For the next two days we are cruising down the Irrawaddy
from Mandalay to Bagan. Neither of us
have ever fancied cruising but it was part of the tour so we thought we’d give
it a try. Before we left England we had
a look at the vessel operator’s website and it sounded so marvellous we decided
they must be over-exaggerating - they
weren’t!
The RV Orient Pandaw is 8 years old, she has 10 cabins and a
dining room on the main deck and 18 cabins on the upper deck. Then there is the sun deck with a 24hr
complimentary bar on top.
Our lovely little cabin on the Upper Deck which although small is perfectly functioning, with storage space under the beds and the best shower ever!
The usual staff
to guest ratio is 2:1 but as there are only 26 of us onboard this is somewhat
greater (our party of 18 plus 4 couples travelling independently; 2 Germans, 4
Swiss and 2 from Myanmar on their honeymoon)
Nothing is too much trouble, you only have to make a move to get
something yourself and it is done for you.
Then there is the food, absolutely delicious – I’ve never been one to
photograph the plate in front of me but I almost wish I had this time so I
could show the food.
We made a couple of stops ashore en route; firstly to a Yandabo
village where they make terracotta pots by the thousand. The land is leased out to the pot terracotta producers by a family of 4 spinsters and I think I was lucky to photograph a couple of them.
and also to the local primary
school which is sponsored by the boat company.
The children were absolutely delightful and sang us three beautiful
songs.
This afternoon we went to the town of Pakoku, we moored some
15mins away from the centre and a fleet of 6 seater tuk tuks drove us in. Whilst it was interesting to look around the
market it was very much for the locals and not much tourist tat on sale, much
to Ian’s delight (not!)
Never having cruised before I was amazed by the mechanics of
going ashore, so I thought I’d share it with you. Firstly one of the boat’s boys jumps into the
water and drags huge ropes onto the shore, these are then attached to what look
like very thin sticks but I think the sticks are attached to other ropes or
chains. Slowly, slowly the boat draws
closer to the bank and then out come the metal gangplanks which again involve
several people being up to their waists in water whilst they position them. Then special poles are put into the
gangplanks through which thick ropes are threaded for us to hold on to (none of
your two men holding a bamboo pole like before). Then finally about 20 or so crewmen position
themselves from the end of the gangplank up the often steep and slippery bank
to help you up, never letting go until the next person has hold of you. Getting back onto the boat is just the
reverse and when you finally get onboard, your shoes are taken away to be
cleaned and you are greeted with a cold flannel and a cooling drink. A superb experience in its own right!
Both days onboard we had some cultural talks, the first
being about the traditional dress through the ages which involved one of the crew
(who had THE most amazing facial bone structure) parading on the sun deck and
hamming it up. He showed us how the longhi had been worn over the years and also the various alternative uses for it (carrying pots on heads, baby cradle, disguising oneself etc).
The bark of the thanakha tree is ground on stone to produce a paste which is commonly used by women and also by men to a lesser degree. It is said to prevent sunburn, banish wrinkles and to make them more attractive!
!
Whilst its often just put on just as a big circle on each cheek sometimes stencils are used or, as in the case below, freehand. Muggins got to be model
Then one of the chefs
demonstrated local cuisine (basically salad but with a lot of beans, nuts and
spices).
We were also brought up to date
with the political situation following Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD’s landslide
election victory and informed about education and healthcare.
These trips ashore and the cultural talks were lead by Harry, who we believe is the long lost brother of our good friend Jules (won't mean a lot to some but our golfing friends and also Sue and Al will know him)
Sunsets and sunrises were beautiful on both days and as we
neared Bagan on the final morning, we could see the balloons flying over the 2,500+
pagodas in the region.
I discovered just as we were leaving that the short trip we did was from US$827 pp - I'm sure VJV got a substantial discount but nevertheless it as an expensive 2 days of luxury.