the cliffs at Bear Island. We then returned to our cabins to await the summons, deck by deck, to reception for distribution of rubber boots to those that required them. The whale watching had put us a little behind schedule - most of the passengers returned to the Theatre for an illustrated talk entitled 'Scandinavia in the Viking Age' given by Collen but some passengers prepared for lunch. After the lecture, I took a late lunch at a table with an American couple I'd met the previous day and three Americans I'd not met before. All the checked luggage belonging to these three had gone missing en-route so they'd had to spend a day in Oslo shopping for a complete new wardrobe at the airline's expense.

Around 2.0 p.m, we anchored off Sorhamna on the south-eastern corner of Bear Island where we could see sheer cliffs rising up to 400 metres above sea level. As usual, Zodiacs were put in the water to check conditions and the amount of swell precluded any tentative plans to make a landing on this nature reserve.

I run out of superlatives to describe the Zodiac trips. If yesterday's was 'mesmerising' Bear Island is perhaps 'spiritual'. The Zodiac puts you close to nature in a very special way. Charging over the wave crests is plain good fun and demonstrates the awesome power of the sea. Drifting close inshore shows the grandeur and sheer scale of the cliffs, whilst allowing the family life of the thousands of nesting birds to be studied at close quarters without distressing them. We went inside a cave a little way - we went through a tunnel. I was at the front of the Zodiac and caught a good soaking as a wave rebounded at the entrance to the tunnel. The driver was most apologetkic but I regarded it as part of the experience. We looked at the wreck of a Russian freezer ship which was abandoned against the cliff face a year previously. since then hull plates had been ripped away, revealing the framing and the hull had completely broken in two.

But what I found most moving was watching thousands of birds, of various species, filling the air, many flying at low level and close to the Zodiac. Those flying in more or less the same direction as the Zodiac stayed in view for some seconds. It's the closest experience to 'flying with birds' I've had.

After around 90 minutes at sea, we returned to 'Prince Albert II'. A warm bath soon restored me, in time for Victoria's lecture in the Theatre on the History of Svalbard. By this time, Bear Island was slipping astern as the ship headed north once again for the islands of the Svalbard Archipelago.

Around 7.00 p.m., everybody was invited to a 'Welcome Cocktail Party' in the Theatre where the Ukrainian Captain Alexander Golubev introduced his officers. Then, at 7.30 p.m. it was two decks down to the 'Captain's Welcome Dinner' in the Restaurant. I had been formally invited to the Captain's Table (a proper R.S.V.P. invitation the day before) where I joined a young Italian couple on their honeymoon, an older couple from Sydney and the history lecturer Victoria. We enjoyed a splendid meal with lots of wide-ranging conversation.

At any time, we may lose the satellite computer connection so I may be rudely silenced!

Arctic Adventure - 3

Tuesday 3rd August 2010 (continuation)

My Arctic pictures are here.

Nordkapp is a pretty bleak location and an unlikely tourist destination - I was reminded of Land's End in England and John O'Groats in Scotland which seem to exercise a similar fascination for people. Apparently, its designation as the most northern place in Europe (at 71 degrees 10 minutes and 21 seconds North of the Equator) is also wrong - we were told a slightly more northern point exists a few kilometres away to the west but, lacking road access (and, presumably, a visitor centre) doesn't get many visitors.

The post office was deserted the first time I passed but later it was thronged with visitors buying postcards and stamps so as to advise their friends of their arrival at the unlikely spot. There were some rather nice displays of the birdlife that can be found on the cliffs and panels describing the World War II sea battle of North Cape which took place in 1943. Every half hour, a large cinema displays a film on three huge screens about the site. It looked a bit arty and was certainly extremely loud so I'm afraid I didn't persevere with it. So far, the steps led down in a large concrete-lined shaft which rather gave the impression of a nuclear bunker. Past the cinema, there was a wide tunnel with a wooden floor angled down into the cliffs. Periodically, there were dioramas showing scenes from the long history of Nordkapp. Cut into the rock is St. John's Chapel - the world's northernmost chapel. Even more unlikely, in another rock chamber, is the Thai Museum commemorating King Rama V of Thailand.

The tunnel then opens into a huge high-ceilinged theatre-like chamber, with tables and chairs arranged club-style in tiers overlooking huge windows giving a view out to sea. A number of passengers from the ship were already seated, enjoying the complimentary glass of champagne to celebrate our visit. Large loudspeakers were in evidence and behind the long bar, I spotted a cubicle of electronic equipment with impressive audio amplifiers so I imagine that, like the cinema, it can get a bit loud at times. Outside the glass windows, where you'd expect the stage in a theatre, there was a flat area exposed to the elements. This is called 'The King's View' and access is via a pair of doors, arranged like an airlock, so you can imagine the weather gets pretty violent at times. On my visit, it was quite warm and you could look over the railings at the sea below although the mist gave low visibility.

I chatted to some of my fellow-passengers before returning to ground level for the 16:30 bus. Although it was only 16:15, the bus was already full and I watched it disappear into the mist. A second bus was brought up but it was about 16:45 before it was full, causing some grumbling from passengers (including me) that we didn't expect to have to wait until the bus was full. Whilst we waited, the sun suddenly came out and the mist began to clear. One or two of us dashed across to the globe sculture to take some final pictures before the bus left.

We had one more stop on the way to rejoin the ship. At the side of the road was a large timber shed (the souvenir shop), three of the traditional Sami tents and a Sami man wearing sunglasses and the traditional clothing tending a reindeer which peacefully ate from a wooden trough whilst the tourists took photographs and asked questions. On the opposite side of the road were two modern houses which, I suspect, is where the owner and his family actually live.

We then carried on to the village of Skarsvag, still a fishing village with a fleet of fishing boats in the harbour but also now encouraging tourism with a number of motels or small hotels with names like 'Midnight Sun'. A number of our Zodiacs waited at a modern landing stage and they quickly transferred us to our ship which had anchored just outside the harbour breakwater.

By 6.30 p.m., everybody had returned by bus from Nordkapp, allowing the ship to commence the journey north to Bear Island, a further 230 nautical miles north.

Wednesday 4th August 2010

At any time Wednesday, we may lose the satellite computer connection so I may be rudely silenced!